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June 14, 2012

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Gospel of Matthew linked to bizarre trail of self-mutilations

June 13, 2012
Special to World Science  

It hap­pens only spo­rad­ic­ally—a bit more than eve­ry three years on av­er­age, judg­ing by pub­lished med­i­cal re­ports—but that makes it no less dis­turb­ing each time for hos­pi­tal staff faced with the situa­t­ion.

“It” may be de­scribed by cit­ing the most re­cent ex­am­ple, re­ported in a med­i­cal jour­nal last month: that of a 62-year-old man whom physi­cians dubbed Mr. P to pro­tect his pri­va­cy. Mr. P showed up at the emer­gen­cy room of St. Joseph’s Hos­pi­tal and Med­i­cal Cen­ter in Phoe­nix, Ariz., com­plain­ing of a case of “Mat­thew 19:12.” Asked to clar­i­fy, he just kept re­peat­ing the same thing: Mat­thew 19:12.

The nurse on du­ty searched the In­ter­net for Mat­thew 19:12. The re­sult was, to put it mild­ly, wor­ri­some. The Bib­li­cal verse, as she learn­ed, reads as fol­lows.

For there are some eu­nuchs, which were so born from their moth­er’s womb; and there are some eu­nuchs, which were made eu­nuchs of men; and there be eu­nuchs, which have made them­selves eu­nuchs for the king­dom of heav­en’s sa­ke. He that is able to re­ceive it, let him re­ceive it.

It happens only sporadically, a bit more than every three years on average, but that makes it no less disturbing each time for hospital staff faced with the situation. “It” may be described by citing the most recent example, reported in medical literature last month: that of a 62-year-old man whom physicians dubbed Mr. P to protect his privacy. Mr. P showed up at the emergency room of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz., complaining of a case of “Matthew 19:12.” Asked to clarify, he just kept repeating the same thing: Matthew 19:12. The nurse on duty searched the Internet for Matthew 19:12. The result was, to put it mildly, worrisome. The Biblical verse, as she learned, reads as follows. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb; and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men; and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. As it quickly became clear, Mr. P had made this hospital visit unaccompanied by his penis. That, he explained, he had flushed down the toilet three days ago after severing it with a pocket knife. His testicles were also absent—removed four years earlier at Mr. P’s request by a doctor in Mexico. Although his speech and thoughts appeared muddled, Mr. P did state that he had “done this because his penis had caused him to sin and as an eunuch he could be closer to God as described in Matthew 19:12,” three researchers affiliated with St. Joseph’s wrote in a report describing the incident. Mr. P also claimed to have pondered the decision for months before acting. Mr. P. received urgent medical treatment at St. Joseph’s, including a skin graft onto the stump. He was then locked up in a local psychiatric hospital by court order, leaving little but questions behind. The three investigators proceeded to search an online medical literature database, PubMed, for other cases of this nature. They discovered that the Bible—indeed, the Gospel of Matthew specifically—has left a trail of self-mutilations inspired largely by four of its verses. The bloody toll listed in case reports dating back to 1967—PubMed doesn’t go back much further—included three partially or fully amputated penises; four pairs of castrated testicles; three amputated hands and 11 severely damaged eyeballs. Saws, circular saws, screwdrivers and pencils were among the tools used for the horrifying procedures, although several patients put out their eyes with their fingers alone. “Our literature review revealed 16 patients in addition to [Mr. P] who had injured themselves in connection with specific religious text,” the researchers wrote. Their review of the cases is published in the May 29 online issue of the research journal Psychosomatics All but one of the patients were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders or psychotic disorders or had substance abuse issues, they wrote; Mr. P., for example, “had a long history of severe bipolar illness marked by hyper-religious delusions.” And every case was connected with at least one of four verses in Matthew’s Gospel: 19:12, 18:8, 5:29 and 5:30. The three latter verses are more cryptic than the first, referenced by Mr. P. What they have in common is that they appear to suggest that if a hand, foot or right eye are somehow offensive, cutting them off is the way to go, because at least, that much less of the body will end up in Hell. “Several biblical verses reference self-mutilation as metaphoric acts of sacrifice or contrition,” wrote the researchers, who included psychiatrist Jason P. Caplan of St. Joseph’s and the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Neb. “Some individuals may interpret these passages literally and act on them, causing significant injury and even inadvertent death.” “Psychiatrists should be aware of the content of these four verses to aid in timely diagnosis and intervention if they were to arise in discussion with a patient,” they added. “It is interesting to note that no cases cite the Gospel of Mark despite very similar content (i.e., Mark 9:43, which reads ‘And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched’).” “Individuals who rationalize their actions through biblical passages appear to have a series of features that make them a unique cohort with specific challenges regarding prognosis and treatment,” Caplan and colleagues wrote. Many of them have no regrets about their actions; deliberately destroy the body part to prevent its reattachment; resist efforts to successfully reattach it if that does occur; and are uncooperative with other aspects of treatment, they added. A patient was quoted in the 1967 report saying: “Even if I do get certified [insane] and in the eyes of the world I am mad it is far better for me to have cleansed myself.” “Ideas of reference (specifically, that the Bible directly refers to them) is a repeated theme in this group, underscoring a common thread of psychotic disorders,” Caplan and colleagues wrote. “Guilt over sexual acts or desires is another recurrent theme… Recent homosexual experiences occurred in three of the cases of genital self-mutilation.” Four of the 17 self-mutilators were females; they had poked out their eyes or, in one case, amputated a hand. Many patients had self-amputated after failed attempts to persuade doctors to do the deed, the researchers wrote, indicating a need for doctors presented with such requests to refer cases to a psychiatrist immediately. Caplan disclosed in the paper that he is affiliated with Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Avanir Pharmaceuticals. The report did not recommend any specific drug treatments, however. As for how Mr. P is doing currently, Caplan said he doesn’t know. “Once they leave the acute care hospital, we get no further update,” he wrote in an email.