Description
Book SynopsisIn the last decade or so, scholarship on the miracles of Jesus has shifted from reconstructions of the historical Jesus to the questions of why and to what end early Jesus-followers told stories about miracles. Myrick Shinall contends that Mark and Q contain two distinct ways of remembering Jesus’s miracles in relation to his proclamation of the kingdom of God. He compares three cases of Mark-Q overlaps which feature miracles: the Beelzebul controversy, the commissioning of the disciples, and the testing or “temptation” narratives, and finds that in Mark, the miracles and the kingdom of God both point to Jesus’ identity as a divine figure, whereas in Q, Jesus and the miracles point instead to the coming kingdom of God. Shinall further argues that these different views represent different strategies for creating group identities for Jesus’ followers, strategies that came into conflict as the movement’s identity coalesced. At length, he shows that the mix of “high” and “low” Christology in the Synoptic tradition requires reframing of the current debate over how early a “high” Christology developed in the nascent Jesus movement.
Trade ReviewShinall's thesis is provocative and presented in a lively manner. * The Bible Today *
Smartly written and full of instructive comparative materials, Miracles and the Kingdom of God is a salutary warning against flattening or harmonizing parallel synoptic texts. The volume is an important contribution to the on-going debates about early Christology, and scholars will henceforth have to reckon with Shinall’s novel suggestions and provocative conclusions. -- Dale C. Allison Jr., Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary
This study of the miracles and the kingdom in Mark and Q/double tradition, with also a valuable eye to social identity and sociological issues, finds significant differences between the two strands. Well-argued and thought-provoking, this is an important contribution to gospel studies and will be of interest to all students of Mark and Q. -- Christopher Tuckett, University of Oxford
This is a very fine and rich comparison of the miracles stories that overlap the Gospel of Mark and the synoptic Sayings Gospel Q. Deep knowledge of the use of miracle stories in Greco-Roman antiquity, a studied sensitivity to the relationship between miracles stories and early Christian intellectual and social formation, and skilled exegesis of the relevant texts, allow the author to make a convincing argument that Mark and Q represent very different conceptions of Jesus and social visions for his groups of followers. -- Willi Braun, University of Alberta
Table of Contents1.Preliminary Objections The Kentucky Fried Rat Objection 1: The Bible is not Folklore Objection 2: There is no Q Objection 3: There is no New Testament Christology Conclusion 2.The Purposes of Narrating Miracle Stories Miracles and Identity Formation Miracles in the Ancient Mediterranean Conclusion 3.The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan The Kingdom of God: Background The Kingdom of God: Q The Kingdom of God: Mark Satan and His Kingdom Conclusion 4.The Beelzebul Controversy Controversy and Identity The Beelzebul Controversy in Mark The Beelzebul Controversy in the Double Tradition Conclusion 5. The Commissioning of the Disciples Charisma and Succession The Commissioning in Mark The Commissioning in the Double Tradition Conclusion 6. The Testing of Jesus Testing and Initiation The Testing of Jesus in the Double Tradition The Testing of Jesus in Mark Conclusion 7. Conclusion Mark and Q Christology and Social Identity Miracles and the Kingdom of God
