Mark (Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture, NT Volume 2)

Mark (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT Volume 2)

The 1999 Christianity Today Book Award WinnerThe early church valued the Gospel of Mark for its preservation of the apostolic voice and gospel narrative of Peter. Yet the early church fathers very rarely produced sustained commentary on Mark. This brisk-paced and robust little Gospel, so much enjoyed by modern readers, was overshadowed in the minds of the fathers by the magisterial Gospels of Matthew and John. But now with the assistance of computer searches, an abundance of comment has been discovered to be embedded and interleaved amidst the textual archives of patristic homilies, apologies, letters, commentaries, theological treatises and hymnic verses. In this Ancient Christian Commentary on Mark, the insights of Augustine of Hippo and Clement of Alexandria, Ephrem the Syrian and Cyril of Jerusalem join in a polyphony of interpretive voices of the Eastern and Western church from the second century to the seventh. St. Mark's Gospel displays the evocative power of its story, parables and passion as it ignites a brilliant exhibit of theological insight and pastoral wisdom. The Ancient Christian Commentary on Mark (now in its second edition) opens up a long-forgotten passage through the arid and precipitous slopes of post-Enlightenment critical interpretation and bears us along to a fertile valley basking in the sunshine of theological and spiritual interpretation. In these pages we enter the interpretive world that long nurtured the great premodern pastors, theologians and saints of the church.Review"This volume continues the valuable exploration of patristic interpretation." -- Mark Bilby, Religious Studies Review, September 2009"A 'must' for all theological libraries." -- International Review of Biblical Studies, Vol. 55, 2008-2009"A wealth of information for the classic Bible scholar." -- Ravonne A. Green, American Reference Books Annual, 2006, Volume 37"Contemporary Christians would do well to draw the hermeneutical circle broadly enough to include not only cross-cultural voices from around the world but also the voices to be found in the Ancient Christian Commentary series. This is an excellent sermon-preparation resource for pastors." -- The Christian Century, May 2, 2006Review"Contemporary Christians would do well to draw the hermeneutical circle broadly enough to include not only cross-cultural voices from around the world but also the voices to be found in the Ancient Christian Commentary series. This is an excellent sermon-preparation resource for pastors." -- The Christian Century, May 2, 2006About the AuthorThomas C. Oden recently retired as Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Theology at The Theological School of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. He is general editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and the author of numerous theological works, including a three-volume systematic theology.Christopher A. Hall is dean of the Templeton Honors College at Eastern University (St. Davids, Pennsylvania), where he has been teaching in the biblical and theological studies program. He is also associate editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.