Diseases in the Bible. In this work, we will consider a very serious problem and, at the same time, sincerely sensitive. It is about dealing with the issue of diseases, the sick and the actions of Jesus from Nazareth as a tumor mother or as a doctor. I believe that in most Christian churches there has not been or is not enough teaching on these realities. He continues to write, speak and preach based on a literal interpretation of the biblical documents (attached to the letter by supposed teachers and evangelists and not to the spirit that reports on them), especially those corresponding to the New Testament. To carry out exegesis and hermeneutics worthy of the name, the oldest known biblical texts, their linguistic and literary value, must be taken into account. the time in which they were written and the scientific knowledge that existed at that time. realities we must deal with. It is also necessary to know the socio-political, socio-religious, socio-economic and psychosocial circumstances of the historical moment in which such events occur.
In the Gospel of Matthew (in my opinion the second Gospel written in the first century, but it is more than debatable) we find the following story, in relation to the public beginning of the service of the Lord Jesus Christ: “And his fame in all Syria, and they to him all those who had diseases, those who suffered from various diseases and torments (gr-suffering), the demonized, crazy and paralyzed; and healed them ”(Matthew 4:24). In this text there are elements that have not been well understood and that today conclusions are drawn that do not respect the content of the evangelical message about the kingdom of God, but quite the opposite. It is not possible to make the statement, as some Pentecostal and charismatic groups do (I do not question their right to think as they believe), that all the people who were healed by Jesus of Nazareth, regardless of their clinical manifestations, they were demonized. . Matthew’s text gives us a very broad and quite etiopathogenically differentiated nosology (classification of diseases) (diseases, various diseases, suffering, demonized, crazy and paralyzed) for the moment. In this clinical classification we find diseases of organic (somatic, physical), psycho-emotional (affective-emotional) and psychologically pure (mental-spiritual) etiology (cause or causes that provoke a disease).
In previous writings, we have been concerned with clarifying the concepts that the Bible has about the structure or tectonics of the human personality and contrasting them with the scientific knowledge that we have about man today. Without this basic theological and scientific knowledge, we would lack the basic basic infrastructure to understand every morbid disorder that a human being can suffer from. In this document and others to follow, we will address the thaumaturgical acts and feats of Jesus of Nazareth. We will address an issue that for some will be thorny and difficult to assimilate after gaining the weight of a tradition of almost two thousand years. The question is the following: we are aware of such important issues, Christologically speaking, that the word became flesh (literate), that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God; It is more that he was the Son of man, that he was God above all and that he was and is the true God and eternal life. Despite all these transcendent and momentous realities, I affirm (and I say this with all humility) that many of the thaumaturgical and healing acts of the Lord Jesus Christ today have a possible scientific explanation. Of course, I understand that this opportunity does not take away any greatness or glory from the Son of Man, quite the opposite.
In 1970, the first edition of Rudolf Bultmann’s work, Jesus Christ and Mythology, was published in Spanish by Ediciones Ariel, SA .. In this unique work, Bultmann explained the bases of his demystification or process of demystification of biblical revelation. I think his contribution to the exegesis and interpretation of Scripture is worth considering. This work brings together Shaffer’s lectures given at the Divinity School of Yale University and at Vanderbilt University; the content of both is partially identical. In the aforementioned work Jesus Christ and Mythology, Bultmann begins by stating that “The kingdom of God is at the heart of the preaching of Jesus Christ.” Considering the preaching of John the Baptist and Jesus himself, We conclude that the Jews believed that the Kingdom of God would be accompanied by signs. His beliefs were based on very important passages in the Old Testament. While Juan was in jail, in the castle of Maquero, and knowing the sayings and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth, doubts arise about his identity as the Messiah long awaited by the Jewish people, and he sends some of his disciples to ask him: ” Are you the one who should come or are we going to wait for someone else? In response, Jesus said to them: Go, tell John what you are hearing and seeing. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor; and blessed is he who takes no offense in me ”(Mt 11: 2-5).
In the Gospel of Luke 4: 16-20, we compile a Messianic quote of the greatest importance. Thus says the biblical text: “He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up; and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue, according to his custom, and got up to read. And he received the book of the prophet Isaiah; and having opened the book, he found the place where it was written: The spirit of the Lord is upon me (according to the LXX translation), because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor (VM-evangelize the poor). He sent me to heal the broken-hearted (not recorded in the oldest manuscripts); proclaim (gr-proclaim) freedom to the captives and sight to the blind (according to LXX); to liberate the oppressed; to preach the pleasant year of the Lord. And rolling up the book, he gave it to the minister (great assistant) and sat down; and the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled before you ”.
It is evident that the Lord Jesus does not see the Devil behind every morbid entity. Knows the etiology of each disease and the causes that constitute the discordant structure that gives rise to the various sociopathological and psychopathological alterations that disturb homeostasis and the balance of physical, social and mental health of the human being. Throughout the history of Christianity, different interpretations of the Bible have emerged, and especially of the New Testament. Thus, we find a literalist interpretation (which pays more attention to the letter of Scripture than to the spirit that informs it). This interpretation is valid until today and resulted in the doctrinal fossilization of the churches that practice it and in the spiritual impoverishment that characterizes its members. Its defenders consider themselves to have a monopoly on the truth and consider themselves “those of sound doctrine.” It is about all those who have forgotten an affirmation (exegetical – hermeneutic) of the Apostle Paul: “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3, 6b).
An allegorical interpretation has also been given since the time of the first parents of the Church (Origen, of the Alexandrian school, is considered the father of the same). This interpretation has few followers today and its scientific-theological category is far removed from the Church Fathers of the first centuries and the mystics of the 16th century (P. Luis de León, Teresa de Jesús, Ser Juana Inés de la Cruz , among others. ). This interpretation is more than respectable and has criticized the rigid and ankylosing structures of the holders of ecclesiastical-political power at different times in history. His hermeneutical methodology inspired lives filled with great love for God and men. On the other hand, philological and linguistic interpretation has been an important contribution to the scientific study of the Bible,
Finally, it is essential for me to return to the beginning of this writing to remember one of the greatest exegetes of the 20th century: Rudolf Bultmann and his method of demystifying the Scriptures, especially the New Testament. The objective of this text is related to the demystifying hermeneutical method of Bultmann, but it is based on more scientific bases and more understandable for current generations, in light of the scientific knowledge we have about the causes that generate pathological disorders in humans. in general, and psycho-emotional and psychopathological beings in particular. Our method will consist in translating the mythical into the scientific, without altering the true sense of the spirit of Scripture and its underlying message.