If you liking reading things here, and you happen to be in or around San Antonio in November, you might also enjoy hearing me speak in a more academic conference. Program book link (search on my last name; I don't know how to link to the results of a search).
Healthcare and Disability in the Ancient World
11/19/2016 1:00 PM
“A death like his:” Saul’s privation and restoration of sight as formation for the Christian super-prophet in Acts 9
(abstract below the cut)
At the start of Acts 9, Saul is a vigorous promoter of violence against followers of “the Way.” By the end of the chapter, he is powerful prophet proclaiming Jesus as Lord. The transformation is presented in part through a narrative centered on Saul’s (dis)abled body: his embodied experience of the privation and subsequent restoration of his sight. This paper seeks to unpack the resonances this account of transformation may have had for ancient audiences by investigating how the blinded (and the blind more generally) carried meaning in their bodies for various of the salient cultural contexts. Divine temporary blinding for temporarily neutering a hero’s potential for violence is a well-attested Jewish and Greek trope. Saul’s temporary blinding achieves this, surprisingly permanently. Incurable permanent punitive blinding was often portrayed as ‘compensated for’ by the gift of powerful prophetic speech, a gift Saul receives despite being healed. How is this paradoxical super-prophet formed? As the blind were figured as dead, Saul participates bodily in a death and resurrection experience. He is “prepared” to be “like his teacher” (Luke 6:40) through what the historical Paul would call a “death like His.”
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