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Kee, Miracle in the Early Christian World: A Study in Sociohistorical Method
 
Kee, H. C. (1983). Miracle in the Early Christian World: A Study in Sociohistorical Method. New Haven, Yale University Press.
DHB SUMMARY: Kee criticizes the history-of-religion folks, and instead sets out to understand religious phenomena (in this case miracle-working) in terms of the life-world from which they originated.  He does this by analyzing miracle in several different social and historical settings.
1: When the Golden Bough Breaks: The Decline and Fall of the History-of-Religions Methods
Beyond the Issue of Facticity
We must read and interpret texts in context.  "What did the ancient writer who reported the event understand to have occurred?"
The Focus on Historical Context
History-of-religions: historical method explaining early Christian phenomena by analogy with others in the Greco-Roman world.
The Search for Primal Patterns: Myth versus History
Frazer's Golden Bough
The Escape From History
Retrieving the "kernel" of Christianity, underneath the mythical baggage.
Structuralism: reducing all human interaction to 'language'; worth exploring, but don't buy all the nonsense that can result.
Anachronistic Reconstruction of the Sociohistorical Context
Extrapolating backward from the 2nd century, equating Christian miracle-faith with the pagan.
PGM too often equated with miracle-working
Bousset (book Kyrios-Christos) assumes discontinuity between Palestinian Judaism (context for Jesus and his teaching) and Hellenized diaspora Judaism.
GET: Bousset, Kyrios-Christos
Jesus is originally thought of as Jewish 'Son of Man', but later becomes the Hellenistic miracle-working kyrios, invluenced by 1) cult of ruler-savior, 2) dying-and-rising savior of mystery cults, 3) Primal Man, as in Iranian religion.
Kee: it is distressing that the tenets of Bousset-Bultmann are unchallenged.  Kee's points: 2nd-3rd century Gnosticism is different than older strains; miracle functions differently in different stages of Hellenistic culture; Palestinian Judaism was greatly affected by Hellenization by 2nd century.
2. Personal Identity and World-Construction
In historical criticism, the unique differences in the life-world of communities were ignored when analyzing the function of miracle/religion.  Generalizations and reductionism predominated.
Max Weber's Contribution to Historical Method
Ideal Type of the "charismatic leader": "natural leader, lacking official credentials or formal training, who arises in times of psychic,m physical, economic, ethical, religious, or political distress." (46)
Phenomenology and the Recovery of the Life-World
1. Methodological
Difference between ideal-types and history-of-religions school: Weber asserts that ideal types are not historical realities but heuristic instruments. The goal is not to demonstrate how all particulars are alike, but to make explicit the unique, individual character of phenomena. (51)
Kee criticizes historians of religion for mistaking ideal types as realities, especially when they identify analogous pheomena and use it to explain the Christian movement (e.g. PGM)
2. Conceptual
bipolar scheme of charismatic leadership and institutionalization
3. Epistemological
must pay attention to the system of "symbolic and cognitive order" as well as social setting in which religion functioned
e·pis·te·mol·o·gy: The branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity.
4. Hermeneutical
We must ask what events mean not to the observer (us), but to the actor (1st century).  We must enter the life-world of the other.
Personal Identity and the Social Perception of Reality
integration: how a person seeks to gain or maintain both meaning and stability in life.
symbol systems which provide basis for identity and integration
Voluntary Participation and Hostile Powers
Kee states that "What is paramount in millenarian movements is divine deliverance in the age to come, not how to cope from day to day.", citing Mol, Identity, p. 181.  (62)
mil·len·ni·um
A span of one thousand years.
A thousand-year period of holiness mentioned in Revelation 20, during which Jesus and his faithful followers are to rule on earth.
A hoped-for period of joy, serenity, prosperity, and justice.
A thousandth anniversary.
millenarian
adj : relating to or believing in the millennium of peace and happiness [syn: chiliastic] n : a person who believes in the coming of the millennium (a time of great peace and prosperity) [syn: millenarist, chiliast]
"On the other hand, to those for whom coping with present problems is more important than discovering ultimate meaning, there was available another possible resource, magic."
DHB: Interesting!  Kee is suggesting that Christianity, as a millenarian movement, was not concerned with present problems, unlike magic.
The Promise of Order and the Experience of Anxiety
Military campaigns of Alexander and Romans created uncertainty, loss of roots.
