Summary In Part I of this series on the Bethsaida section of the Gospel of Mark, I argued that the role of the blind man of Bethsaida was played by Titus Flavius Clemens. Mark wrote the scene ot honor Clemens. Here, I build on Part I. I discuss the second feeding miracle in the Gospel…
Think-Blog
The Bethsaida section, Part I: The blind man of Bethsaida scene
Summary This post builds on the discussion of the blind man of Bethsaida scene in my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text. Here, I imagine how the scene (Mk 8:22-26) was staged. I conclude that the scene was intended for the world of the audience. I argue that Mark wrote the blind…
The Joseph of Arimathea scene in the Gospel of Mark, revisited
Summary When I wrote my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text, I assumed that the received text of the Joseph of Arimathea scene in the Gospel of Mark (Mk 15:42-46) preserved the performance of Mark’s play. I assumed that the audience heard the spoken words “Iōsēph ho apo Harimathaias.” I assumed that…
Dramatic enactment of the Gospel of Mark by actor Max McLean
A YouTube search yields several dramatic readings of the Gospel of Mark, including an excellent one by actor David Suchet. But the dramatic enactment of the Gospel of Mark by actor Max McLean is in a class by itself. McLean dramatizes the dialogue. He uses the stage and all of the actor’s craft to keep…
The fig tree episode in the Gospel of Mark is an editorial overwrite
Summary The episode of the cursing of the fig tree in the Gospel of Mark is not good theater. It follows the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and brackets the Temple Incident (TI). The fig-tree episode should have some relationship to either the triumph or to Jesus’s actions in the Temple. But instead, Jesus explains to…
Review of Caesar’s Messiah, by Joseph Atwill
Introduction Caesar’s Messiah presents a tissue of preposterous theories. It does not deserve your time. Robert M. Price uses the words “mad,” “ludicrous,” and “perverse and gratuitous interpretations of the text” in his review of Caesar’s Messiah (the 2005 edition). Curious, I read the entire Caesar’s Messiah (2011 revised edition, the only one available as…
The origin of Saint Veronica: Berenice, Judean princess
Summary In this post I speculate that the origin of Saint Veronica was the real-life Berenice, Judean princess and mistress/fiancée to Titus Flavius Vespasianus. I suggest that in the 80s CE, after Titus’s death, Berenice participated somehow in the Roman congregation of Mark and Flavia Domitilla. I suggest that for many decades after Berenice’s death,…
Review of R.G. Price’s Deciphering the Gospels Proves Jesus Never Existed
In his 2018 book, Deciphering the Gospels Proves Jesus Never Existed, R.G. Price falls into the trap that is ever-present for independent scholars: not having sufficiently ‘read around’ the topic. Price erroneously bases his argument on and takes for granted the integrity of the received versions of the Pauline letters and Acts, and also the…
What was the origin of Mark’s congregation?
This post presents my thoughts about the origin of the Roman congregation. It’s entirely top-of-my-head speculation, but of interest—I hope—because I’ve spent several years immersed in the Gospel of Mark and its adjacent texts. My thoughts on the origin of Mark’s congregation are consistent with the picture I paint in The Two Gospels of Mark:…
Introduction to the blog
This blog updates, supplements, and builds outward from my 2019 book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text.