Miraculous healings as a time- and space-conditioned category--the example of St. Thecla.
The phenomenon of miracle has been present in each time period and each civilization, and what has changed was not its definition but its content. Gautama Buddha, Apostle Paul, Mohammed, Church fathers from Origen and Augustine of Hippo to Gregory the Great and Thomas Aquinas were all studying miracles and trying to find out the rules and systematization for them. The present paper explores the intriguing differences (e.g., the proportions of miracle types) and similarities (e.g. saintly "specialization") between some Eastern and Western miracle accounts, analyzing the possible underlying reasons. As a case study, the collection of miracles performed by St. Thecla (Basil of Seleukia, 5th c. AD) has been used. The major conclusion of the paper is that miracle accounts quite consequently reflect cultural differences between East and West.
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Harvard University Medical School, Boston, USA.
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D002016:Buddhism / Q000266:history; D002835:Christianity / Q000266:history*; D029221:Faith Healing / Q000266:history*; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D009228:Mysticism / Q000266:history*; D012068:Religion and Medicine