Roman religion failed to offer intellectual or emotional appeal, or assurance of personal identity.
The Jewish Quest for Political and Personal Identity
"Other than the broad conviction about God's providential care of his own and the confidence in eschatological vindication, they seem not to have expected divine intervention in the present state of affairs.  The factor of miracle is a minor one in Pharisaic traditions." (70)
In the few miracle stories from rabbinic tradition, "...in every case, the miracle is a sign to the faithful of divine attestation or vindication against enemies. The qualities of the one in whose behalf or through whome the miracle is performed include persistence, perception, and personal piety.  Apart from these exemplary virtues, the miracle has no larger function, and in the one instance where a link with the role of prophet is suggested, that interpretation is forthwith rejected."
GET: Fiebig, Die juedische Wundergeschichten
EXPLORE: Why are there so few Jewish wonder-workers and healers?  What was their conception?  Was it just in response to individual piety, or was there an element of compassion?
Jewish duality: present age and future age; Greek duality: material and spiritual
Are the Gods in Control?
In 1st and 2nd centuries, the miraculous concerns gods sending chosen leaders portents.  During period of Antonines (2nd-3rd century) people are more concerned about their own personal needs and destiny, rather than political power.  These people turn from gods of the state to more personal divinities.
3. Asklepios the Healer
Preeminent healing figure from Homer to Constantine.
As·cle·pi·us: Greek Mythology; Apollo's son, the god of medicine.
The Origins of Asklepios
GET: Edelstein, Asclepius...
At the Asklepios shrines in the early 4th century, people would come with offerings, and healing would occur if the god was favorable.
Asklepios as Medical and Cult Healer
People would spend the night in the shrines, hoping that healing would come via the form of a dog or snake (the visible form of Asklepios)
"There is no suggestion that the healing had any meaning outside of itself; it is not a pointer to a spiritual transformation or a promise of anything transcendent." (87)
Asklepios as Benefactor and Personal Guide
"By the first quarter of the second century the god is sought out for aid and honored for his benefactions by prominent members of Roman society." (91)
DHB: The cult is moving from healing only to an object of devotion.  A shift from healing for individuals to the experience of salvation and meaning for life.
Asklepios as Savior: Aelius Aristides
"Clearly, healing was not the major benefit of association with the god. The illnesses provided the occasion for enjoying his benefactions, with the result that there was no hurry to be cured." (94-5)
chief benefit was "mystical transport", dreams
Aristides becomes a gifted healer, orator.
"In the Antonine era Asklepios, and the Greek pantheon of which he is a leading figure, were no longer regarded as primarily agents of divine assistance to be turned to in time of need, in response to specific crises, as was the case at Epidauros in the Hellenisitc age.  Rather, Asklepios was a god concerned with the wider range of human needs, anxieties, and aspirations, throughout this life and on into the life beyond. He was transformed from divine friend-in-need to a cosmic savior." (103-4)
DHB: Interesting!  Somewhat reminiscent of the transformation that happend to miracle-working from Jesus to the 4th century church.
4. Isis
I·sis: An ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, the sister and wife of Osiris.
5. Miracle and the Apocalyptic Tradition
a·poc·a·lyp·ti·cism: Belief in apocalyptic prophecies, especially regarding the imminent destruction of the world and the foundation of a new world order as a result of the triumph of good over evil.
God Acts in Behalf of His People
In OT/JB, miracles in behalf of people or defeat of enemies.  Often linked with role of prophet, but also charlatans. Miracle-workers as good and also bad.
In OT, looks forward to when God will act on behalf of his people.
Miracle as Sign of the Defeat of Evil Powers
In Isaiah and Daniel, devine deliverance from evil powers.
In newer strata, including Dead Sea community, miracles work not only directly from God, but through his agents, whose exorcisms point toward the impending defeat of God's enemies.  "This contrasts sharply with the viewpoint toward miracle evident in the older strata of the rabbinic tradition, where miracles are depicted as occurring almost entirely as signs of divine attestation of a particular rabbi's interpretation of the law."
"The miracle of healing in this apocalyptic tradition, as represented in the Dead Sea community on the other hand, is only incidentally of benefit to the one cured: its primary significance is cosmic, as a sign of a new age in which the divine will finally becomes sovereign throughout the creation." (155)
DHB: Miracle/healing as evidence of inbreaking kingdom.  More of a 'sign' than demonstration of God's compassion.
