The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary

by Francis J. Moloney

Book Overview

The Gospel of Mark, addressed to an early Christian community perplexed by failure and suffering, presents Jesus as suffering Messiah and Son of God. Recognizing that failure and suffering continue to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565636821
• ISBN13: 9781565636828
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers
• Length: 398 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.8" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Dropping Like Flies

In the early 1970's when I attended grad school, all my professors were in basic agreement that St. Mark's Gospel was a primitive early template for the more advanced theological works of Matthew, Luke and the profoundly mystical John; and second, that Markan theology, where it existed at all, was most likely found in "Messianic Secrets" and passion predictions. Francis J. Moloney, on the other hand, appraises this first Gospel as almost pure theology where Mark out-Johns John, if such is possible. This is a masterful and challenging analysis that turns much of twentieth century conventional wisdom about Mark on its head. Moloney's revision begins at the very start of this Gospel, which he regards as very similar to John's majestic opening. Perhaps less prosaically than John but with equal force Mark reveals the identity of Jesus the Christ, and according to Moloney this opening declaration of identity will remain with the reader [then and now] for the tough sledding that is ahead. In a sense this early dispatch of Christological questions freed the sacred author to devote his work to a new agenda, a treatise upon what we might call Christian identity, or more specifically, the anthropology of the true believer. Moloney tentatively places the origin of this Gospel in southern Syria, at a time after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Perhaps more germane is the audience: the assumption carried throughout this Gospel is that the first listeners were familiar with the story, i.e., Christians, and thus Mark's project is one of pastoral interpretation, not introduction. Curiously, in this Gospel the reader's eyes are drawn to those around Jesus as much as to the Master himself, for this is a tale of their reactions to Jesus' words and deeds. It is not a pretty picture, despite a promising beginning. Mark identifies Jesus, describes his baptism and sojourn in the desert, and then in 1:14 sets the tale in motion with the call of the first disciples. In 3:13, after a series of impressive miracles, Jesus designates the Twelve. They are, in Moloney's view, those who are "with him." What follows is a narrative of just how well they remained "with him." In 6:7 Jesus sends them two by two to do what he has been doing, the Father's work. This is the high water mark of the Twelve in this Gospel, and sadly Moloney observes that in 6:30 the Twelve return quite full of themselves, eager to report what they had done, not what the Lord had accomplished through them. It would be different after that, one bungling episode of misunderstanding after another, beginning with the breads narratives later in Chapter 6. As the story unfolds Moloney contends that it is harder to distinguish between the inner disciples and the general bystanders; the syntax itself has been engineered for that effect. In 7:18 the disciples are compared to blind Pharisees and contrast poorly to the feisty faith of the Canaanite woman [7:28] and, the deaf/mute [7:31]. Jesus' exasperation is grow

Good semi-technical work

This commentary is neither overly technical, nor superficially 'spiritual.' Moloney describes the technical arguments in non-technical language. He focuses on literary interpretation of the text. It could be a very useful textbook for students who are getting introduced to academic analysis but don't want to be overwhelmed by it. There are ample footnotes pointed to the literature for those who want to dig deeper. He has a brief introductory essay discussing the usual suspects: author, place of origin, etc. His view on the location is well done: if we didn't have the tradition of Roman authorship, there is not very much in the text that would suggest that location - while at the same time, there is so little evidence that it can't be ruled out.

great book!

we are using this as a textbook in my master's level class and it is great! i would recommend to anyone, as it's not overly scholarly or technical, but it does move past the devotional and inspirational so commonly in use these days.