Did Jesus answer fan mail?
Dr. James Corke-WebsterThe Abgar Legend tells the story of the King of Osroene, who (it's said) got into a correspondence with Jesus. Are these letters real?
Learn about this Garden Talk
If you are rich and suffering from serious illness today, you can afford to call in the best doctors from around the world. Now go back 2000 years, and imagine being ill when mortality rates were much, much worse. What if you heard of a miraculous Palestinian preacher handing out healings? You'd write to him as soon as possible. But would he write back?
Join James Corke-Webster in this stunning talk on the Abgar Legend, the story of the King of Osroene who not only wrote to Jesus asking to be cured but who received a letter – and more – in return. Maybe. Are these letters real? And if not, why were they invented?
Read this talk's transcriptTalk outline
50 minutes
30 minute talk
20 minute Member Q&A
Dr James Corke-Webster is a Senior Lecturer in Classics, History and Liberal Arts, and Co-Director of the Centre for Late Antique and Medieval Studies.
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