Reading the beginning of Mark from the perspective of Greco-Roman education
How would a well-educated Christian of the first century have read and assessed the beginning of the Gospel of Mark (1:1–15)? Answering this question reveals much that readers today would otherwise miss. An educated Christian at that time meant being rhetorically trained and so this reader would hav...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
[2017]
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| In: |
Perspectives in religious studies
Year: 2017, Volume: 44, Issue: 3, Pages: 291-309 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Markusevangelium 1,1-15
/ Progymnasma
/ Rhetoric
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| RelBib Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture HC New Testament TB Antiquity |
| Summary: | How would a well-educated Christian of the first century have read and assessed the beginning of the Gospel of Mark (1:1–15)? Answering this question reveals much that readers today would otherwise miss. An educated Christian at that time meant being rhetorically trained and so this reader would have used that training to read the gospel. He would have identified it as a narrative, indeed as a biographical narrative, as seen in the convention of naming the subject's father (1:1) and hometown (1:9). He would have looked to see if these verses displayed the qualities of a narrative, such as clarity, as seen in the use of the nominative case, unlabored diction, and starting at the beginning (1:1). He would have identified these verses as also a rhetorical introduction to the whole of Mark and hence would have read them to see if they fulfilled the functions of an introduction, such as gaining the reader's attention, as seen in its announcement of something momentous: the fulfillment of a long-awaited prophecy (1:2–3), the identification of Jesus as Son of God (1:11), and the imminence of the reign of God (1:15) |
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| ISSN: | 0093-531X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Perspectives in religious studies
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