Fear and Ecstatic Reaction to the Miracle Stories in the Synoptic Gospels
Paulo Augusto de Souza Nogueira
Original title: Maravilhamento e êxtase religioso como reação aos milagres nos Evangelhos Sinóticos
Published in Expressing the Divine: Language, Art and Mysticism
Keywords: Ecstatic, Jesus, Miracles, Synoptic Gospels..
The Synoptic Miracle Stories have been interpreted with suspicion by modern exegetes. If compared to Jesus’ preaching and to the death and resurrection account they never received a true religious appreciation. In fact, the insertion of the Miracle Stories in the Synoptic Gospels has been considered as a kind of concession by the evangelists: they narrate them, but they show also that the popular reaction to the miracles, even if positive, is dominated by misunderstanding.