![]() However, such scholarly profiles have been exposed as distortions, plagued by uncritical subjectivity and contextual neglect. Driven initially by post-Enlightenment rationalism and later by the psychologizing and moralizing tendencies of late nineteenth-century Romanticism, these portraits separated the “authentic” Jesus of history from the “mythical” Christ of faith (presumed to be manufactured by the evangelists and early church) in an effort to get at the real Jesus of Nazareth and make him relevant for a modern age. As Blackwell, Goodrich, and Maston explain: “failure to immerse oneself within the religious environment of the New Testament world will likely result in not only unconscious imposition of alien meaning onto the biblical text but also a poorer understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ” (27).Ī prime example of this failure are the so-called quests for the historical Jesus that began in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, producing historical portraits through academic methods of inquiry. The Second Gospel, like the rest of the Bible, was written at a time and in a culture quite different from our own, which necessitates contextual immersion. The study of Mark’s Gospel is no different. Reading the Gospel of Mark Wisely in Its Jewish ContextĪs most second-year biblical-studies students will know, reading the Gospels wisely requires careful consideration of a passage’s historical-cultural context. (14–15)īelow is a brief introduction to the substance of this resource, offering insight into how interested students can read the Gospel of Mark in light of Second Temple Judaism. The book will thus be of great value both to anyone wanting a text-based introduction to the first-century Jewish world and to anyone wanting to think their way through Mark’s Gospel in its original setting. It introduces the reader to many of the most important Jewish texts of the period, but it does so by following through the sequence of Mark’s Gospel, thus providing a kind of running commentary on the whole of this vital and early Christian text. Through a series of accessible essays that compare and contrast viewpoints, theologies, and hermeneutical practices of Mark and his various Jewish contemporaries, this resource illuminates the Gospel of Mark in light of Second Temple Jewish literature. Reading Mark in Context(edited by Ben Blackwell, John Goodrich, and Jason Maston) sits at the center of this conversation by helping interested readers see the contour and texture of Jesus’ engagement with his Jewish environment. Over the last several decades, the Jewishness of Jesus has been at the forefront of scholarship and students of the New Testament are more than ever aware of the importance of understanding Jesus and the Gospels in their Jewish context. ![]() Yet not all readings of Mark are equally illuminating or transformative. Although undervalued for centuries, Mark’s Gospel is now celebrated as a cleverly crafted ancient biography, emphasizing action, irony, and intrigue over more direct and discursive modes of theologizing. ![]() The Gospel of Mark is widely considered the earliest and most influential narrative of the ministry and passion of Jesus Christ. ![]() For Students Pursue a deeper knowledge of God through self-paced college- and seminary-level online courses in Old and New Testament studies, theology, biblical Greek, and more.For Instructors and School Administrators Enhance your school’s traditional and online education programs by easily integrating online courses developed from the scholars and textbooks you trust.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |