Miracle and Mission
The Authentication of Missionaries and Their Message in the Longer Ending of Mark
by James A. Kelhoffer
The Longer Ending of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:9-20) was appended to the Gospel of Mark in the first half of the second century. James A. Kelhoffer explores this passage’s distinct witness to the use of gospel traditions and the development of Christian thought. Concerning the origin of this passage, he argues that a single author made use of the New Testament Gospels in forging a more satisfactory ending to Mark. He studies the passage’s sometimes innovative literary forms as well. Also of interest is the passage’s claim that the ascended Lord will help those who believe to perform miraculous signs – casting out demons, speaking in new languages, picking up snakes, drinking poison with impunity and healing the sick – when they preach the gospel (verses 17-18, 20). This expectation is compared with portraits of miracles, especially in the context of mission, in the New Testament, various apocryphal acts and Christian apologists of the second and third centuries. In the two final chapters the author interprets the signs of picking up snakes (verse 18a) and drinking a deadly substance with impunity (verse 18b) in their history of religions contexts. An Epilogue summarizes the findings of this study and explores what can be ascertained about the otherwise unknown Christian author of Mark 16:9-20.
- By (author) James A Kelhoffer
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Hidden Criticism?
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Volume 392
Die Ethik des Johannesevangeliums im sprachlichen Feld des Handelns
Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik / Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics. Band V
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Sturmfahrt und Schiffbruch
Zur lukanischen Verwendung eines literarischen Topos in Apostelgeschichte 27,1-28,6
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Eine exegetische Untersuchung zum paulinischen Sundenverstandnis aus soteriologischer Sicht
Volume 318
Constructing a New Covenant
Discursive Strategies in the Damascus Document and Second Corinthians
Volume 233
Ephesians and Empire
An Evaluation of the Epistle's Subversion of Roman Imperial Ideology
Volume 573
Thaumaturgic Prowess
Autonomous and Dependent Miracle-Working in Mark's Gospel and the Second Temple Period
Volume 491
Pioneer and Perfecter of Faith
Jesus' Faith as the Climax of Israel's History in the Epistle to the Hebrews
Volume 338
Language and Identity in Ancient Narratives
The Relationship between Speech Patterns and Social Context in the Acts of the Apostles, Acts of John, and Acts of Philip
Volume 370
Pistis and the Righteous One
A Study of Romans 1:17 against the Background of Scripture and Second Temple Jewish Literature
Volume 235
The Destroyer and the Lamb
The Relationship between Angelomorphic and Lamb Christology in the Book of Revelation
Volume 203
Sunde als Zielverfehlung bei Paulus
Eine Studie zum stoisch-sokratischen Kolorit paulinischer Hamartiologie
Volume 614
The Memory of Ignatius of Antioch
The Martyr as a Locus of Christian Identity, Remembering and Remembered
Volume 581
John 4:1-42 among the Biblical Well Encounters
Pentateuchal and Johannine Narrative Reconsidered
Volume 542
Redescribing Jesus’ Divinity Through a Social Science Theory
An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Forgiveness and Divine Identity in Ancient Judaism and Mark 2:1-12
Volume 438
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