A Myth of Innocence: Mark and Christian Origins

by Burton L. Mack

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2006

Overview

Throughout the centuries, scholars and theologians have studied, searched, and debated the origin of Christianity in the historical Jesus. In this volume, author Burton L. Mack “reconstruct[s] the outline of the social situations that gave rise to the Gospels” to “show how the picture of Christian origins might change with a single shift in perspective on the social history documented by the early texts.”

In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Key Features

• Offers insight into the origin of Christianity
• Studies the Gospel of Mark as narrative
• Analyzes the historical and cultural contexts surrounding Mark’s composition

Contents

• The Temple and the Land of Palestine
• Jesus in Galilee
• The Followers of Jesus
• The Congregation of the Christ
• The Patterns of Social Conflict
• The Parables of Jesus
• The Pronouncement Stories
• The Miracle Stories
• The Entanglements of History and Myth
• The Narrative Designs
• The Compositional Process
• The Gospel as Myth
• The Gospel as Aocalypse
• The Gospel as Parable
• The Gospel as Paradigm

Top Highlights

“Movements in the name of Jesus as a teacher, sage, or charismatic reformer must have been the normal formation, the Christ cults a peculiar aberration.” (Page 96)

“two distinctively different types of written material representative of two major types of early sectarian formation” (Page 11)

“the first forty years of early Christianity were also the last forty years of Second Temple Judaism” (Page 13)

“The task would be to account for the formation of the gospel itself in the context of a later social history, not to use it as a guide to conjure up chimeras at the beginning.” (Page 9)

“the social function of the Christian claim to pure origination, unique vision, and novel social order” (Page 9)

Praise for the Print Edition

This imaginative book is not just a study of the Gospel of Mark, but of primitive Christianity in all its variegated forms, for which it represents a new paradigm . . . It deserves serious reflection and discussion at several levels, in a variety of contexts, by quite diversified discussion partners.

—James M. Robinson, emeritus professor, Claremont Graduate University

This is an epic-making work because it turns scholarship on its head. Mack asks questions not about origins but about social meaning. The entire conception of what we want to know, why we want to know it, and how we shall find it out is new and compelling.

—Jacob Neusner, distinguished service professor of the history and theology of Judaism, Bard College

A Myth of Innocence is the most penetrating historical work on the origins of Christianity written by an American scholar in this century. Its strikingly innovative feature is the recombination of literary and social histories, and the placement of diverse Jesus movements into their respective social contexts.

—Werner H. Kelber, Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies, emeritus, Rice University

A Myth of Innocence is surely one of the most important studies of the origins of Christianity since Schweitzer’s Quest. With a single stroke, Burton Mack has shifted the investigation from the quest for a singular genesis to the perspective of the social history and imaginative labor documented in the texts.

—Ron Cameron, professor of religion, Wesleyan University

Product Details

• Title: A Myth of Innocence: Mark and Christian Origins
• Author: Burton L. Mack
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2006
• Logos Release Date: 2014
• Pages: 456
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Mark › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Christianity › Origin; Christian sociology › History--Early church, ca. 30-600
• ISBNs: 0800625498, 9780800625498, 0800621131, 9780800621131
• Resource ID: LLS:MYTHNNCNCMRKCHR
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:41:39Z

About Burton L. Mack

New Testament, Claremont School of Theology.