Christ of the Miracle Stories: Portrait Through Encounter

Veering away from the academic norm (Bultmann, Theissen, Dibelius) that has historically focused on the actual phenomena and messages in the New Testament miracle accounts, Cotter brings attention to the way Jesus responds to the petitionerand what the anecdotes reveal about his person, character, and power. She addresses the function of the miracle stories prior to their incorporation into the gospels, contextualizes the behavior and speech of the supplicants against the cultural backdrop of the Greco-Roman world, and reveals the exampleand challengeof the portrait of the compassionate Christ.