Christology in Mark's Gospel
Four Views
- Biblical Studies & Commentaries
- Publisher: Zondervan Academic (Zondervan)
- Published: 2021
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Publisher's Description
Gain Insights on Mark's Christology from Today's Leading Scholars The Gospel of Mark, widely assumed to be the earliest narrative of Jesus's life and the least explicit in terms of Christology, has long served as a worktable for the discovery of Christian origins and developing theologies. The past ten years of scholarship have seen an unprecedented shift toward an early, high Christology, the notion that very early in the history of the Jesus movement his followers worshipped him as God. Other studies have challenged this view, arguing that Mark's story is incomplete, intentionally ambiguous, or presents Jesus in entirely human terms. Christology in Mark's Gospel: Four Views brings together key voices in conversation in order to offer a clear entry point into early Christians' understanding of Jesus's identity: Sandra Huebenthal (Suspended Christology), Larry W. Hurtado (Mark's Presentation of Jesus; with rejoinder by Chris Keith), J. R. Daniel Kirk (Narrative Christology of a Suffering King), and Adam Winn (Jesus as the YHWH of Israel in the Gospel of Mark). Each author offers a robust presentation of their position, followed by lively interaction with the other contributors and one "last-word" rejoinder. The significance of this discussion is contextualized by the general editor Anthony Le Donne's introduction and summarized in the conclusion. The CriticalPoints Series offers rigorous and nuanced engagement between today's best scholars for advancing the scholarship of tomorrow. Like its older sibling, the CounterPoints Series, it provides a forum for comparison and critique of different positions, focusing on critical issues in today's Christian scholarship: in biblical studies, in theology, and in philosophy.
Endorsements (3)
“This book offers four perspectives on the presentation of Jesus in Mark and conversations among the authors of those perspectives. This format reveals both the riches and the ambiguities of Markan Christology. The book would make an excellent contribution to a course on Mark or on early Christologies.”
“Who is Jesus of Nazareth?” The best readings of the Gospel of Mark puzzle together with the narrative’s own characters in answering this question. Is he an extraordinary human or the very presence of Yahweh? The Isaianic Servant or the Davidic Messiah? The Son of God or the Son of David? Perhaps John the Baptist raised from the dead? Can Jesus be categorized under one title, or does he transcend them all? Mark’s Gospel invites its readers to puzzle over these questions from the beginning to the end of the narrative. This book offers a rich smorgasbord for its readers to engage the question of Jesus’s identity in the Gospel of Mark. Readers can listen in on the back-and-forth conversation between four expert scholars on Mark and early Christology and can, in the process, become learned readers of the Gospel themselves—readers who will undoubtedly grow in their ability to give a response to the question: “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?”
“Not many books offer a constructive conversation in which the expert contributors are given “equal time” and voice. This is, however, precisely what happens in Christology in Mark’s Gospel: Four Views, and the result is compelling. By granting integrity to the Gospel of Mark, the contributions and interactive discussions throughout this volume volume will leave readers in no doubt about this Gospel’s declarative yet mysterious take on the human and divine in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The conversation demonstrates why distinct features of Mark’s narrative, embedded in Jewish traditions that took shape in the Levant, would have challenged ancient audiences no less than it inspires those who listen and read it today.”
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