Additional information
by Zorodzai Dube (Author)
This book takes the established fields of orality, performance, and first-century Christian healthcare studies further by combining analogues of praise performances to Apollo, Asclepius, and those from the Dondo people of South Eastern Zimbabwe to propose that Jesus's healing stories in Mark's Gospel are praise-giving narratives to Jesus as the best folk healer within the region of Capernaum. The book argues that the memory of Jesus as the folk healer from Capernaum survived and possibly functioned in similar contexts of praise-giving within early Christian households. The book goes through each healing story in Mark's Gospel and imaginatively listens to it through the ears of analogue from praise-giving given to Greek healers/heroes and similar practices among the Dondo people. The power, completeness, and effectiveness in which Jesus healed each of the mentioned conditions provoke praise-giving from the listeners to the best folk healer in the village. In each instance, while Mark is calling for attention to the new healer, more so, he is raving praise-giving.
Author Biography
Zorodzai Dube is senior lecturer in New Testament Studies at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He is the author of several articles that include, "Ritual Healing Theory and Mark's Healing Jesus: Implications for Healing Rituals within African Pentecostal Churches" (2019), "Models and Perspectives Concerning the Identity of Jesus as Healer" (2018), "Reception of Jesus as Healer in Mark's Community" (2018), and "The Talmud, the Hippocratic Corpus and Mark's Healing Jesus on Infectious Diseases" (2018).
