A rigorous analysis of Mark 6:45-56 (Jesus' sea-walk). The first part of the book argues that, given the complexities which challenge the reader in Mark 6:45-56, traditional historical-critical approaches lack the terminology and conceptual categories necessary to provide an adequate elucidation of the passage in all its fantastic array. The second part proposes a theoretical framework for scholars to examine the Gospel of Mark using tools and terms often associated with fantasy literature, and suggests that this gospel is best viewed as an illustration of ancient fantastic fiction. The final part of the book shows how the tools of fantasy studies can be applied to the gospel, using Mark 6:45-56 as a case in point.
This work presents a literary interpretation of Babylon in the book of Jeremiah MT. It moves beyond historical-critical approaches, which have long dominated Jeremiah research, and shows that metaphor is central to a synchronic reading of the book. The study shows that Babylon is a multi-layered metaphor: at one level it is the archetypal enemy of both Judah and its God; at another level it is metaphorically identified with Judah. The study also explores the idea of the unended exile, and shows how this idea, so central to post-exilic Judaism, is also found in the book of Jeremiah MT.
Narrative criticism is a relatively recent development that applies literary methods to the study of Scripture. James Resseguie suggests that this approach to reading the Bible treats the text as a self-contained unit and avoids complications raised by other critical methods of interpretation. Resseguie begins with an introductory chapter that surveys the methods of narrative criticism and how they can be used to discover important nuances of meaning through what he describes as a "close reading" of the text. He then devotes chapters to the principal rhetorical devices: setting, point of view, character, rhetoric, plot, and reader. Readers will find here an accessible introduction to the subject of narrative criticism and a richly rewarding approach to reading the Bible.
This unique contribution to Markan studies reads Mark's story of Jesus from a postcolonial perspective. It proposes that Mark need not necessarily be treated in an oversimplified polarity as an anti- or pro-colonial discourse. Instead it may be treated as a postcolonial discourse, i.e. as a hybrid discourse that accommodates and disrupts both the native Jewish and the Roman colonial discourses of power. It shows that Mark accommodates itself into a strategic third space in between the variegated native Jewish and the Roman colonial discourses in order to enunciate its own voice. As an ambivalent and hybrid discourse it mimics and mocks, accommodates and disrupts both the Jewish as well as the Roman colonial voices. The portrait of Jesus in Mark, which Samuel shows to be encoding also the portrait of a community, exhibits a colonial/ postcolonial conundrum which can neither be damned as pro- nor be praised as anti-colonial in nature. Instead the portrait of Jesus in Mark may be appreciated as a strategic essentialist and transcultural hybrid, in which the claims of difference and the desire for transculturality are both contradictorily present and visible. In showing such a portrait and invoking a complex discursive strategy Mark as the discourse of a subject community is not alone or unique in the Graeco-Roman world. A number of discourses-historical, creative novelistic and apocalyptic-of the subject Greek and Jewish communities in the eastern Mediterranean under the imperium of Rome from the second century BCE to the end of the first century CE exhibit very similar postcolonial traits which one may add to be not far from the postcolonial traits of a number of postcolonial creative writings and cultural discourses of the colonial subject and the dominated post-colonial communities of our time.
Double Standards in Isaiah examines from a reader-orientated perspective the ethical teaching of the largest and most important of the prophetic books, and addresses the most crucial ethical issue in biblical studies: how can Yahweh justly demand such high standards of conduct for his people when he fails to live by them himself? The author considers the role of this dilemma throughout Isaiah, concluding that the 'double standards' in operation are, for Isaiah, the inevitable by-product of the prophet's vision of Yahweh's exalted status and moral superiority. This provocative book offers a unique and creative approach to the difficulty of representing the character and conduct of God, and will be essential reading for students of Isaiah and anyone with an interest in the many ethical problems of the Hebrew Bible.
This book offers the first large-scale investigation into the attitude of the historical Jesus towards covenant belief, the dominant theme of the Judaism of Jesus' day. The book, intended as part one of a two-volume investigation, takes its point of departure in a simple question which nevertheless integrally reflects the covenant thinking of the time: Was Jesus engaged in trying to find out how to remain faithful to the covenant? Current scholarship underlines both the importance of the covenant belief for early Judaism and the need for considering Jesus as being within Judaism. Studying how Jesus viewed the covenant leads right to the heart of the matter, both illuminating his relation to Judaism and providing a significant, still unexamined vantage point for his proclamation.
How Baptism and the Eucharist Shaped Early Christian Understandings of Jesus Long before the Gospel writers put pen to papyrus, the earliest Christians participated in the powerful rituals of baptism and the Lord's Supper, which fundamentally shaped their understanding of God, Christ, and the world in which they lived. In this volume, a respected biblical scholar and teacher explores how cultural anthropology and ritual studies elucidate ancient texts. Charles Bobertz offers a liturgical reading of the Gospel of Mark, arguing that the Gospel is a narrative interpretation of early Christian ritual. This fresh, responsible, and creative proposal will benefit scholars, professors, and students. Its ecclesial and pastoral ramifications will also be of interest to church leaders and pastors.
In this literary analysis of the Gospel of John, Resseguie examines rhetoric, setting, character, and plot to uncover the Gospel’s unique point of view. He shows the usefulness of the concepts of defamiliarization and point of view for understanding how the narrator makes the familiar seem strange. A material, familiar point of view that is voiced by the dominant culture is compared with a defamiliarized, strange point of view that is expressed by Jesus and the disenfranchised. Through close readings of narrative texts, the author develops and elaborates the theological perspective of John, which emerges in the clash of differing points of view. The introduction defines “objective” and “subjective” point of view, and shows the value of the works of Boris Uspensky and Susan Sniader Lanser for understanding the Gospel of John. In chapter one, irony, misunderstandings, and double entendres are shown to be important rhetorical tools in the Gospel’s attempt to make the familiar seem strange. Chapter two discusses point of view as it is expressed in architectural settings (sheepfold, garden, courtyard, praetorium, well, temple, and tomb) and in topographical settings (sea, mountain). Chapter three highlights the distinct points of view of Jesus, Nicodemus, religious authorities, the world, the royal official, the man at the pool, the man born blind, Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, the beloved disciple, and Judas. Chapter four discusses the point of view that emerges from an analysis of the plot. The final chapter is a summary of the narrative’s singular point of view. This work is a suitable introduction to a literary analysis of the Gospel of John. It makes an important contribution to narrative criticism on the Fourth Gospel in particular, and to our understanding of defamiliarization and point of view in general. The book confronts head-on habitualized and familiar ways of thinking in the ancient world and today.
After sketching the history of modern criticism, this work examines the dating of New Testament books and their techniques of biblical citation, Paul's mission to Spain, the hypothesis of 'innocent' apostolic pseudepigrapha, and the use of preformed traditions in Paul's christology.
The recovery of 800 documents in the eleven caves on the northwest shores of the Dead Sea is one of the most sensational archeological discoveries in the Holy Land to date. These three volumes, the very best of critical scholarship, demonstrate in detail how the scrolls have revolutionized our knowledge of the text of the Bible, the character of Second Temple Judaism, and the Jewish beginnings of Christianity.