Jesus and His Followers as Agents of Divine Triumph: the Q Source
The apocalyptic worldview is apparent in Q: God intervening to achieve his purposes, including miracles.
Miracles (including exorcisms) are signs of 1. liberation from evil powers, 2. beginning of eschatological rule
"He [Jesus] does not perform wonders to authenticate himself. Rather, his message of the New Age and the eschatological wisdom he imparts to his people (Lk 10:21-22) are self-confirming..."
"For the Q tradition, therefore, miracle is the assuring sign of faith in eschatological vindication. Its immediate effect is personal, in meeting the specific need of the ailing or the possessed; but its frame of meaning is cosmic, in that it points to the triumph of God over the evil forces that have until now frustrated the achievement of his plan for the creation and for the human race as his agents to preside over it." (159)
Okay, but is this a one-off 'sign', or a new way of being for believers?  Are the miracles one-time indications of the inbreaking kingdom, or something that would continue?
Through Jesus the New Age is Dawning: Mark
Exorcisms are paradigmatic in Mark (apocalyptic).
Beelzebub controversy (3:20-35) indicates that Jesus is bringing an end to Satan's control over creation (1:26).
"In not one of these cases [healing stories] is the miracle an end in itself; in each case it points to some larger framework of meaning in Jesus' mission." (163)
Does this mean that healing was never an end in itself for Jesus?  What about the apostles?  What about the early church?
Nature miracles show the divine sovereignty over the entire creation, important for the apocalyptic worldview.
"The miraculous feedings, like their Old Testament counterpart, therefore are not isolated wonders benefiting individuals but divine acts seen as constituting [setting up, establishing, founding] a covenant community."
Is Kee suggesting that the actual feeding is secondary in importance, and that the real significance is only in its sign of a new community?
Visions of Conflict and Encouragement to Persevere
"Mark as a whole serves as a guide for the community, including regulations on such subjects as divorce, possessions, and taxes (10, 12). But most striking are the instructions to carry forward his activities of healing and exorcism." (167)
Miracle as Sign of the Spirit: Paul
"Although Paul, like the Gospel of Mark, incorporates his understanding of miracle within an apocalyptic world-view, there are significant differences in detail between the way miracle is seen to function in Paul's letters and in the Q or Markan tradition." (170-1)
Miracles are not described specifically, but are signs of the Spirit and signs of apostolic authority.
"Rather than perceiving healings and exorcisms as signs of the preparation for the New Age in the sense of the defeat of the God-opposing powers, however, Paul discusses miracle-working in the context of the charismatic gifts. The aim of these special endowments is to build up the community--"body"--as a whole (1 Cor 12:4-11)." (171)
Paul comments on the paradox of power.  "The essence of divine power, he declares, is not to be seen in the manifestations of human wisdom or charismatic gifts but in the death of Jesus (1 Cor 1:18-25)."
"Both miracle and martyrdom found meaning in the framework of an apocalyptic life-world." (173)
6. Miracle in History and Romance: Roman and Early Christian Sources
romance
a. A long medieval narrative in prose or verse that tells of the adventures and heroic exploits of chivalric heroes: an Arthurian romance.
b. A long fictitious tale of heroes and extraordinary or mysterious events, usually set in a distant time or place.
c. The class of literature constituted by such tales.
Portents of Divinely Shaped Destiny
Suetonius & Tacitus: gods reveal purposes through dreams and cosmic signs.
By the time of the Flavians and Antonines, miracles display an emperor's personal relationship with the divine.  (e.g. healings by Vespasian)
Portent in the Gospel of Matthew
Greater emphasis on portents, signs (e.g. birth star)
"Receiving the least space in the stories that Matthew has retained are the more detailed accounts of the mode or circumstances of the healing or exorcism.  What Matthew is interested in instead is (1) the faith of the beneficiaries and (2) the authority by which Jesus is able to produce results." (187)
Matthew focuses on Jesus' complete power, uniqueness, fulfillment of Scripture.
"In adapting the Markan summaries of Jesus' miracles to serve his own special purposes, Matthew has sought to make an important point that once more recalls the function of miracle in the rabbinic tradition: to lend authority to Jesus' activity, and especially to his interpretation of the Law." (188)
Telling the Story in Graeco-Roman Style: Luke and Acts
Luke used the methods of Hellenistic historians to further his ends.
