First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences

First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences

Author: Thomas E. Boomershine

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2022-07-29

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1666728799

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These essays explore the reconception of the Gospels as first-century compositions of sound performed for audiences by storytellers rather than the anachronistic picture of a series of texts read by individual readers. The new paradigm implicit in these initial experiments is based on the recent realization that the majority of persons--85 to 95 percent--were illiterate and experienced the Jesus stories as members of audiences. Either from memory or from memorized manuscripts, the evangelists performed the Gospels as an evening's entertainment of two to four hours. The audiences were predominantly addressed as Hellenistic Judeans who lived in the aftermath of the Roman-Jewish war. When heard whole, the Gospels were vivid experiences of the central character of Jesus. These studies of audience address and the interactions between first-century storytellers and audiences reveal a dynamic performance literature that functioned as scripts for an ever-expanding network of storytelling proclamations whose envisioned horizon was the whole world. When the Gospels were told at one time from beginning to end, they invited the listeners to move from being peripherally interested or initially opposed to Jesus to identifying themselves as disciples of Jesus and believers in him as the Messiah.


Book Synopsis First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences by : Thomas E. Boomershine

Download or read book First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences written by Thomas E. Boomershine and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2022-07-29 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These essays explore the reconception of the Gospels as first-century compositions of sound performed for audiences by storytellers rather than the anachronistic picture of a series of texts read by individual readers. The new paradigm implicit in these initial experiments is based on the recent realization that the majority of persons--85 to 95 percent--were illiterate and experienced the Jesus stories as members of audiences. Either from memory or from memorized manuscripts, the evangelists performed the Gospels as an evening's entertainment of two to four hours. The audiences were predominantly addressed as Hellenistic Judeans who lived in the aftermath of the Roman-Jewish war. When heard whole, the Gospels were vivid experiences of the central character of Jesus. These studies of audience address and the interactions between first-century storytellers and audiences reveal a dynamic performance literature that functioned as scripts for an ever-expanding network of storytelling proclamations whose envisioned horizon was the whole world. When the Gospels were told at one time from beginning to end, they invited the listeners to move from being peripherally interested or initially opposed to Jesus to identifying themselves as disciples of Jesus and believers in him as the Messiah.

First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences

First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences

Author: Thomas E. Boomershine

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2022-07-29

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 1666733822

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These essays explore the reconception of the Gospels as first-century compositions of sound performed for audiences by storytellers rather than the anachronistic picture of a series of texts read by individual readers. The new paradigm implicit in these initial experiments is based on the recent realization that the majority of persons—85 to 95 percent—were illiterate and experienced the Jesus stories as members of audiences. Either from memory or from memorized manuscripts, the evangelists performed the Gospels as an evening’s entertainment of two to four hours. The audiences were predominantly addressed as Hellenistic Judeans who lived in the aftermath of the Roman-Jewish war. When heard whole, the Gospels were vivid experiences of the central character of Jesus. These studies of audience address and the interactions between first-century storytellers and audiences reveal a dynamic performance literature that functioned as scripts for an ever-expanding network of storytelling proclamations whose envisioned horizon was the whole world. When the Gospels were told at one time from beginning to end, they invited the listeners to move from being peripherally interested or initially opposed to Jesus to identifying themselves as disciples of Jesus and believers in him as the Messiah.


Book Synopsis First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences by : Thomas E. Boomershine

Download or read book First-Century Gospel Storytellers and Audiences written by Thomas E. Boomershine and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2022-07-29 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These essays explore the reconception of the Gospels as first-century compositions of sound performed for audiences by storytellers rather than the anachronistic picture of a series of texts read by individual readers. The new paradigm implicit in these initial experiments is based on the recent realization that the majority of persons—85 to 95 percent—were illiterate and experienced the Jesus stories as members of audiences. Either from memory or from memorized manuscripts, the evangelists performed the Gospels as an evening’s entertainment of two to four hours. The audiences were predominantly addressed as Hellenistic Judeans who lived in the aftermath of the Roman-Jewish war. When heard whole, the Gospels were vivid experiences of the central character of Jesus. These studies of audience address and the interactions between first-century storytellers and audiences reveal a dynamic performance literature that functioned as scripts for an ever-expanding network of storytelling proclamations whose envisioned horizon was the whole world. When the Gospels were told at one time from beginning to end, they invited the listeners to move from being peripherally interested or initially opposed to Jesus to identifying themselves as disciples of Jesus and believers in him as the Messiah.

Character Theology

Character Theology

Author: Tom Steffen

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2024-02-21

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1666778575

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Character Theology provides a natural, universal way for the world to engage God through his chosen cast of characters. As the media eras continue to change (oral to print to digital-virtual), too many Bible scholars, and consequently pastors and Bible teachers in the West and beyond, lack capability to effectively communicate Scripture to Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha. These generations find little if any relevance in the Christianity promoted by those stuck in modernity’s sticky abstract systematic theology. Character Theology relates, sticks, and transforms these generations. Why? Because people grasp and engage God most naturally and precisely through his interaction with biblical characters and their interaction with each other! Characters communicate the Creator’s characteristics. The roadmap to the recovery and expansion of Christianity in the twenty-first century will be through Bible characters.


