A Preface to Mark: Notes on the Gospel in Its Literary and Cultural Settings

Bryan, Christopher

ISBN 10: 0195115678 / ISBN 13: 9780195115673

Published by Oxford University Press (edition ), 1997

About this Item

It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.

Seller Inventory # 0195115678-11-1

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Preface to Mark: Notes on the Gospel in Its Literary and Cultural Settings
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (edition )
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195115678
• ISBN 13: 9780195115673
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

A Preface to Mark is a literary study which, from the standpoint of the newer critical methodologies, explores two questions. First, Bryan attempts to determine what kind of text Mark would have been seen to be, both by its author and by others who encountered it near the time of its writing. He examines whether Mark should be seen as an example of any particular literary type, and if so which. He concludes that a comparison of Mark with other texts of the period leads inevitably to the conclusion that Mark's contemporaries would broadly have characterized his work as a "life." Second, Bryan looks at the evidence that exists to indicate whether Mark, like so much else of its period, was written to be read aloud. He points out ways in which Mark's narrative would have worked particularly well as rhetoric. The first examination of Mark as a whole in the light of contemporary studies of orality and oral transmission, A Preface to Mark not only shows us Mark in its original setting, but also suggests ways in which our own encounter with Mark's text may be significantly enriched. Its accessible style will serve as a good introduction to the Gospel for students as well as the general reader.

About the Author

Christopher Bryan is at University of the South.