Mark's Jesus: Characterization as Narrative Christology [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Struthers Malbon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2009

Noted biblical scholar Elizabeth Struthers Malbon asks a literary question in this landmark volume: how does the Markan narrative characterise Jesus? Through a close narrative analysis, she carefully examines various ways the Gospel discloses its central character. The result is a multi-layered Markan narrative christology, focusing not only on what the narrator and other characters say about Jesus (pro-jected christology), but also on what Jesus says in response to what these others say to and about him (deflected christology), what Jesus says instead about himself and God (refracted christology), what Jesus does (enacted christology), and how what other characters do is related to what Jesus says and does (reflected christology). Holding significant implications for those who wish to use Mark's Gospel to make claims about the historical Jesus, as well as for those who wish to use Mark's Gospel to construct confessions about the church's belief, Malbon's research is a groundbreaking work of scholarship.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Here one is drawn skillfully and clearly into the heart of Mark's Gospel. With characteristic insight, Malbon uses her shills as a narrative critic to open our eyes to the multi-layered Markan narrative. An invaluable companion. --Paula Gooder, Writer and Lecturer in Biblical Studies

This book represents Malbon at her most insightful and resourceful. Experts and dabblers alike will find the book an enlightening and rewarding read. --Stephen D. Moore, co-editor of Mark and Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies

About the Author

Elizabeth Struthers Malbon is Professor in the Religious Studies Program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She is the editor of Between Author and Audience in Mark: Narration, Characterization, Interpretation and the author of Hearing Mark: A Listener's Guide and In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark's Gospel. She lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Baylor University Press (November 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602582475
• ISBN-13: 978-1602582477
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #596,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant piece of narrative criticism!, January 29, 2011

By 

Leon Seaman (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mark's Jesus: Characterization as Narrative Christology (Hardcover)

Elizabeth Struthers Malbon is a pioneer in the narrative critical approach to Mark's Gospel, who continues to write and edit influential articles and books in the field. She writes in dialogue with the finest current scholarship, but in a style that is accessible to non-specialists willing to make the effort to understand.

Here she challenges a belief long held and disseminated in Markan criticism that there is little or no difference between the implied reader and narrator (or the points of view of the narrator and Jesus) in Mark. She examines Mark's narrative christology, i.e. the way the portrait of Jesus as Messiah, Son of God, Son of David, and Son of Man is presented in and as story, by sifting and sorting what Jesus says and does in contrast and comparison to what others say or have said about him.

In the course of this examination, she shows that the viewpoint of Jesus and the narrator are quite distinct and different, and that this means that the implied author and the narrator are clearly distinguished also. She thus contradicts some of the standard introductory works to Markan narrative criticism (including her own). She also challenges the belief that the so-called Messianic Secrecy motif is a result of different historical layers, demonstrating rather that it is a result of interwoven literary strands.

This book allows us to look over the shoulder of--for my money--the most perceptive Markan narrative critic around as she does her work. She has broken new ground here in the discussion of narrative christology, and in revealing more of Mark's breathtakingly humane portrait of Jesus. A must read for all students and teachers of Mark's Gospel!