Wunder und Wundertater im fruhrabbinischen Judentum: Studien zum Phanomen und seiner Uberlieferung im Horizont von Magie und Damonismus

Abstract

Wunder und Wundertater im fruhrabbinischen Judentum: Studien zum Phanomen und seiner Uberlieferung im Horizont von Magie und Damonismus, by Michael Becker. WUNT 2/144. Tubingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 2002. Pp. xviii + 534. euro74.00 (paper). This large study, a doctoral dissertation supervised by Heinz-Wolfgang Kuhn, was accepted in the winter semester of 1999/2000 at the School of Protestant Theology of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. It has been slightly revised for publication. Not least because of the differences between modern and ancient views on miracles, and therefore the difficulties involved in any study of miracles, Becker is sensitive to the constant need to make the text his point of departure. Almost a century ago there was a controversy in which Paul Fiebig (1876-1949) became convinced of the closeness of Jesus to the rabbis. On the other hand, Adolf Schlatter (1852-1938) disputed that Judaism proved a model for the miraculous activity of Jesus on the extraordinary grounds that neither Josephus nor the Mishnah contain any miracle story that dates back to the first century of this era. Many have interacted with and contributed to the field over the succeeding years. In ch. 1 Becker notes, in particular, the form critics Rudolf Bultmann and Martin Dibelius, as well as Isaak Heinemann, Alexander Guttmann, Max Kadushin, Leopold Sabourin, Kurt Hruby, Kurt Schubert, Ephraim E. Urbach, and Jacob Neusner (pp. 20-30). One of the things this history of the research shows is the importance of distinguishing carefully between the literary and historical levels of the texts (p. 32). Decker's investigation offers the first complete monograph since the FiebigSchlatter debate, dealing particularly with miracles and miracle workers in the rabbinic tradition. At the same time-as part 3, his significant epilogue, shows (pp. 417-42)-he seeks to deepen understanding of the Jesus tradition. Considering internal developments within Judaism over time and maintaining a sensitivity to the strange world with which he is dealing, Becker sets out to show that the representation of miracles and miracle workers in the early rabbinic literature is multilayered, as it is for any aspect of the study of any literature of late ancient times. Therefore, the section on methodology (pp. 32-49) is as important as it is sensitive to the problems of the age of the traditions, the quality of the texts, and the possibility of using this material to interact with the NT. Before coming to the heart of his research, Becker spends a great deal of time-perhaps too much time-on matters relating to magic (ch. 3) and demonology (ch. 4). Attempting-only somewhat successfully-to resist modern confusion over the nature of magic, and recognizing the need to define magic contextually, he takes account in particular of David Aune's definitions of magic as religious and, within this deviance, as managing supernatural powers in such a way that results are virtually guaranteed (Magic in Early Christianity, ANRW 2.23.2 [1980]: 1515). However, in arguing that deviance is only one-even if a prominent-aspect of magic, Becker seeks to draw attention to the need for the discussion to involve emic and etic descriptions of social, historical, and theological aspects of magic. Therefore, his starting point is the text and the opinions of the rabbis. (See his discussion in a wider context in Die 'Magie'-Problematik der Antike-Genugt eine sozialwissenschaftliche Erfassung? ZRGG 54 [2002]: 1-22.) This perspective is relevant for the study of Jesus (pp. 423-30): it shows at least that the charge of magic coming from outsiders is not useful in describing the inner motivation of Jesus' miracle working. However, I would challenge Becker that this perspective also shows-from the evidence of the Zauberpapyri-that we are unable to characterize Jesus as a magician in terms of his technique. Becker notes that the understanding of the relationship of early rabbis to magic changed over time. …