Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel

David M. Rhoads, Joanna Dewey, Donald Michie

Fortress Press, 1999 - Religion - 176 pages

Mark as Story has proved to be a useful resource for laypersons, students, and clergy for fifteen years. It introduces the Gospel of Mark as a unified composition, laying bare the narrative thread as well as the basic motifs. It is marked throughout by clarity, freshness, and a lively style.

Contents

• The Gospel of Mark: 8
• The Gospel of Mark: 10
• The Narrator: 39
• The narrator speaks from outside the story world: 40
• Marks narrator is fully omniscient: 41
• The narrator gives the reader privileged knowledge: 42
• The Narrators Point of View: 43
• The narrators standards of judgment: 44
• The Narrators Style and Tempo: 46
• The Narrators Patterns of Repetition in Storytelling: 47
• Foreshadowing and retrospection: 48
• Twostep progressions: 49
• Typescenes: 51
• Framing episodes: 52
• Progressive episodes in series of three: 54
• Other Literary Features: 55
• Riddles: 56
• Quotations from the writings: 58
• Prophecies: 59
• Irony: 60
• Conclusion: 61
• The Settings: 63
• Cosmic Settings: 64
• The PoliticalCultural Setting: 65
• Journey: 66
• Gentile territory: 67
• The journey to Jerusalem: 68
• Settings recalling Israels past: 69
• The sea: 70
• The journey as the way of God: 71
• Conclusion: 72
• The Plot: 73
• Beginning middle and end: 74
• The fulfillment or nonfulfillment of expectations: 75
• The outcome of Marks plot: 76
• The plot involves conflict: 77
• The Rule of God Initiates the Conflicts: 78
• The inauguration of the rule of God: 80
• The culmination of the rule of God: 81
• Jesus in Conflict with Nonhuman Forces: 82
• Jesus in Conflict with the Authorities: 84
• The development of the conflict in the plot: 85
• The journey to Jerusalem: 86
• Defending Gods law: 87
• Message and evasion: 88
• The resolution of the conflict: 89
• Jesus in Conflict with the Disciples: 90
• The journey to Jerusalem: 91
• Jerusalem: 92
• Making faithful disciples: 94
• The resolution of the conflict: 95
• Conclusion: 96
• The Characters I Jesus: 98
• Characters as types: 100
• Standards of judgment: 101
• Comparison and contrast: 102
• Identification with characters: 103
• Characterization: 104
• Agent of the rule of God: 105
• Faith: 107
• Renouncing self being least and losing life for others: 109
• Jesus faces death: 110
• The execution: 111
• The meaning of Jesus crucifixion: 112
• The empty grave: 115
• The Characters II The Authorities the Disciples and the People: 116
• No authority from God: 117
• Blind and deaf: 118
• Willful blindness: 119
• The authorities save themselves: 120
• Fear is at the root of their actions: 121
• The reader and the authorities: 122
• Characterization: 123
• Faith loyalty and authority: 124
• Lack of understanding fear and lack of faith: 125
• Fear and flight in Jerusalem: 127
• After the resurrection: 128
• The People: 129
• Characterization: 130
• Losing life being least and serving: 131
• Women: 132
• Comparison and contrast with other characters: 133
• The crowds: 134
• The reader and the minor characters: 135
• The Reader: 137
• Experiencing the rule of God: 139
• Facing persecution and execution in Jerusalem: 140
• The ending: 142
• Hypothetical FirstCentury Audiences: 143
• Contemporary Readers: 146
• Reading as a Dialogue The Ethics of Reading: 147
• Exercises for an Overall Literary Analysis of Mark: 151
• Exercises for a Narrative Analysis of Episodes: 154
• Notes: 160

Bibliographic information

• Title: Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel
• Authors: David M. Rhoads, Joanna Dewey, Donald Michie
• Publisher: Fortress Press, 1999
• ISBN: 0800631609, 9780800631604
• Length: 176 pages
• Subjects: Religion / Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / New Testament; Religion / Biblical Studies / New Testament