A Preface to Mark: Notes on the Gospel in Its Literary and Cultural Settings / Edition 1

by Christopher Bryan

Overview

A Preface to Mark is a literary study which, from the standpoint of the newer critical methodologies, explores two questions. First, Bryan attempts to determine what kind of text Mark would have been seen to be, both by its author and by others who encountered it near the time of its writing. He examines whether Mark should be seen as an example of any particular literary type, and if so which. He concludes that a comparison of Mark with other texts of the period leads inevitably to the conclusion that Mark's contemporaries would broadly have characterized his work as a "life". Second, Bryan looks at the evidence that exists to indicate whether Mark, like so much else of its period, was written to be read aloud. He points out ways in which Mark's narrative would have worked particularly well as rhetoric. The first examination of Mark as a whole in the light of contemporary studies of orality and oral transmission, A Preface to Mark not only shows us Mark in its original setting, but also suggests ways in which our own encounter with Marks text may be significantly enriched. Its accessible style will serve as a good introduction to the Gospel for students as well as the general reader.

"A good introduction to Mark for both students and general readers....As interesting as it is informative". -- Choice

"The book is informative and refreshing due to its interaction with a variety of Graeco-Roman sources". -- Journal for the Study of the New Testament

"...a readable, well-argued discussion....Byran has written a useful book hat should be given due consideration". -- Biblical Studies

"A well-reasoned discussion..". -- Church Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195115673
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	01/28/1997
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.72(d)

Table of Contents

	Prologue: Looking at Mark	3
	Scope of the Inquiry	3
	Purpose of the Inquiry	4
Part I	What Kind of Text Is Mark?
1.	The Question of Genre	9
	The Significance of Genre	9
	On Recognizing Genre	12
2.	Mark's Milieu	16
3.	A Genre for Mark	22
4.	How to Show That Mark Is a Hellenistic "Life,"	27
5.	Mark as a Hellenistic "Life,"	32
	Title	32
	Opening Features	33
	Subject	35
	Setting	38
	Arrangement of Material	39
	Characterization	42
	Sources and Units of Composition	47
	Common Motifs	50
	Written Style	53
	Length	56
	Function	57
	Preliminary Conclusion	61
Part II	Was Mark Written to Be Read Aloud?
6.	Orality and Oral Transmission	67
7.	Some Characteristics of Oral Composition	72
	Orality and Narrative	72
	Orality and Hyperbole	73
	Orality and Parataxis	74
	Orality and Formula	75
	Oral Techniques and Communication	78
	Oral Style and Mark	81
8.	Mark and Oral Transmission	82
	Understanding Mark's Structure	82
	Mark's Overall Arrangement	83
9.	An Analysis of Mark's Structure	85
Part I.	Prologue. Witness to the Coming One: In the Wilderness (1:1-8)	85
Part II.	The Ministry of Jesus: In and around Galilee (1:9-8:21)	86
Part III.	Jesus Teaches the Way of the Cross: On the Road to Jerusalem (8:22-10:52)	99
Part IV.	The Passion of Jesus: In and around Jerusalem (11:1-15:41)	104
Part V.	Epilogue: Witness to the Crucified and Risen One: At the Tomb (15:42-16:8)	120
10.	Oral Characteristics of Mark's Style	126
	Oral Style	126
	Episodes Showing Jesus' Wit and Wisdom	126
	Episodes Showing Jesus the Man of Deed	128
	Parables	129
	Narrative Summaries	131
	The Passion	132
11.	As It Is Written: Oral Characteristics of Mark's Appeals to Scripture	136
	Mark's Use of Scripture: 1:1-13	137
	Allusion and Reminiscence	143
	Mark's Two Precise Quotations	148
	Scriptural Tradition as a Means of Articulation	149
12.	Conclusions: Mark in Its Setting	152
	A Writer Who Wrote to Be Heard	152
	Was Mark's Gospel Composed Orally?	153
	The Author of a Hellenistic "Life,"	154
	A "Scribal" Mark?	155
	Mark the Prophetic Charismatic?	156
	Mark the Evangelist and the First Urban Christians	159
13.	Unscientific Postscripts	163
	Many Traditions and One Gospel	163
	The Significance of the Story	166
	Gospel and Performance	167
Appendix	Examples of Popular Greek Prose from the First and Second Centuries of the Christian Era	173
	Abbreviations	184
	Bibliography	185
	Index to Modern Authors	201
	Index to Ancient Sources	204
	Subject Index	207
	Scriptural Index	214

Editorial Reviews

"A good introduction to Mark for both students and general readers....As interesting as it is informative."—Choice

From the Publisher