Michele C. Schafer
Annotated Bibliography for the study of Mark 4:3-9
22 February 2000

Armstrong, Edward A. 1967. The Gospel Parable. New York: Sheed & Ward. The first part of chapter one deals with parables from nature. The Sower and the seed of Mark iv. 3-9, Matthew xiii. 3-9 and Luke viii. 5-8 are explored in relation to farming tendencies, original meaning arguments and the overall meaning of the parable.

Beinert, Wolfgang. "What Value Does the Laity have in the Church?" Theology Digest 35:1 (Spring 1988): 39-44. The article explains the past, present, and future values of the laity in the Church. All people have a call to fulfill in life. Beinert explains that the Church "does not exist for itself, but for the world" (39). This is seen in the ultimate call to love.

Boucher, Madeleine I. 1981. 7he Parables. New Testament Message 7. Wilmington, DE: Glazier. Part one of the book introduces the parable and explores it as a literary form. The Markan view of the parable is also discussed. The second part of the book deals with the parables found in the Synoptic Gospels.

Branick, Vincent P. 1998. Underslanding the New Testament and its Message: An Introduction. New York: Paulist Press.

Catechism of the Catholic Church. 1994. Dubuque: Brown-Roa. This a "statement of the church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition, and the Church's Magisterium" (5).

Con, Ripenso. "Witness to Christ Among Your Peers." 7he Pope Speaks: 7he Church Documents Biimonthly 43:2 (March/April 1998): 68-72.

Crossan, John Dominic. 1989. The Essential Jesus. San Francisco: Harper. This book seeks to capture the "essential Jesus" through the historical Jesus defined by both his vision and his program (3). The two ways to do this are as follows: To describe the historical Jesus by clarifying the original sayings of Jesus and to recognize Jesus' actions and practices as well as his words.

Donahue, John R. 1998. The Gospel in Parable. Philadelphia: Fortress. Donahue's goal is to "wed recent parable study to the results of redaction criticism of the Synoptic Gospcls" (ix). He wants the reader to research to find the challenges that the parables offer people today. He explains this process by exploring the genre of parable, metaphor, and narrative. His study focuses on parables as "texts in the literary and theological context of a given Gospel" (x). He also intertwines into his research suggestions for proclaiming parables today.

Dulles, Avery. "Catholicity and Catholicism." Theology Digest 34:3 (Fall 1987): 203207.

Fuller, Reginald, ed. 1969. A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. New York: Nelson. Pages 962-963 of this commentary tackle the Parable of the Sower. The question that is raised is "how the proclamation of the Kingdom of God can meet with so little apparent success" (962).

Handbook for Today's Catholic. 1994. Liguori, MO: Liguori. "Every person who is baptized into the Catholic Church bears the same awesome responsibility of the Baptizer himself' (7). This handbook lays out guidelines on the beliefs, the practices, and the prayers of the faith and describes how to live the faith in the spirit of Vatican II.

John Paul II, Pope. "Be active in the Church." The Pope Speaks 43:1 (January/February 1998): 41-44. This homily occurred at the closing Mass tbr the 12^th World Youth Day in Paris. Overall, the homily challenged young people to be active, responsible members of the Church. The Pope speaks about vocations, Christ crucified, and Christ dwelling among all peoples.

John Paul II, Pope "Witness to Christ Among Your Peers." The Pope Speaks: The Church Documents Bimonthly. 43:2 (March/April 1998): 68-72. The Pope challenges the youth of the church to live their lives for Christ. How? To be generous, to pray, to be conscious of what they possess, to seek the truth, to serve freely, to set high goals in life and to witness among their peers.

Kasper, Walter. "The Mission of thc Laity." Theology Digest 35:2 (Summer 1988): 133-138. The mission of the laity in the church is highlighted in this article. All baptized Christians have a role to play in the mission of the Church. However, the article highlights the problems defining the role of laity in the Middle Ages as well as in the 1960's & 1970's. Overall, Vatican II states to "anew everyone's common responsibility" (135).

Kee, Howard C. 1977. Community of the New Age: Studies in Mark's Gospel. Philadelphia: Westminster.

Lambrecht, Jan. 1981. Once More Astonished: The Parables of Jesus. New York: Crossroad. Lambrecht's book looks at the parable as a literary form that challenges us to exegesis. He provides over fifteen examples of particular parables, in the synoptic gospels, to practice the principles of parable interpretation. This exegesis is used to understand the parable today. Lambrecht's research is based on the two-source theory. His two goals: To critically trace the parable back to Jesus and to challenge the reader to remove cultural, context and interpretation obstacles. This would be to "create the same awareness of a direct, personal message, of the challenge which Jesus intended in the original parable" (16).

Marxsen, Willi. 1969. Mark the Evangelist. Nashville: Abingdon.

Neuhaus, Richard J. "The New Catechism and Christian Unity." Theology Today. 53:2 (July 1996): 171-176.

Osborne, Kenan B., OFM. "A Profile of the Baptized Catholic Christian at the Beginning of the Third Millennium." The Catholic World (January/February 1996): 35-38.

Osiek, Carolyn. 1984. What are They Saying about the Social Setting of the New Testament? New York: Paulist. Osiek explores insights gained from the New Testament by using sociology and social sciences in exegetical studies. She discusses the culture, family structure, social status and the church organization of ancient Israel in reference to research completed by other authors. By studying this research she first recognizes that all textual interpretations encompass the flavor of the author and their culture. However, while keeping this in mind, Osiek states that studying the social and cultural settings of ancient Israel can disclose new insights in regard to the New Testament.

Schmeller, Thomas. "Sociological Exegesis of the NT." Theology Digest 37:3 (Fall 1990): 231-234. Schmeller concludes teaming historical and sociological exegesis can strengthen our understanding of biblical texts. Overall, sociological exegesis attempts to interpret social conditions in order to understand biblical texts.

Schnelle, Udo. 1998. The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings. Minneapolis: Fortress. This book is "intended to introduce the reader to the basic historical and theological dimensions of the New Testament documents" (ix). It comments on the Letters of Paul, The Synoptic Gospels, The Acts of the Apostles, the Deteropauline Letters, Letters to the Hebrews, Tile Catholic Letter's, Tile Writings of the Johannine school and the Revelation of John. The date and author, place of writing, structure, themes and important historical issues of each are described.

Trocmé, Etienne. 1975. The Formation of the Gospel According to Mark. Philadelphia: Westminster.