Ókori csodák, csodatevők és csodaelbeszélések „Számtalan csoda van...” – bevezető gondolatok
Ancient Miracles, Wonder-workers and Miracle Stories

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I examined ancient (mostly Greek) literary texts of different genres, asking what types of miracles are reported, and how the authors of these different texts relate to miracles. If we compare the miracles of ancient Greek literature and other ancient texts with the miracles of the New Testament (or the Bible), we see an almost complete overlap in the types of miracles. In each miracle, the reader can easily find its New Testament (biblical) „counterpart”. Thus, we can juxtapose – phenomenologically speaking – the „transfiguration” of Odysseus and of Jesus, or the Apollonius of Tyana’s miraculous escapes and the escape-stories of Acts. We can see that miracles, the mirabilia are undoubtedly a literary genre with a long tradition in Greek culture, but we are also able to see that in most of the classical works we have examined, compared with the Gospels the „authorial” intentions are quite different. The authorial intention in the classical or other ancient Greek (or Latin) texts may be delighting (novels), imparting knowledge (Pausanias), inducing catharsis (dramas), a kind of enlightening on a scientific basis (Strabo), or even counterpropaganda (Philostratus). In the miracles stories of the Gospels, the intention is clearly to bring the reader to faith. The reader of the Gospels is encouraged to perceive that the miracles are not interesting in themselves, they are merely signs that can convince us that Jesus is the Christ (John 20:30–31).

• Details
• Contents