Isaiah and the Gospel of Mark

Here are a couple of videos which seek to explain some parallels between the gospel of Mark and Isaiah.

It is a little but rough and ready. The readings discussed are

Isaiah 40/Mark 1:1-3

Isaiah 48:20-49:11/ Mark 8:1-9,27-38

Isaiah 42:18-26/Mark 11:1-19

Isaiah 52:13-53:12/Mark 15:16-41

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

Read Full Post »

The Bible And Church: The Authentic Gospels

Following on from the first Bible and Church Conference in London in 2009, the same three scholars unite together again to seek to confront head on the big questions about the reliability of the records about Jesus. These day conferences are aimed at equipping ordinary Christians to understand the historical basis of the Christian faith and to share it with confidence. It is on Sat June 12th 2010

The conference brings together experts to:

• Expose false claims about the New Testament
• Show how the New Testament can be trusted
• Equip ordinary Christians to share their faith with confidence

• Dr Peter (P.J.) Williams
• Dr Simon Gathercole
• Dr Dirk Jongkind

In Bible and Church 2010 attendees will not only be presented with classic evidence for the faith, but also with previously unheard arguments for the reliability of the canonical gospels.

Evidence of Eyewitmesses
10:30 – 11:35 AM
Evidence of Manuscripts
12:00 – 1:05 PM
Evidence of History
2:15 – 3:20 PM
Your Turn!
3:45 – 4:45 PM

Waged: £5
Unwaged: £2.50

At
St Helen’s
Bishopsgate

Read Full Post »

Seneca: Can anyone be found who would willingly die on a cross?

‘Can anyone be found who would prefer wasting away in pain dying limb by limb, or letting out his life drop by drop, rather than expiring once for all? Can any man be found willing to be fastened to the accursed tree, long sickly, already deformed, swelling with ugly weals on shoulders and chest, and drawing the breath of life amid long drawn-out agony? He would have many excuses for dying even before mounting the cross’  Seneca Dialogue 3 (De Ira I) 2.2.
γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν. Mark 10:45

Read Full Post »

Jesus’ Death and the Temple in the Gospel of Mark

The Death of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark

The purpose of my last few months of research has been to explore, within the narrative of the gospel of Mark, the link between Jesus’ death and the Temple.  This link is clearly to be seen at the surface level of the passion narratives where the  Temple and the  cross are fused together in the closing stages of the Markan narrative. For instance, Jesus at his trial, which leads directly to his execution, is  falsely accused of saying that he would destroy the Temple sanctuary ( ναὸν) and replace it with another (14:58). This accusation is repeated during the crucifixion  in the form of mockery  (15:29) and at the point of death the link between Jesus’ death and the Temple is made explicit, ‘for a single instant…. we [the reader] are transplanted from Golgotha to the Temple area, and then back to Golgotha’ when the veil of the Temple was torn (ἐσχίσθη)  in two (15:38).

The attached paper (click on title above)  seeks to explore these themes.

Read Full Post »

Springboard, Research and Atonement

A few years ago, as I was applying to do ordination training and a research degree at Trinity College,  I read Tom Wright’s response to ‘Pierced for our Transgressions’. In this critique, in which he described the book as sub-biblical, he lamented the fact that discussion of the atonement often bypasses the Gospels and heads straight to the Pauline texts. It was this lament which provided a springboard for my own research. On arriving at Trinity, and in discussion with my supervisor, I began to look at Jesus’ death in the gospels. My first paper was an analysis of Mark 10:45 which opened my eyes to how much material I would need to cover. As the years have moved on my focus has moved from the historical Jesus to the Gospel of Mark. with a particular focus on  the death of Jesus in relation to the tribulation, Temple, and exile.   The road is long with many a winding turn….. The following video which I came across by friend and fellow blogger ‘The Bishop’ reminded and encouraged me as to the relevance of my research to the contemporary atonement debate and to the church.

Read Full Post »

Post Grad Seminar: The Didache and Eschatology

This afternoon we had the first of this years postgraduate seminars in which we welcomed Rev. Dr Alan Garrow His talk was in two parts. In part one he offered a whistlestop but deep introduction to the Didache. In part 2 he sought to show how 1 Thessalonians is related to the eschatological discourse of the Didache.

Rev. Dr Garrow argues, persuasively that the parts of the Didache have an early date (50′s) . In a JSNTS monograph  he argues that that Matthew is dependent on the Didache. The part of his talk which struck me was that Matthew and Didache have many parallels and that most of these parallels (96%?) are found in Special Matthew material. This suggests that Matthew is dependent on the Didache rather than the other way round. I found this convincing.

This has got me thinking about the relationship between the gospel of Mark and the Didache.

Here is chapter 16 of the Didache  from Roberts-Donaldson translation, with Markan parallels in brackets.

Chapter 16. Watchfulness; the Coming of the Lord. Watch for your life’s sake (Mark 13:33,37). Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord will come (Mark 13:35). But come together often, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if you are not made perfect in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied (Mark 13:22-23), and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increases, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another (Mark 13:11-13), and then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of God (Mark 13:14,21) , and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning(Mark 13:19). Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but those who endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself(Mark 13:13). And then shall appear the signs of the truth: first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet. And third, the resurrection of the dead — yet not of all, but as it is said: “The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him.” Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.(Mark 13:24-27)

The  Didache in Greek from Loeb edition of the apostolic fathers is also available online

I don’t know what ot make of these parallels between the Didache and Mark 13.  If they are speaking of the same events, irrelevant of issues of dependance, then it rules out a N.T Wright and Perriman reading of the Mark 13:24-27 for the Didache is clear that the parousia is visible and will usher in the final judgement. I have recently written a paper which follows, with some nuancing, a Wright/Perriman/France approach. I would not write the same paper again without researching the date and eschatology of the Didache.

Read Full Post »

Richard Bauckham and James Crossley: Jesus and the Eyewitnesses

Richard Bauckham, who recently recieved the prestigious Ramsey Prize, discusses his book Jesus and Eyewitnesses with James Crossley.  Click Here for the audio

Thanks to Chris Tilling for the link.

Read Full Post »