The Politics of Exorcism: Jesus’ Reaction to Negative Labels in the Beelzebul Controversy

     After a detailed historico-critical analysis of the different sayings contained in the Beelzebul Controversy, the accusation of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, and Jesus' reactions to it, are studied using some models developed by social -scientific studies of deviant behavior. This kind of approach helps to discover more clearly the meaning attached by Jesus' accusers to that negative label. At the same time, the strategy followed by Jesus in his different answers reveals the political consequences of the exorcisms of Jesus.

Journal or Book: Biblical Theology Bulletin 29 (1999) 118-129 [Reprinted in: G. Theissen – W. Stegemann – B. J. Malina, The Social Setting of Jesus and the Gospels, Fortress Press, Minneapolis 2002, 159-174]
Publication Date: 1999