In
the Coptic Life of Onnophrius,
the anchorite Timothy shares the story of his miraculous healing of a painful liver condition. Timothy explains how a man described as extraordinarily glorious (ⲉϥϩⲁⲉⲟⲟⲩ
ⲉⲙⲁⲧⲉ) appeared and performed liver surgery without any medical
tools in desert isolation. After the surgery, the glorious man admonishes Timothy, “Do not sin again so that no worse evil happen to you.” In essence, the text associates his sinful past behavior with his current medical predicament. I argue that such a story
plays into larger narratives of associating physical impairment and infirmity with moral and ethical transgressions so that the tale indicates that moral failings are written upon the body.
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