The Divine Purpose at Work Through History
"To preach the kingdom of God is an equivalent term for the propagation of Christianity by word and action.  Yet it is at this point that miracle is so important for Luke: proclamation of the kingdom includes healing the sick as a central feature. An important corollary of the healing in this framework of meaning is the declaration that the defeat of the evil powers through the performance of exorcisms is essential to the defeat of Satan and the establishment of God's rule (Lk 11:20). Yet Jesus will not gain public approval through confirmatory signs, such as by performing miracles on demand. The only sign that will be given is that of Jonah: that is, the call to repentance (Lk 11:29)." (202)
"We must ask, however, how miracle contributes to the overall themes and aims of Luke. First, and highlighted by its central place in Jesus' inaugural address, is the claim that what he does in his miracles is in fulfillment of prophecy."  (fulfilling Second Isaiah) "...essential features of the cosmic conflict, in which God through Jesus regains control of his errant creation." (203)
"From the cosmic perspective, Jesus' healings and exorcisms were regarded by Luke as essential factors in the defeat of the God-opposing powers." (204)
"Fundamental for Luke is not merely that the control of Satan over the creation will be shattered, but that it is already in process of being destroyed through Jesus' exorcisms." (205)
"The scope of the healing activity of Jesus is a model, therefore, for Luke's portrayal of the worldwide spread of the Apostles' work in the book of Acts." (206)
"Two aspects of miracle appear in Acts which are not found in Luke or, to any significant degree, elsewhere in the New Testament: the punitive miracles and traces of magical technique." (211)
"Although commentators have sought to find traces of magic in the healing stories of Jesus (such as his use of spittle) or of the Apostles (such as their invocation of the name of Jesus), the world-view of the writers of the Gospels and Acts is fundamentally religious rather than magical." (214-15)
The Social Implications of Miracle in Matthew and Luke
"Miracle is important to Matthew, especially as portent by which the divine control over history is manifest, but also as confirmation of Jesus as the New Moses, the preeminent and final interpreter of the will of God."
"For Luke miracle functions, not only to heighten the drama of the narrative, but also to show that at every significant point in the transitions of Christianity from its Jewish origins in Jerusalem to its Gentile outreaching to Rome itself, the hand of God is evident in the form of public miraculous confirmation."
"And finally, miracle is always effected for human benefit, not for the accomplishment of political ends." (220)
7. Miracle as Universal Symbol
The Transformation of Miracle in the Gospel of John
Goal of John is that people may believe.
"(1) there is no guarantee that those who observe Jesus' signs will draw the conclusion about his divine sonship: (2) the impact of the signs performed by Jesus is by no means limited to the personal benefit deriving from his miraculous acts--whether recovery of sight, restoration from death to life, or supernatural feedings--but focuses, rather, on the acquisition of life in some special sense, as clarified and elaborated throughout the Gospel." (223)
Miracle as Sign and Symbol
"To read these 'signs' of John as mere wonder stories, therefore, told to enhance Jesus' reputation as a miracle-worker or attest his divine beneficence toward those in difficulty would be to omit the very dimensions of the narratives which are clearly of primary importance for John. These are not signs, in the sense that Jesus' exorcisms are signs of the defeat of Satan or of the inbreaking of the kingdom (Lk 11:20); for John they are symbols of a new reality." (231)
The miracle of water to wine and feeding of 5,000 involve the transformation of symbols.
Symbolic Intention in John
"The symbolic meaning of the signs includes not only who Jesus really is but how the believer in him discovers his own identity." (237)
John clearly makes use of the symbolic nature of the miracles.
"Miracle for John is far more than a benefaction attesting to divine favor or compassion. It is more than a sign of the impending New Age, in which God's will triumphs over the powers of evil, as we saw to be the case in the apocalyptic strand of the New Testament writings. It is an avenue or medium by which men and women of insight and faith can experience the transcendent in the midst of earthly life." (240-41)
Symbol and Myth in Philo and Plutarch
Plutarch is "scornful of those who take the myth literally, especially of those who glory in the gory details of some versions of the myth." (244)  Focus on miracles of revelation, inspiration.
"Only the foolish and misguided read the myths literally.  The wise regard the myths as morrors of reality." (247)
Symbolic Interpretations of Asklepios: Aelius Aristides
Aristides is annoyed with those who focus only on the healing aspect of divine relationship--instead of union with the divine in a higher sense.
