This blog updates, supplements, and builds outward from my 2019 book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text.
Think-Blog
How did Flavia Domitilla become a patron of the Roman congregation?
This is a condensed version of an earlier post. We have to start with Flavia’s connection to the Judean ethnic group, Princess Berenice. In the 80s, Berenice, in exile in Rome, very likely attended the pre-Papal Roman congregation. It was the best alternative to Pharisaical synagogues. (My suggestion is plausible because the Papal Roman congregation…
A Note on Costumes in the Gospel of Mark
Here I suggest how Mark might have used costumes to communicate the roles of Jesus’s enemies to the audience during the performance of the play that underlies the Gospel of Mark. The social identities or personal names of these persons were not spoken. Instead, the audience was shown something visually distinctive that identified the role….
The Gethsemane Scene in Mark
Here, I discuss the Gethsemane scene in the Gospel of Mark. (I did not discuss it in my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text.) I continue to assume that the Gospel of Mark was originally a performed play; the text we know is Mark’s narrative rewrite of the script. The Gethsemane scene…
Review of Varieties of Jesus Mythicism: Did He Even Exist?
Varieties of Jesus Mythicism: Did He Even Exist? edited by John W. Loftus and Robert M. Price, is an anthology for the general reader. The subtitle indicates that the book is a response to Bart Ehrman’s 2012 book, Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth. Loftus and Price include chapters that respond…
“Jericho” in the Gospel of Mark: A new explanation
Summary Did Mark write a scene set in Jericho, now missing (Mk 10:46)? In my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text, I assumed that he did. I’ve changed my mind. There was never a scene set in Jericho in the Gospel of Mark. The audience saw a large crowd (the Chorus) carrying…
My scenario for Mark explains official orthodox history
I have previously written about the real history of Mark’s congregation in Rome. In my book, and here and here. Here I explain how that real history explains several assertions and silences in the official orthodox history of the early church. To review, my scenario is that Mark’s congregation in Rome was founded by Alexandrian…
Why I think Mark wrote a play
Here I will defend my theory that Mark wrote a play that was performed on a stage, and a narrative text that condensed the play. This post supplements the case I made in my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text. The genre of the Gospel of Mark is still open The Gospel…
Varieties of Jesus mythicism anthology is now published
Update November 19, 2021: Available now in paperback and e-book: Varieties of Jesus Mythicism: Did He Even Exist? edited by John W. Loftus and Robert M. Price. At your favorite bookstore. Update December 23, 2021: Review coming soon. Contents: Foreword by Richard C. Miller Preface “The Jesus of the Gospels Didn’t Exist” by John Loftus …
Flavia Domitilla donated the use of catacombs; Mark’s play celebrated the donation
Summary I begin in Flavia Domitilla’s world. In my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text, I proposed that Flavia Domitilla produced a play that was privately performed for Mark’s Roman congregation. Flavia and her husband Titus Flavius Clemens were honored during the performance of the play. It was likely followed by a…
Origin of the Catacombs of Domitilla
Flavia Domitilla donated the use of her family catacombs on her suburban property. It already hosted an above-ground cemetery. (Two of her household staff were buried above-ground.*) Although Flavia Domitilla’s nuclear and extended family disappears from history after 95 CE, the Roman congregation continued to use the donated Catacombs of Domitilla for many centuries, evolving…