Abstract
Mark 1–8: A Handbook on the Greek Text
by Rodney J. Decker
Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2014. 302 pp. $34.95. ISBN 978-1-4813-0238-8.
Mark 9–16: A Handbook on the Greek Text
by Rodney J. Decker
Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2014. 366 pp. $34.95. ISBN 978-1-4813-0239-5.
These handbooks offer teachers and students a comprehensive guide to the grammar and vocabulary of Mark. An ideal supplement to any commentary, this volume’s lexical, analytical, and syntactical analysis is a helpful tool in navigating New Testament literature. Rodney J. Decker leads students toward both a greater understanding of the Greek text and an appreciation for the textual and rhetorical intricacies not available in English translations.
Mark and Empire: Feminist Reflections
by Laurel K. Cobb; foreword by Ched Myers
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2013. 208 pp. $34.00. ISBN 978-1-62698-047-1.
Laurel Cobb’s three decades of social work and advocacy on behalf of the disadvantaged in emerging countries inform this unusual study of Mark. Cobb blends biblical commentary with personal experiences of social inequities around the globe and a strongly articulated argument for resistance against “empire” (then and now) as a crucial component of Christian discipleship. She urges readers to address their own responsibilities as citizens of a world in need of resistance against imperial power in all its forms.
The Messiah of Peace: A Performance-Criticism Commentary on Mark’s Passion-Resurrection Narrative
by Thomas E. Boomershine
Biblical Performance Criticism. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2015. 464 pp. $55.00. ISBN 978-1-6256-4545-6.
This performance-criticism commentary explores a new paradigm of biblical scholarship that takes seriously the original experience of the Gospel of Mark as a lively story told to audiences rather than as a text read by readers. The telling of Mark’s story of Jesus as the Messiah of peace in the decades following the Roman-Judean war (66–74 CE) announced a third way forward for Diaspora Judeans other than warfare against, or separation from, “the nations.” Mark’s Gospel was the story of the victory of a nonviolent Messiah who taught and practiced the ways of a new age of peace and reconciliation in contrast to the ancient—and modern— myth of redemptive violence.
The Disciples According to Mark: Markan Redaction in Current Debate, Second Edition
by C. Clifton Black
Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012. 421 pp. $45.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-2798-2.
Redaction criticism attempts to identify biblical authors’ theological interests by examining their adaptation of sources. Focusing on representative studies of Jesus’s disciples in the Gospel of Mark, Black identifies three distinctive types of redaction criticism in Markan interpretation. He demonstrates that diverse redaction-critical interpretations of the disciples in Mark have been controlled by scholarly presuppositions to a degree that impugns the method’s reliability for interpreting Mark. This second edition includes a substantial, detailed afterword that revisits the book’s primary issues, converses with its critics, and provides an update of Markan scholarship over the past twenty-five years.
Mockery and Secretism in the Social World of Mark’s Gospel
by Dietmar Neufeld
Library of New Testament Studies. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2014. 224 pp. $29.95. ISBN 978-0-5676-6500-3.
Having established the context of mockery and shame in ancient Mediterranean cultures, Neufeld shows how Mark presented Jesus as a person with both a sense of honor and a sense of shame who was willing to accept the danger of being visible and the mockery it attracted. Attentive to the role of mockery in strategies of social sanction, Neufeld also investigates Mark’s preoccupation with “secrecy,” showing that secrecy in this narrative is heightened when the dangers of ridicule from crowds or persons have become pressing concerns. In a fiercely competitive literary environment where mockery was an ever-present danger, Mark gains authority by establishing a reputation of possessing authentic, secret knowledge. The secrecy motif is deployed for strategic reasons that differ from those traditionally advanced by scholars.
The Story That Chooses Us: A Tapestry of Missional Vision
by George R. Hunsberger
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015. 176 pp. $24.00. ISBN 978-0-8028-7219-7.
Over the course of the last several decades, missiologist George Hunsberger has written a number of essays on crucial themes for the church’s recovery of its missional identity and practice. This volume brings these essays together for the first time. Hunsberger engages with well-known missiologist Lesslie Newbigin throughout his work as he carefully discerns biblical and theological roots for a contemporary vision of missional theology. The recurring themes in the essays provide theological mooring and practical guidance for churches following Christ on the missional path.
Abiding Words: The Use of Scripture in the Gospel of John
edited by Alicia D. Myers and Bruce G. Schuchard
Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2015. 302 pp. $39.95. ISBN 978-1-62837-093-5.
Like the other New Testament Gospels, the Gospel of John repeatedly appeals to Scripture (the Old Testament). Preferring allusions and “echoes” alongside more explicit quotations, the Gospel of John weaves Scripture as an authoritative source concerning its story of Jesus. Yet this is the same Gospel that is often regarded as antagonistic toward “the Jews,” especially the Jewish religious leaders, depicted within it. This volume introduces readers to John’s use of Scripture and explores the implications for the Gospel’s audiences, both ancient and contemporary. Some chapters focus on key texts; others pursue more comprehensive analysis of John’s use of Scripture throughout the entire Gospel.
From the Maccabees to the Mishnah, Third Edition
by Shaye J. D. Cohen
Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2014. 318 pp. $35.00. ISBN 978-0-664-23904-6.
This is the third edition of Shaye Cohen’s seminal work on the history and development of Judaism between 164 BCE and 300 CE. Cohen’s synthesis of religion, literature, and history illumines the character of Judaism in this crucial period, including interactions between Jews and Gentiles, the role of Jewish religion in the larger community, and the emergence of “normative” Judaism and various Jewish sects. This edition includes a new chapter on the parting of ways between Jews and Christians in the second century CE. The volume remains one of the best available introductions to the era that shaped Judaism and provided the context for early Christianity.