In John (like Philo, Aristides, Plutarch): "Miracle is no longer a sign of divine intervention; it is a symbol of divine transformation." (250)
8. Miracle as Propaganda in Pagan and Christian Romances
The Hellenistic genre of romance used as propaganda (e.g. apocryphal Acts, Apollonius of Tyana, Apuleius)
"it served as a vehicle for conveying religious truth or as an apology for a philosophical view." (252)
"The phenomenon of miracle is a frequent feature of the romances." (253)
"The distinctive features of the romance include the decision or the necessity to leave one's native place and an emphasis on the marvelous as an indication of the direct involvement of the gods in human affairs, so that human destiny is seen to be under divine control." (254)
Miracles serve as confirmation or authentication of philosophers or philosophies.  More common as empire moved from the 2nd to the 3rd century.
Apollonius as Divinely Attested Man of Wisdom: Philostratus
Dominant role is not as miracle-worker, but philosopher. (257)
Miracles primarily wisdom, insight, foreknowledge, prophecy.
"Furthermore, the gift of healing is associated by Philostratus with wisdom." (e.g. natural therapy) (259)
"he is merely a philosopher with none of the external sources of power." (261)
"Accordingly, the miracles are told, not to display his magical powers, but as testimony to his superior wisdom." (264)
Discrediting Miracle-Workers: Lucian, Celsus, and Eusebius
"Unlike Lucian, therefore, Celsus does not regard Jesus' miracles as deception or fraud but as magical actions accomplished in league with the evil powers." (268)  Some of the miracles are fake, but others are real (although evil)
For Origen, "the bedrock on which the truth of Christianity rested was twofold: the fulfillment of prophecy and the prodigious miracles of Jesus. Furthermore, he believed that the miraculous powers were still evident within the Christian community." (269)
Miracle as Exploited by Christian Propagandists
Apocrypha influenced by Hellenistic romance genre.
Blend of the erotic and ascetic; example in Acts of John of young man who castrates himself.
"Miracle functions in this literature preeminently as a mode of manifestation of divine power." (278) positive: attestation.  negative: opponents as magicians.
Infancy Gospel of Thomas: miracles of child Jesus persuade reader of his divinity.
"the function of this and all the other miracles of this material linked with Thomas is solely to heighten awareness of the supernatural powers of Jesus." (281)
In Acts of the Apostles: "Although they perform acts of compassion, as did Jesus and the Apostles in the canonical texts, in some instances the miracles attributed to the Apostles are whimsical..." (281)
"There are serious amplifications of the miraculous dimension of the New Testament in the apocryphal writings, however, aimed at expanding the religious significance of Jesus, or heightening the force of apostolic authority, or fostering the cult of the saints, especially Mary (as in the Protevangelium of James)." (281)
The divide between miracle and magic has narrowed by this point.
IMPORTANT: perhaps one trajectory in miracle is how it tends more and more toward magic!
Acts of Peter.  Contest between Peter and magician Simon Magus.
"An important and recurrent feature of the miracle stories in these apocryphal writings is that of punishment. Although there are a few punitive miracles in the canonical Acts of the Apostles, the number and vehemence of them is greatly increased in this later material." (285) "The intention of these punitive miracles and miraculous deliverances is twofold: they serve as warnings concerning the power of divine judgment, swift and effective, that will be unleashed against those who oppose God and his agents. And the narratives provide reassurance of divine support to those tempted to recant the faith or to separate themselves from the Christian community when it is under attack." (286)

The Life-World Implicit in the Romances
Conviction that the gods are in control of human history; not only in lives of rulers, but in lives of simple people.
Saints have total moral purity, especially control of sexual practices and urges.  Sex is source of sin.
Divine rewards and punishments.  The gods act to reward and punish, not just in the future.
"Miracles performed by Jesus and the Apostles are represented as public confirmation of the divine authority by which they work." (287)  "Unlike the miracles of Jesus in the gospel tradition, therefore, a fundamental aim of these miracle accounts is evidential: to prove that God is behind Jesus and his messengers. The divine authority is thus transmitted from Jesus to his Apostles and, presumably, to those who now carry forward the movement in their name. The continuity of authority is dramatically displayed in the stories of the continuing power of the Apostles which endures beyond their death, as in the case of the miraculous efficacy of the dust of the Apostles that remains in their tombs." (287)
Line blurred between miracle and magic.  
