The objective of the book is to reconstruct the new social identity implied in the Markan story a... more The objective of the book is to reconstruct the new social identity implied in the Markan story about Jesus. The Markan proposal of a new way of being, thinking and feeling within the purview of a community is not merely a matter of understanding the material facts of a group, or the history and origin of a group, or the organization of a group, but rather deciphering the social meaning and cognitive significance of ones belonging to the Jesus-group. To achieve this purpose, this investigation has given equal importance to both the content and form of the text. It takes into account not only the textual data but also the rhetorical force behind the Markan composition by which the text message is communicated by the author to the reader. This book considers the scholarship of the Markan community to which the gospel was addressed as its point of departure. The vast and diverse studies on the Markan community have not yet reached a consensus on the location and vital context, situation of the real audience, authorship or date of composition of the text. The diverse hypotheses and subsequent uncertainty on the definition of the Markan community in the context of the studies of primitive Christianity serve this thesis as a stepping stone to deviate from the past route of investigation into the historical community of Mark to the audience within the Markan story. This route of investigation marks mainly three differences from those of the current studies on the historical Markan community: first, a shift of interest from searching and enumerating mere sociological factors of the real community to the searching for a socio-cognitive description of the Jesus–group in the literary world of Mark; second, an exegetical shift from the rigid use of method to an integral use of interpretive analytical strategies with the support of social scientific models; third, in spite of the entire Markan story with its literary coherence, a special interest in the theme of discipleship and disciples as 'a social form', identifies the focal area of this investigation as textual data. In the task of reconstructing the Markan proposal of the new social identity of the Jesus-group, this thesis explores two basic kinds of data: Emic and Etic. The exegetical method used in this investigation, namely socio-rhetorical analysis, provides perceptions and understanding from the Emic
A New Book
This book, Text, Community and Christian Origins, tries to reread the ideological and... more A New Book
This book, Text, Community and Christian Origins, tries to reread the ideological and theological dimensions intrinsic to the Markan Gospel, presupposing that such understanding of the image of Christian identity in its origin would facilitate one to understand further the socio-historical situations of the Markan community. To this purpose, this work enables one to journey through a brief survey of Markan scholarship regarding the Markan community and to taste the use of social-scientific models and narrative approach to the text in its interpretation. Hence this book offers a methodological contribution to the Markan scholarship. The illustration of the social identity description of the Markan gospel by way of treating the theme of discipleship and decoding the Markan characterization in a simple and intelligible language, indeed respect the popular readership and their passion for living an authentic Christian life in today’s turbulent world. In this way, this book serves both the ordinary Christian believers as an attitudinal guide to get their lives transformed as an authentic disciples of Jesus and for any serious student of the Markan gospel as motivational guide in her/his inquisitiveness.
The objective of the book is to reconstruct the new social identity implied in the Markan story a... more The objective of the book is to reconstruct the new social identity implied in the Markan story about Jesus. The Markan proposal of a new way of being, thinking and feeling within the purview of a community is not merely a matter of understanding the material facts of a group, or the history and origin of a group, or the organization of a group, but rather deciphering the social meaning and cognitive significance of ones belonging to the Jesus-group. To achieve this purpose, this investigation has given equal importance to both the content and form of the text. It takes into account not only the textual data but also the rhetorical force behind the Markan composition by which the text message is communicated by the author to the reader. This book considers the scholarship of the Markan community to which the gospel was addressed as its point of departure. The vast and diverse studies on the Markan community have not yet reached a consensus on the location and vital context, situation of the real audience, authorship or date of composition of the text. The diverse hypotheses and subsequent uncertainty on the definition of the Markan community in the context of the studies of primitive Christianity serve this thesis as a stepping stone to deviate from the past route of investigation into the historical community of Mark to the audience within the Markan story. This route of investigation marks mainly three differences from those of the current studies on the historical Markan community: first, a shift of interest from searching and enumerating mere sociological factors of the real community to the searching for a socio-cognitive description of the Jesus–group in the literary world of Mark; second, an exegetical shift from the rigid use of method to an integral use of interpretive analytical strategies with the support of social scientific models; third, in spite of the entire Markan story with its literary coherence, a special interest in the theme of discipleship and disciples as 'a social form', identifies the focal area of this investigation as textual data. In the task of reconstructing the Markan proposal of the new social identity of the Jesus-group, this thesis explores two basic kinds of data: Emic and Etic. The exegetical method used in this investigation, namely socio-rhetorical analysis, provides perceptions and understanding from the Emic
A New Book
This book, Text, Community and Christian Origins, tries to reread the ideological and... more A New Book
This book, Text, Community and Christian Origins, tries to reread the ideological and theological dimensions intrinsic to the Markan Gospel, presupposing that such understanding of the image of Christian identity in its origin would facilitate one to understand further the socio-historical situations of the Markan community. To this purpose, this work enables one to journey through a brief survey of Markan scholarship regarding the Markan community and to taste the use of social-scientific models and narrative approach to the text in its interpretation. Hence this book offers a methodological contribution to the Markan scholarship. The illustration of the social identity description of the Markan gospel by way of treating the theme of discipleship and decoding the Markan characterization in a simple and intelligible language, indeed respect the popular readership and their passion for living an authentic Christian life in today’s turbulent world. In this way, this book serves both the ordinary Christian believers as an attitudinal guide to get their lives transformed as an authentic disciples of Jesus and for any serious student of the Markan gospel as motivational guide in her/his inquisitiveness.
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This book, Text, Community and Christian Origins, tries to reread the ideological and theological dimensions intrinsic to the Markan Gospel, presupposing that such understanding of the image of Christian identity in its origin would facilitate one to understand further the socio-historical situations of the Markan community. To this purpose, this work enables one to journey through a brief survey of Markan scholarship regarding the Markan community and to taste the use of social-scientific models and narrative approach to the text in its interpretation. Hence this book offers a methodological contribution to the Markan scholarship. The illustration of the social identity description of the Markan gospel by way of treating the theme of discipleship and decoding the Markan characterization in a simple and intelligible language, indeed respect the popular readership and their passion for living an authentic Christian life in today’s turbulent world. In this way, this book serves both the ordinary Christian believers as an attitudinal guide to get their lives transformed as an authentic disciples of Jesus and for any serious student of the Markan gospel as motivational guide in her/his inquisitiveness.
This book, Text, Community and Christian Origins, tries to reread the ideological and theological dimensions intrinsic to the Markan Gospel, presupposing that such understanding of the image of Christian identity in its origin would facilitate one to understand further the socio-historical situations of the Markan community. To this purpose, this work enables one to journey through a brief survey of Markan scholarship regarding the Markan community and to taste the use of social-scientific models and narrative approach to the text in its interpretation. Hence this book offers a methodological contribution to the Markan scholarship. The illustration of the social identity description of the Markan gospel by way of treating the theme of discipleship and decoding the Markan characterization in a simple and intelligible language, indeed respect the popular readership and their passion for living an authentic Christian life in today’s turbulent world. In this way, this book serves both the ordinary Christian believers as an attitudinal guide to get their lives transformed as an authentic disciples of Jesus and for any serious student of the Markan gospel as motivational guide in her/his inquisitiveness.