Synopsis: Mark's Gospel is much maligned for its redundancy and
stylistic sloppiness. But is this indignity justified? The answer
to this question hangs not only on the genre of this work but also
on the life setting of its target audience. Rather than unwitting
slip-ups of an inept writer, Mark's narrative repetitions and
temporal dislocations are better understood as rhetorical
strategies for a didactive oral performance. There is "method" to
Mark's "madness," and the method maps his meaning. In recent
decades, some scholars have become enamored with what they see as a
generic affinity between Mark's Gospel and fictive literature,
particularly ancient romance novels. Could this be the "method"
behind Mark's madness? This book offers readers an exciting and
profitable journey into two story worlds that likely share a common
historical-cultural setting: Mark's "Gospel" and Chariton's
"passion of love." Analyzing these works from the vantage point of
narrative sequence, Starner identifies two contrasting worldviews:
for Chariton, the world is controlled by the goddess Aphrodite who
serves as a powerbroker distributing political, economic, and
sociological power to agents who use that power for self-serving
ends; for Mark, the world is governed by an All-Powerful God who,
shockingly, operates from a posture of powerlessness, inviting (not
coercing) humans to accept his lordship and urging them to adopt
the self-sacrificial, service-oriented program of living that finds
its quintessential expression in the historical Jesus of the
Gospels. Endorsements: "This book offers an intriguing study of
some notable narrative techniques in Mark's Gospel. In contrast to
modern speculations of how Mark should have written, Starner's
observations are grounded in ancient narration patterns. While
noting parallels with Chariton's style, Starner is also careful to
highlight some distinctive elements in Mark's account." --Craig
Keener Professor of New Testament Palmer Theological Seminary "It
is sometimes said that the Gospel of Mark is a clumsy concatenation
of stories, thrown together willy-nilly. In Kingdom of Power, Power
of Kingdom Rob Starner offers an alternative take: Mark uses the
apparent disruptions in sequence, repetitions, and gaps in
information to leverage the responses of his readers. Starner's
argument is crisp, compelling, and critically important--a must
read for anyone who wishes to understand both Mark and the current
state of literary scholarship in biblical studies. Mark, like
Starner, is anything but clumsy." --Jerry Camery-Hoggatt Professor
of New Testament and Narrative Theology Vanguard University Author
Biography: Rob Starner is Professor of Greek and New Testament at
Southwestern AG University in Waxahachie, Texas.
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