"But to offer Philostratus or the Greek Magical Papyri as historical evidence for events reported by writers of the first century, who were operating within a very different life-world, such as the writers of the Gospels and Acts, is historiographically irresponsible. What happened in the third century is that the church was moving toward centralization, which by the time of Constantine would take concrete form in the conversion of the emperor and the establishment of Christianity as the religion of the empire. Yet at the same time, there was a yearning for personal association with the gods, and especially for direct intervention of the gods in one's behalf. That aspiration in itself is age-old, but the detailed form it took, as represented by the propagandistic style of the romance, with its melding of magic and miracle, of the erotic and the ascetic, is distinctive to the third century of our era." (288)
"Also operative in these instruments of religious propaganda deriving from the late second and third centuries is a range of metaphysical assumptions significantly different from those apparent in the New Testament writings as a whole. Instead of the Pauline insistence on the difference between a physical body and a spiritual body, the Acts of Paul expects the resurrection of the flesh. This may be a reaction to movements competing with the mainstream of Christianity, such as the Gnostics, with their rejection of the material world as inherently evil. In place of the ethical dualism of the earlier period, with its conflict between the demonic forces and the power of God, there is a dichotomy between the material and the spiritual realms in Gnostic thought. In reaction to that negative Gnostic view of the created world, the Christians emphasized the tangibility, the corporeality, the materiality of the resurrection life that the faithful would enjoy. Although the term resurrection was used in both the first and the third centuries, the content of the concept altered radically in the course of that time. Sensitivity to the transformation of these central ideas must be present if faithful historical interpretation is to occur." (288-9)
Conclusion: Some Observations about Method in the History of Religion
Kee critiques those who are ahistorical, focusing rather on universal symbols and archetypes--the 'history of religions' folks.  They ignore what is unrepeatable and unique. "The history of religions becomes thereby an ahistorical analysis of religious language--primarily, the language that is textualized in myth and repeated indefinitely through ritual enactment of those myths." (290)
"The structuralist goal of discovering recurrent patterns in the human mind leaves out of account, and has no interest in, the unrepeatable uniqueness that is ingredient in every historical event." (291)
Range of meaning-frameworks and functions of miracle
1. Asklepios and Isis (late Hellenistic): health or welfare of individual, ministration to personal need
2. Aristides, Apuleius: union with the god, participation in divine; personal benefits, but larger sense of being caught up in divine
3. Jewish & Christian apocalyptic: defeat of evil powers, vindication of oppressed, sign of divine victory
4. Roman historians, Matthew & Luke: sovereign divine purpose being worked out through history, portents
5. Acts of Apostles, Hellenistic romances: religious propaganda
6. Plutarch, Gospel of John: reveal hidden, mystical meaning through the symbolic "signs"
7. Apollonius of Tyana, apocryphal Acts: stability, maintenance of order, allegiance, divine attestation
"Recognition of general similarities between a phenomenon and the ideal type is merely the preliminary stage of the historian's task: what must follow is the painstaking identification of the differentia which distinguish the object or events from its general type, and which therefore and thereby enable the interpreter to specify the uniqueness of a particular phenomenon." (295)
"The second crucial feature of sound historical method is the effort to locate the phenomenon in the larger framework of meaning in which it appears historically. That involves investigation of the assumptions about reality, human and divine, which are the presuppositions behind the documentation that has come down to us, and thus to recognize how phenomena which resemble those found at other times and in other cultures are to be understood in the specific context under investigation." (295)
Forms (literary, behavioral, etc.) change.  Function changes as life-world changes.  "What is essential is the reconstruction, as fully as the evidence allows, of the specific context or life-world in which the phenomena arose." (295-6)
Questions that the historian must ask in tracing the life-world.
Who is in charge? What powers are understood as determining fate?
What is the opposition? How are evil forces identified, and how do they work?
What is the identity of those who understand? How did this insight come?
How and to what end does the divine manifest itself in human experience? Public events? Private experience?
What are the privileges and responsibilities of the members of the community to whom these insights have been granted? Moral, political attitudes or actions?
Excursus on the "Divine Man"
Not until 3rd or 4th century do we have combination of miracle-working and wise-man/philosopher.