Richard Baranski, OFM
Annotated Bibliography for the study of Mark 6:7-13
22 February 2000

Bergant, Diane and Robert J. Karris, eds. The Collegeville Bible Commentary, "Mark." (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1998.) pp. ??

Bordwine, Jim. The Gospel of Mark, Sermon 1/17: The Expanding Ministry of the Twelve (Part 1) 6: 1-52. Retrieved 1/27/2000 from the World Wide Web: http:/www.solochristo.org/mark117.html. The essayist uses one significant passage from Mark's gospel, that of dispatching the Twelve, to introduce the expanding ministry and authority of Jesus. By sending them out with specific instructions and "authority," the author asserts that the apostles are then able to continue the mission of Jesus, which is to demonstrate God's power on earth. With trust in a God who will take care of all their needs, even amidst hardship and suffering, Mark assures the followers of Jesus that they will succeed in their mission.

Griffin, Bruce. Was Jesus a Philosophical Cynic? [1]. The Acts of Jesus and the Cynics. Retrieved 1/25/2000 from the World Wide Web: http://fido.bfriars.ox.ac.uk/allen/html/acts.html. Griffin begins by looking at the scholarly search for the historical Jesus, from German liberation theology through modern Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant Biblical research. He then states that one must look at the influence of the Hellenistic culture on the Palestine of Jesus' day in order to fully understand Jesus and his world. Next, the author compares the actions of Jesus with the recorded deeds of Cynic philosophers of the time and comes to the conclusion that Jesus, far from being a Cynic, could best be viewed as an apocalyptic prophet, and, for his disciples, as the leader of the new Temple priesthood, and of a new Israel.

Harvey, John D. "Mission in Jesus' Teaching" William J. Larkin and Joel F. Williams, eds., Mission in the New Testament an Evangelical Approach. ( Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998.) 3049.The author writes that the Synoptic Gospels established three factors concerning the mission of Jesus. First, God the Father is the Sender who sent Jesus to preach the Good News: The Kingdom of God is at hand. Second, the one sent, Jesus, third, identifies with the Sender, and must carefully carry out this mission, first to the people of Israel, then to the whole world. In order for the Sender's mission to continue, Jesus himself sent disciples, and if faithful to the spreading of the message of the Sender, the required results will come about: God's reign.

Herrick, Greg. Demonism in Jewish Hellenistic Literature and Its Relation to Mark 5. (1997). Biblical Studies Foundation. Retrieved 1/26/2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.bible.org/docs/nt/books/mar4/jewishb.htm. The author employs extra-biblical sources in conjunction with Scripture in hopes of understanding the Hellenistic culture that influenced the world of the Scripture writers, especially when it came to demonic possession and its subsequent exorcism. While claiming that Mark "sheds light on the uniqueness of Jesus' approach" to demonic possession, that of being able to hear the word of God that Jesus preached, regardless of the miraculous results. Even so, Herrick concludes that Jesus employed many of the rituals of exorcism common in the Greco-Roman world of his time.

Horsley, Richard with John S. Hanson. Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs.' Popular Movements at the Time of Jesus. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1985. The authors present some of the social and political movements within the Palestinian Jewish world of the late Second Temple era. Beginning with the historical background of the People of Israel, Horsley and Hanson examine Roman domination, and the subsequent revolution from this oppression, social banditry, the relationship between the Jewish peasants and the brigands, messianic and prophetic movements, religious philosophies, urban terrorists, and the Zealots, whom the authors argue were not a distinct group "until the middle of the [Jewish] revolt" (xiv). The writers assert that Jesus, as a Gallillean peasant leader, along with his followers, were part of the revolution, a revolution led by Divine Providence and based on Scripture; Jesus' followers were attempting to do something familiar in the history of Israel: to renew the covenant between God and God's chosen people.

Introduction to the Gospel of Mark. Retrieved 1/27/2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~k-lee/markintro.htm. The article appears to be a student-generated introduction to and outline of Mark's gospel. The writer outlines the themes, sub themes, terms, and miracles of Jesus as portrayed by Mark. Taking some personal theological considerations, the student author concludes that Mark portrays Jesus as one to be imitated in regards to one's spiritual life and that "we should follow God's plan and God's ways, not our ideas of what God's plans and ways should be like" (4).

Larkin, William J. and Joel F. Williams, editors. Mission in the New Testament: An Evangelical Approach. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998.

McFarlane, Robert. The Gospel of Mark and Judaism. (1997). Jewish-Christian Relations. Retrieved 1/27/2000 from the World Wide Web: http :llwww.jcrelations.com/australialgesher/mcfarlane.htm. McFarlane discusses what Mark has "to say of Jews, and the contemporary forms of Judaism" at the time the gospel was written, concluding that Mark's displays little anti-Semitic sentiments in his writings (1). He claims that Mark presents Jesus as an observant Jew, but one who seems to be comfortable not only interacting with Gentiles, but in challenging some of the Jewish traditions of his day. McFarlane claims that Jesus called the Jewish people to move from ritual observance and concerns for purity to religious acceptance and ethical conduct.

