Methodist Bishop

Matthew 17.14-20 This is a passage that is riddled with false assumptions. Let’s start with the prejudice against people with epilepsy. Straight away Matthew strikes the wrong note. The man's son is not an epileptic. To admit any such thing would be to allow his illness to define him. Rather, he’s someone who has epilepsy, which sometimes - perhaps occasionally, but perhaps as much as several times a day even - disrupts the normal flow of the son’s life. Nonetheless, he’s not an epileptic. He’s a human being with a disabling condition called epilepsy. Then again, there is the assumption that epilepsy is associated in some way with darkness and demonic possession. It's certainly a mysterious condition; even today the cause can be unknown, but the prejudice against people with epilepsy is absolutely unjustified. It's a physical condition which can often be controlled very effectively with medication. The third false assumption is that it's not accepta...