Burton L. Mack was Professor of New Testament at Claremont School of Theology, and is the author of Rhetoric and the New Testament (Guides to Biblical Scholarship; Fortress Press, 1989); The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins (1993); Who Wrote the New Testament? The Making of the Christian Myth (1995); and The Christian Myth: Origins, Logic, and Legacy (2001).
Description
Preface Introduction: Christian Origins and the Imaginations Part I: Christian Beginnings The Temple and the Land of Palestine Jesus in Galilee The Followers of Jesus The Congregations of the Christ The Patterns of Social Conflict Part II: Stories in the Gospel Tradition The Parables of Jesus The Pronouncement Stories The Miracle Stories Part III: Narratives of the Passion The Entanglements of History and Myth The Narrative Designs The Compositional Process Part IV: The Gospel According to Mark The Gospel as Myth The Gospel as Apocalypse The Gospel as Parable The Gospel as Paradigm Conclusion: Imagination and the Myth of Innocence Apendices I. The Pronouncement Stories in Mark II. Linnemann: The Traditions of the Passion III. Dormeyer: The Acts of the Martyr IV. The Gospel of Mark: An Overview Bibliography Indices I. Subjects II. Ancient Authors and Writings III. Modern Authors
Reviews
"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."