Bible. New Testament -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.; Christianity -- Origin; Paul, the Apostle, Saint
Three days, it seems, and no more, did Paul and his suite stay at the
house of this Publius. Was it during that time, or not till afterwards,
that Paul performed on him those ceremonies, of which healing is
represented as having been the consequence? Was it within that same
space of time, or not till afterwards, that the healing is supposed to
have taken place? As to the English word _healing_, it cannot be accused
of being indecisive. But in some languages they have words, by which a
very convenient veil is thrown over the result. In the languages in
question, for the endeavour to heal, whether successful or unsuccessful,
the word employed is the same. The Latin affords one of these convenient
words, _curo_. The Greek has another, _iasato_, and in the Greek
original of this history, this is the word employed.
In a case where a ceremony and nothing else is trusted to, it being
supposed that the patient really has the disease, the safe and prudent
course is, so to order times and seasons, that between the time of
performing the ceremony, and the time at which restoration to health is
expected to take place, the time shall have come for the practitioner to
have shifted quarters; for, in this case, this is an interval more or
less considerable during which it being taken for granted that the
desired result will take place of course, reward, in the shapes of
profit and honour, will pour in upon the scientific head.
Here, as elsewhere, not only no _symptoms_ are particularized, but no
_place_ is mentioned: no _time_ is particularized, no _persons_ are
mentioned as _percipient witnesses_: even the individual who was the
subject of the cure is not mentioned by name.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account