Hate never dispelled hate: no place for the pharmakos

Abstract

Pharmakoi in Revelation 22:15 are situated outside the holy city thus stating that there is no place in a peaceful society for blaming others for the fault that is their own. This idea of blame and revenge lies at the very heart of society, and Jesus in his death as a pharmakos uncovers the mechanism of blame and revenge which generates violence. In this article I examine occurrences of pharmakos-type words and consider them in the Septuagint, in Greek literature, and in the book of Revelation, showing that Girard's mimetic theory can be detected in the book of Revelation.

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The Sophoclean Oedipus Rex has been described as an Athenian mystery play in which the Athenians purge their collective guilt by punishing a scapegoat (Fergusson). This scapegoat is known in Greek literature as the pharmakus (see Liddell-Scott: 752; Dodds: 37; Burkert: 82-44; Bremmer: 299-320; Hengel: 27; Girard: 51; Aune: 1132; Strelan: 148). Classical scholars have shown much interest in the idea of being cleansed of sin through the offering of a scapegoat (see especially Bremmer). In spite of this, New Testament commentators miss the possibility that occurrences of this word may refer also to the practice of a scapegoat sacrifice in the book of Revelation. It is surprising that there is a lack of detailed comment among scholars on what the Greek word pharmakos actually suggests in the book of Revelation. The general consensus is to take the word to mean "the use of magic potions and charms in incantations and degraded religious practices" (Ladd: 139). In other words, pharmakos is taken to convey ideas associated with sorcery. "Sorcery," however, is not well understood in bible-theology scholarship, and this has prevented gaining a fuller understanding of biblical texts. Those accused of witchcraft can, for example, be simply those who break with the dominant ethic of society. Among the Melpa of the New Guinea Highland, those who consumed too much were accused of being witches (Stratern: 111-13; Janzen: 72-74). We must, therefore, be careful not to restrict the possible meanings for the term pharmakos in the book of Revelation to just sorcery.

Rick Strelan in his article on sorcerers in Revelation argues that John is referring to the cult of Hecate and the scapegoat sacrifice (148-57). Girard's work is also helpful where he designates pharmakos as one who "becomes the remedy of the crisis" (2001: 51-52; cf. Dodds: 37, 43; Burkert: 82-84; Bremmer: 299-320). In doing so, he makes the important connection between sorcerers and scapegoats. Beasley-Murray also intimates at this understanding when he acknowledges that "murder" is subsumed within the meaning of pharmakos (166). Scapegoats, like sorcerers, are people who are associated with bringing healing to various situations. The fact that in Philostratus' LIFE OF APOLLONIUS OF TYANA, the magician Apollonius removes the plague that had blighted the Ephesians with the offering of a pharmakos should alert us to the connection between the two (Bremmer; Girard 2001).

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that John's intention in placing the pharmakos outside the holy city in 22:15 was to hint at a more precise association than just magic; it refers to the magic by which people restore harmony to their world through scapegoat sacrifice, i.e. blame and retaliation. In particular I suggest that the pharmakos in Revelation 22:15 is situated outside the holy city to indicate that there is no place in a peaceful society for blaming others for the fault that is their own. This idea of blame and revenge lies at the very heart of society, and Jesus in his death as a pharmakos uncovers the mechanism of blame and revenge that generates violence. The message is simply: "No more innocent deaths." Also, the practice of blame and revenge is connected with politics and economics. John sees those who compromise with Rome to be practising sorcery through excessive consumption of the resources of the provinces in the same way that the Melpa blamed the misfortunes that befell them on those who consumed excessively.

Girard and Pharmakos

Girard sees in Greek myth the phenomenon of people blaming others for the violence in themselves. This "other" is the pharmakos. Girard calls the pharmakos "the victim" whom we kill believing that we are rooting out violence and creating peace (1996: 163). Alison expresses it well: "We are all, always and everywhere, immensely violent creatures, and the only way which we have to control this violence is the search for collective unanimity against a victim" (1998:21). This phenomenon in society Girard calls "single victim mechanism."

Girard believes that Jesus is the innocent victim of a group in crisis, which, for a time at any rate, is united against him. Girard writes: "The passion is presented as a blatant piece of injustice. Far from taking the collective violence upon itself, the text places it squarely on those who are responsible for it. It lets the violence fall upon the heads of those to whom it belongs"(1996: 165). Unlike in the Sophoclean OEDIPUS REX, the gospel passion of Jesus does not restore peace, but puts the blame of Jesus' death at the feet of the perpetrators (1996:211-21). Jesus calls his followers to imitate him. Girard puts it simply: "When we identify with the person in need or who has been victimized, we encounter the Son of Man, Jesus Christ" (1996: 279). Alison writes that all who imitate Jesus "receive their identities as human beings through an entirely nonrivalrous, nonenvious, nongrasping practice of life" (1998: 168). We must see the violence in ourselves so that we can identify with the victims of history. It follows, therefore, that there is no place in the peaceable kingdom for scapegoats.