ePub Mark As Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel by David Rhoads; Joanna Dewey; Donald Michie in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Mark as Story; book reviewBy JDRDavid Rhoads’ book; Mark as Story: an Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel takes an unique approach to the Gospel of Mark through what the book calls “narrative analysis.” What Rhoads does in his book is to contextualize not only the historical and social context of the writing of Mark’s gospel account; but also the narrative writing of Mark’s author. Rhoads makes it plain that his approach analyses Mark as a story; rather than an historic accounting of Jesus’ life by Mark’s author. Rhoads examines storytelling culture in first century Mediterranean culture; which he notes was primarily done by oral composition. The Gospel of Mark; he argues; is not only intended to be read; but also performed. By this; Rhoads means that the story told in Mark was to be told in a “lively and meaningful” way. In this sense; Mark is filled with all the necessary attributes of storytelling such as tone; voice; volume; body language; etc; all designed to evoke a response from its intended audience. The meat of Rhoads’ book include sections on the narrator; the settings; the plot and the characters of Jesus; the disciples and other characters secondary to the story within Mark. In all these sections; Rhoads argues that there is a storytelling intent to everything about the Gospel of Mark; a narrator who tells the story as well as its first writer; settings designed to place the story in a time; place and culture; and a plot that twists and turns to climax in the death of Jesus of Nazareth; and dynamic characters existing with purpose within the story. Rhoads concludes with a section on the audience; how it was read two thousand years ago and to whom it was read and how it may be read by contemporary readers today. There are aspects of Rhoads’ book on which I whole-heartedly agree. His narrative analysis reinvigorates the text of Mark’s gospel account; giving it life that for myself and other readers of Mark may not have been there before. We tend to read the gospel accounts as mere history; which for bible believing Christians is true; but we also believe that the Holy Spirit used each author in a unique way; leaving marks of their personality; passions; and style all throughout the text of scripture.Rhoads points out that everything from the pace of the story; to the characters and their dimensionality is absolutely intentional on the part of the author. In this way; everything about Mark’s gospel can be understood as purposeful; not just by the author; but by the Holy Spirit himself. It is fascinating to look at Mark through that lense. There is nothing nonsensical about understanding all of Mark to be written with careful detail and purpose. In fact; backed with a biblical theology; the author’s intentional and purposed writing; coupled with God’s sovereignty truly attest to the beauty of not just Mark; but of all the gospel accounts and the rest of scripture.There are many things in which I disagree with in this book; however I will highlight only two of them. The first is that I’m not quite sold on the performance part where Rhoads suggest that the proper context of Mark was for the to reader perform and “act out all the characters.” I accept the purposefulness in the story writing of Mark and I also affirm that it necessarily was read out loud to illiterate Christians in the early church; but I find it a stretch to say that it was to be “performed.” Not only is there no early church evidence of this being the case; but the Christian tradition of preaching has been remarkably well preserved over two thousand years; taking direction from Jesus; the Apostles and early church fathers. It would make sense that if the “performing” of Mark’s gospel were to be truly intended and practiced in the early church; then it is likely that this would be preserved in some manner to this day. Thus; it is a bit too far to suggest that the writer of Mark intended his account to be performed like a dramatic story around a campfire or on a stage.The second issue I take with Rhoads is the imposition of his presupposed theological views onto Mark. At times it felt like Rhoads and I were not reading the same Mark. Rhoads states in his book that Jesus “becomes God’s son at his baptism;” and that he had no divine nature. He even seems to manipulate his translation of Mark to imply just that by changing Mark 1:11 from “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.” to “You are my beloved son. I delighted choosing you.” Every honest Bible translation has translated Mark 1:11 in some manner of the former; Rhoads’ personal translation appears to be intentionally translated as the latter; most likely to accommodate his own theological views of Christ not being a divine member of the trinity. In another passage; Rhoads draws a conclusion that Jesus’ death as depicted in Mark is merely to show human faithfulness to God; when in reality Jesus’ death as detailed in Mark shows God’s faithfulness to a broken and sinful people. In many ways; Rhoads’ distorted theology plays into a misunderstanding of the fundamental nature of Mark’s gospel: to proclaim Jesus’ life; death and resurrection and the ushering in of God’s kingdom. Mark as Story is a good book for the seasoned Christian; firmly founded in biblical theology. Any new believer; or immature Christian should stay away from this book for they would be treading into waters too deep and rough for their stage in spiritual life. That being said and the bad theology aside; there is much that a mature and equipped follower of Christ can glean from Rhoads’ book. Namely a fresh way to look at the scriptures which can give some insight as to how Mark’s gospel was not only written; but masterfully crafted to tell the story of Jesus Christ and the good news he brought with him.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Very nice!By Suzanne Miller aka Laughing ScholarThis is a great analysis of the Gospel of Mark as well as introduction to narrative criticism. Be aware that this book is not organized as a commentary. Instead; it is much more interested in the matters of narrative criticism and examining the story aspect of Mark. It uses accessible language. It is really a quick read; and I would recommend it for a variety of uses (narrative criticism; study of Mark; character study; etc)2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. This book has given me a better understanding of the Gospel of MarkBy ShellyThis book has given me a better understanding of the Gospel of Mark.It gave insight about the narrator and helped me look at things described in the book differently. Now it all makes sense. A must reaad; especially for someone learning the word.