McKenzie, Stephen L. and Stephen R. Hayes, eds. To Each Its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticism and Their Application. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993.

Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Vol I1: Mentor, Message, and Miracles. New York: Doubleday, 1994. The author researches the scholarly debate concerning Jesus and his relationship to John the Baptist. Claiming Jesus to be a disciple of John, Meier looks at Jesus' message regarding the Kingdom of God and examines Jesus' teaching about a Kingdom that will be coming in the near future, even though Jesus gives no discernible timetable. By writing in depth of Jesus' miracles, exorcisms, healings, and teaching, Meier hopes to show that Jesus' message and actions were in relation to the coming of that Kingdom and were not performed in relation to Jesus' audience or the recipients of his miracles and healings.

Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome. "Fishers of Fish, Fishers of Men: What We Know of the First Disciples from their Profession." Translated by Martha Liptzen Hauptman. (June, 1999). Bible Review. Retrieved 1/26/2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.bib-arch.org/bas-archive/brfeat9906.htm. Murphy-O'Connor looks at Simon, Andrew, James, and John as symbolic of the fishermen in the world of Jesus. By showing the significance of fish in the diet of the time, the author claims that prosperous fishermen were educated enough to conduct business in Greek and "their families were subject to a strong Greek influence" (3). He also claims that they were astute, prosperous, middle-class businessmen, whose family income could have been sufficient to support their work as disciples of Jesus and eventually as leaders of organized and planned Christian communities, thus disputing the commonly held notion that these disciples of Jesus were uneducated men from the lower classes of Palestinian society.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/DeuterocanonicaI Books,. New Revised Standard Version. Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, eds. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Neyrey, Jerome H. Miracles, /n Other Words.' Social Science Perspective on Healings. (1995). University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 1/26/2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.und.edu/~jneyreyl/miracles.html. Neyrey focuses on the healings and healers common in both the social and cultural context of the Greco-Roman world of Jesus and the early church. By looking at the notions of patronage, honor, wholeness, purity, and ritual, through a systematic approach, an approach deemed necessary by Neyrey, he lists the various roles and types of healers and the subsequent responses and responsibilities of those being healed.

O'Grady, John F. Models' of Jesus Revisited. New York, NY: Paulist Press, 1994.

Perry, John Michael. Exploring the Identity and Mission of Jesus. Kansas City, KS: Sheed and Ward, 1996. Written by Perry for use as a text book, this work begins by following the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, one who was sent as God's sign that cruelty and alienation can be overcome through accepting God's offer of reconciliation and forgiveness. Perry concludes his work by looking at the church's messianic interpretation and symbolic divination of Jesus.

Rhodes, David. "The Gospel of Mark and the Human Vocation." (1991). Entree Retrieved 1/27/2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ecla.org/diets/lcm/mark.html. The Christian vocation found in the Gospel of Mark, as stated by Rhodes, is that of serving others, taking risks for a new vision of the world, and perhaps facing rejection, loss, or even death, in the process. God requires Christians to bring about God's Kingdom: a new vision of the world which originates with God. Trust in God makes the Kingdom possible. Upon becoming human, Jesus encountered a "creation gone awry" and called his disciples to bring wholeness and freedom to others by crossing all social, religious, and legal boundaries (2). The author writes that Mark deals with the possible failure and discouragement of Jesus' disciples by emphasizing the faithfulness of Jesus himself, in calling people to follow him, and therefore his own mission to bring about God's Kingdom, in the face of misunderstanding and failure.

Seemuth, David P. "Mission in the Early Church." In William J. Larkin and Joel F. Williams, eds., Mission in the New Testament: An Evangelical Approach. 5060. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998. Seemuth begins his essay by observing the Jewish belief which called for action in the anticipation of a Messiah during a time of social unrest. He next turns his attention to the Christian community after the resurrection of Jesus. The author describes this community as a community without geographical or ethnic boundaries, one which must continue the mission of a just God until the return of the one who handed on this work, Jesus Christ.

Spivey, Robert A. and D. Moody Smith. Anatomy of the New Testament. Fifth Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall, 1995.

Williams, Joel F. "Mission in Mark." In William J. Larkin and Joel F. Williams, eds., Mission in the New Testament: An Evangelical Approach. 137-151. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998. Williams claims that purpose of Mark's Gospel is to stress the universality of the mission of the early church. The model for this mission is the suffering and persecuted Jesus. Just as Jesus suffered, so to must his followers in their proclamation of the Gospel. Williams believes that Mark ends with 16:8, and therefore contains no post-resurrection commissioning of the disciples by Jesus. He contends that Marks does so in order for his readers to understand that they will receive no power from the Spirit to overcome the persecutions and hardships they will face in being faithful to the mission of Jesus.