Theology of the Gospel of Mark

A Semantic, Narrative, and Rhetorical Study of the Characterization of God

Paul L. Danove

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780567701985
• eBook ISBN: 9780567684103
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Paul L. Danove presents the first full-length study of God and the theology of God in the Gospel of Mark. In dialogue with scholars who assume that texts are designed to guide their own interpretation, Danove develops and applies methods of analysis to describe the actions and attributes of God in the Gospel of Mark. Danove presents his argument in a threefold structure, beginning with outlining a set of complementary semantic, narrative, and rhetorical methods for investigating characterization. He then moves to examine the semantic and narrative content related to the character of God in the Gospel of Mark and then formulates this information under the guidance of the narrative rhetoric into statements of God's fifty-six repeated and sixty-two non-repeated actions and attributes, arranged according to God's portrayal as semantic agent, benefactive, content of human experience, experiencer, goal, instrument, patient of predication, source, theme, and topic of faith.

Part I

THE METHODOLOGICAL STUDY

THE SEMANTIC, NARRATIVE, AND RHETORICAL METHODS OF ANALYSIS AND DESCRIPTION

Chapter 1

THE METHOD OF SEMANTIC ANALYSIS AND DESCRIPTION

This chapter introduces the method of semantic analysis and description assumed in the following study of the theology of the Gospel of Mark. The initial discussion presents an overview of the study’s model of communication and its interpreter. The discussion of the semantic method of analysis and description then introduces the concepts associated with semantic frames, specifies the content of particular semantic frames, develops the analytical and descriptive potential of case frames, offers a series of clarifications about semantic and case frames, and provides a statement of the semantic competencies assumed by the narration. Within the semantic study, “Mark” designates the semantic content of the text of the Gospel of Mark, which is taken to include the text of UBSGNT 4 from 1:1–16:8.¹

1. The Model of Semantic Communication: Semantic Frames

This discussion introduces the study’s model of communication and then specifies the elements of the model of semantic communication that establish the foundation for the semantic study of characterization.

a. The Model of Communication

This study attributes to the text the capacity to guide its own interpretation.² Thus its model of communication focuses not on historical author(s) and readers or possible applications by contemporary readers but on the author and reader implied by the text.³

According to this model, the implied author proposes, structures, and provides guidelines for evaluating the content of the Gospel of Mark; and the implied reader receives this content and interprets it under the guidance provided by the implied author.⁴ The narration assumes and evokes particular pre-existing competencies, knowledge, and convictions for the implied reader and cultivates new competencies, knowledge, and convictions for the implied reader.⁵ This and following discussions reference these competencies, knowledge, and convictions as “beliefs.”

The distinction between pre-existing and cultivated beliefs usually is straightforward. The introduction of words without definitions, concepts without explanations, and named characters without detailed descriptions signal appeals to beliefs assumed for the implied reader. In contrast, definitions for words, explanations for concepts, and detailed introductions for new named characters signal narrative attempts to cultivate beliefs for the implied reader.

The distinction between evoked and cultivated beliefs permits a distinction of two constructs of the implied reader: the authorial audience and the narrative audience.⁶ The authorial audience is the construct of the pre-existing beliefs assumed for the implied reader, and the narrative audience is the construct of the beliefs cultivated for the implied reader. The study omits consideration of a third possible construct of the implied reader, the ideal narrative audience, which arises in the context of unreliable narration, because the narrator of the Gospel of Mark is reliable, that is, indicative of the guidelines for interpretation proposed by the implied author.⁷

b. The Model of Semantic Communication: Semantic Frames

The model of semantic communication assumes that the encounter with each word of Mark evokes for the interpreter semantic frames. These semantic frames accommodate the interpretation of the word by making available information about and semantic referents for the words accommodated by the frame; relationships to other semantic frames containing the words and referents; perspectives for evaluating the function of the words; and expectations concerning the semantic content of communication.⁸ Each word within a semantic context evokes semantic frames and the intersection of their content identifies one or more sets of information, relationships, perspectives, and expectations that permit the grammatical interpretation of all the words in the context. The most significant semantic context is the phrase. For example, the words of the verb phrase governed by “lease” (ἐκδίδομαι, 12:1) evoke various semantic frames; and the intersection of their content identifies the contractual commercial transaction semantic frame as the optimal meaningful context for the interpretation of the words of the phrase in that context.⁹ This frame provides information about leasing; the relationships among “leasers,” “lessees,” “properties,” and “fees”; perspectives for evaluating these relationships; and expectations for the grammatical use of these words. This semantic frame accommodates the interpretation of “the human being” as leaser, “farmers” as lessees, and “it/vineyard” as the property. This frame also provides the meaningful context for interpreting some of the fruit in 12:2 as the seasonal fee of the leasing contract.

2. Specification of the Content of Semantic Frames

Although the content of the semantic frames evoked by words in one language rarely coincides with that evoked by the translations of the words in another language, the proper selection of English translations for the words in Mark provides sufficient overlap in the content of the semantic frames to make special clarification unnecessary. The following discussion considers those Greek words whose evoked semantic frames differ sufficiently in content from their English translations to impact the study of the characterization of God.

a. Love (ἀγαπάω)

Whereas the English “love” in its contemporary usage gives prominence to the affective and experiential element of relationships, ἀγαπάω in Mark complements the affective focus by also evoking semantic frames that provide information, relationships, perspectives, and expectations concerning covenantal obligations. This is apparent in the fact that, in four of its five occurrences, the verb is introduced in response to a question about the commandments (12:30, 31, 33a, 33b). Significantly, in the remaining occurrence (10:21), Jesus responds to the man who has fulfilled central obligations of the Mosaic covenant (10:19-20; cf. Exod 20:12-16; Deut 5:16-20) by loving him and telling him that, in order to inherit everlasting life, he must also sell what he has, give it to the poor, and follow Jesus.¹⁰ This clarifies that love’s affective response to another requires action on behalf of the other.¹¹

b. Forgive (ἀφίημι)

Unlike the English “forgive,” which evokes semantic frames that include many words referencing possible things and persons that may be forgiven, ἀφίημι with the meaning “forgive” in Mark most frequently evokes semantic frames that reference “sins” understood as “covenantal debts.”¹² These semantic frames provide the information that, insofar as actions that violate the covenant cannot be undone, the sins/debts incurred by those actions cannot be repaid. As a consequence, ἀφίημι differs from “forgive” in not evoking commercial transaction semantic frames that provide information, relationships, perspectives for evaluation, and expectations concerning various means of repayment.

c. Has Been Written (γέγραπται)

“Write” and γράφω evoke semantic frames that provide references to significantly different information and different words associated with the mechanisms and materials of writing and possible writers. Still, there is sufficient overlap in the content of the ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Part I The Methodological Study
• Chapter 1 The Method of Semantic Analysis and Description
• Chapter 2 The Method of Narrative Analysis and Description
• Chapter 3 The Method of Rhetorical Analysis and Description and the Theological Study
• Part II The Exegetical Study
• Chapter 4 Exegesis of the Rhetorical Contexts in Mark 1–9
• Chapter 5 Exegesis of the Rhetorical Contexts in Mark 10–15
• Part III The Theological Study
• Chapter 6 God as Agent
• Chapter 7 God as Agentive Benefactive
• Chapter 8 God as Innate and Originating Benefactive
• Chapter 9 God as Recipient and Reciprocal Benefactive
• Chapter 10 God as Content, Experiencer, Goal, and Instrument
• Chapter 11 God as Patient, Source, Theme, and Topic; Proposals and Conclusion
• Appendices
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright