Marcus Borg's Conversations With Scripture: The Gospel Of Mark

The Gospel of Mark is a narrative of the life of Jesus Christ, leading up to his death. The Gospel of Mark starts off with the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. In the first couple of chapters, Mark

Bruce concludes by explaining the criteria used for writings to be considered canon. He goes into more depth on the inspiration of the scriptures — an integral part of how the canon came together. The close of the book is appended by two lectures that explore the “secret” gospel of Mark and the Primary Sense and Plenary Sense of scripture.

In “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon illustrates the paradox within the notion of wilderness, describing that if wilderness is that which lies beyond civilization -- beyond humankind, then so is the notion of nature outside the realm of the human... that humans are therefore, unnatural. Further, he explains that if our concept of nature (and ultimately our concept of God) is outside of humanity, then our existence is synonymous with the downfall of nature. That wilderness is purely a construct of civilization is central to this argument.  For example, Cronon asserts that “the removal of Indians to create an ‘uninhabited wilderness’---uninhabited as never before in human history of the place---reminds us just how invented, just how constructed, the American wilderness really is” (pg.79). Instead of in isolation from civilization, Cronon finds that his most spiritual experiences with nature have always been closer to home… a sense of wildness (versus wilderness) can be found in one’s backyard, gazing from a front porch, and in the melding of the human experience with mother nature. One of Into the Wild’s final scenes drives home this idea by altering the literal point of view that main character, Chris McCandless, has had of both himself and of the world since the beginning of his two year journey.  Into the Wild attempts to dramatizes Cronon’s argument to rethink wilderness; we will examine how the film succeeds, and where it fails, to support its premise.

These five great discourses illustrate that Matthew has constructed his Gospel around Jesus as the perfect teacher. This greatest of all teachers communicates his message through these five discourses, a repetition in the New Testament of the law of Judaism- the five great books of

But the love of the wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we ever need--if only we had the eyes to see. Original sin, the true original sin, is the blind destruction for the sake of greed of this natural

This book review is from the readings of Biblical Inspiration by Howard Marshall. The book is published by Regent College Publishing located in Vancouver, and British Columbia published the book in 2004. The book is braces around the interpretation of the Bible, and the inspiration of the Bible in our lives of today. There are many questions that are brought up the book, and these include: Is the Bible infallible? How do we interpret the Bible today? is its inspiration believable in and biblical criticism believable? All of the different opinions on biblical issues equivalent to these bring up issues and questioning within the community. It is Marshall’s goal to try and produce a statement that is concrete of what the Bible says in our lives today.

In section two of the book, the author focuses on God’s Word and how the reader needs to free Scripture from perceptual framework; in this he provides four approaches. First, Mulholland tells the reader that they are a word of God. Humankind is a word of God because God first chose humankind, He spoke each person forth. Second, humankind is to be incarnate words by living out the Word of God instead of living out the worldly desires. Third, the author now incorporates the previous two conceptions of mankind being a word, and living out the Word of God, into being this created, incarnate word now being shaped by the Word of God. Mulholland then explains the Word by which one is shaped. The Word of God being present in Jesus and active in the Holy Spirit. This Word, he suggests, is like a surgeon who one trusts to cut the core of the problem of one’s physical body; while “the Word cuts the core of one’s being and transforms it into the Word God speaks mankind forth to be in the world.” Mulholland then gives his

However, he also believes that the people who wrote the people had experiences with God, and that the Bible itself is a “human response” to God. Borg thinks that the origin of the Bible needs to be an either/or decision in order to simplify the conflict as well as our understanding of the Bible. He points out that if we believe the Bible is a divine-and-human product then we begin picking which parts are divine and which are human which would lead to further conflict.

1) Grasp the text in their town. (Read the text carefully and observe. Try to see as much as possible in the text. Look, look, and look again, observing all that you can. Scrutinize the grammar and analyze all significant words. Study the historical and literary contexts. Write out what the passage meant for the biblical audience using past tense verbs and refer to the biblical audience.)p.42

When reading the bible it is very important to be able to understand and interpret what is being said or taught by Jesus. In Upside-Down kingdom Kraybill, really puts into perspective for us what was really meant by text in the Bible. In Chapter 7 Kraybill explains to the reader how, “our economic commitments often distort our reading of the scripture and divert us around the biblical teaching on wealth.” (Kraybill pg.120) He goes on to touch on parables and teachings of Jesus that we often misinterpret as readers and clarifies to us the true meaning in the context of Jesus’ time. In detour nine he explains to the reader and give us an example on how we as readers can take something Jesus has said and twist it into something

Beare, Francis Wright. "Mission of the Disciples and the Mission Charge: Matthew 10 and Parallels." Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 89, no. 1, Mar. 1970, pp. 1-13.

Barry, John D. James: Simply the Gospel. Not Your Average Bible Study. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014.

In doing so, we can discover that final authority is not in and of scripture itself but of the Triune God who is the Author of scripture. The second obstacle to consider is that many have dismissed scripture as a book of Israelitic & Christian stories. Wright contends that these stories are told to inform us of “internal dynamics” of the past so as to engage us in the present for transformation into Christ-likeness. (p.25). Thirdly, Wright asserts that the question of scripture’s authority should not be viewed as a list of rules where God condescends to man. Rather, scripture should be received as God’s purpose to save and renew the entire world by authorizing the church—God’s agent in the world—with His mission through the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, it is imperative that biblical scholars “see the role of scripture not simply as being [informative about or revelatory of God’s truth] but as a means of God’s action in and through us.” (p.28)

The gospel according to mark is a prolific story which takes look at people's view of Jesus, and critiques of several aspects of religion, and a further critiques humanity and human nature. The story does this by making Espinosa imitate the role of Jesus Christ, as well as by making the Gutres his followers and making them a symbol of human nature as well. Finally paints a view of how humanity will continue to react to the unknown.

Mark: The Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus Christ’s life from when he was baptized by John the Baptist until the days of his death, and his resurrection. Mark was the second of four Gospels although some Scholars argue and insist Mark was the first Gospel written 1. Mark was written by John Mark in AD 65, with a target audience of Roman Christian beleivers 2. Mark was written in a unique manner in regards to literary genre, as it contains figures of speech, and portray life situations in a passionate story like setting that can make the reader feel as if he is there 3. The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, however it is written in a manner that emphasizes more so on Jesus’s works than Jesus’s words 4. The key theme in Mark is to portray the life of Jesus Christ as the son of God 5, and the purpose was to show the human qualities and emotions that Jesus displayed from anger (Mark 3:5), and compassion (Mark 1:41). Some of the key events of Jesus Christ’s life in the Gospel Mark include his miracles, his entrance into Jerusalem, the last supper, his arrest and trial, his crucifixion, his resurrection, and his ascension 6. The Gospel of Mark ends with his instruction to the eleven Apostles “And he said unto them “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:16), and his ascension into Heaven (Mark 16:19).