Book Synopsis Character Theology by : Tom Steffen

Download or read book Character Theology written by Tom Steffen and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2024-02-21 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Character Theology provides a natural, universal way for the world to engage God through his chosen cast of characters. As the media eras continue to change (oral to print to digital-virtual), too many Bible scholars, and consequently pastors and Bible teachers in the West and beyond, lack capability to effectively communicate Scripture to Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha. These generations find little if any relevance in the Christianity promoted by those stuck in modernity’s sticky abstract systematic theology. Character Theology relates, sticks, and transforms these generations. Why? Because people grasp and engage God most naturally and precisely through his interaction with biblical characters and their interaction with each other! Characters communicate the Creator’s characteristics. The roadmap to the recovery and expansion of Christianity in the twenty-first century will be through Bible characters.

Biblical Humor and Performance

Biblical Humor and Performance

Author: Peter S. Perry

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2023-08-21

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1666711292

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What’s so humorous about the Bible? Quite a bit, especially if experienced with others! Nine biblical scholars explore their experiences of reading and hearing passages from the Bible and discovering humor that becomes clearer in performance. Each writer found clues in their chosen biblical text that suggested biblical authors expected an audience to respond with laughter. Performers have a powerful role in either bringing out or tamping down humor in the Bible. One audience may be more disposed to respond to humor than another. And each contributor found that experiencing humor changed the interpretation of the biblical passage. From Genesis to Revelation, this study uncovers the Bible’s potential for humor.


Book Synopsis Biblical Humor and Performance by : Peter S. Perry

Download or read book Biblical Humor and Performance written by Peter S. Perry and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-08-21 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What’s so humorous about the Bible? Quite a bit, especially if experienced with others! Nine biblical scholars explore their experiences of reading and hearing passages from the Bible and discovering humor that becomes clearer in performance. Each writer found clues in their chosen biblical text that suggested biblical authors expected an audience to respond with laughter. Performers have a powerful role in either bringing out or tamping down humor in the Bible. One audience may be more disposed to respond to humor than another. And each contributor found that experiencing humor changed the interpretation of the biblical passage. From Genesis to Revelation, this study uncovers the Bible’s potential for humor.

Preaching John's Gospel

Preaching John's Gospel

Author: Dave Bland

Publisher: Chalice Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 0827230818

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This title from Fleer and Bland is again designed specifically for preachers. Combining essays from top scholars and sermons from respected homileticians, Preaching John's Gospel includes contributors from a wide variety of Mainline and Evangelical denominations who value the role of scripture in faith development and preaching. Developed from the Rochester Sermon Seminar, the book is divided into two parts: The first includes essays on preaching the gospel of John, and is structured around the work of Gail O'Day's guiding essay "Preaching with John: Preaching as an Act of Friendship." The second half of the book consists of ten sermons from specific texts that incorporate the theoretical underpinnings of the book's first section. The essays and sermons are bound together by the same question: How can we draw our congregations into the world John has imagined for us? Contributors include: Gail O'Day, Richard B. Hays, Gregory Stevenson, Thomas H. Olbricht, Tom Boomershine, D'Esta Love, Alyce M. McKenzie, David Fleer, Dave Bland, and others.


Book Synopsis Preaching John's Gospel by : Dave Bland

Download or read book Preaching John's Gospel written by Dave Bland and published by Chalice Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title from Fleer and Bland is again designed specifically for preachers. Combining essays from top scholars and sermons from respected homileticians, Preaching John's Gospel includes contributors from a wide variety of Mainline and Evangelical denominations who value the role of scripture in faith development and preaching. Developed from the Rochester Sermon Seminar, the book is divided into two parts: The first includes essays on preaching the gospel of John, and is structured around the work of Gail O'Day's guiding essay "Preaching with John: Preaching as an Act of Friendship." The second half of the book consists of ten sermons from specific texts that incorporate the theoretical underpinnings of the book's first section. The essays and sermons are bound together by the same question: How can we draw our congregations into the world John has imagined for us? Contributors include: Gail O'Day, Richard B. Hays, Gregory Stevenson, Thomas H. Olbricht, Tom Boomershine, D'Esta Love, Alyce M. McKenzie, David Fleer, Dave Bland, and others.

Proclaiming the Gospel

Proclaiming the Gospel

Author: Whitney Shiner

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2003-10-30

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 0826462200

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Scholars have long understood that the texts we now know as the Gospels were read aloud in the Greco-Roman world, but few have actually envisioned what a performance of the Gospel of Mark would have been like in the first century and how it would have shaped the experience of its audience. Proclaiming the Gospel shows us. Oral performances in the New Testament world were lively affairs. In the performance of Greco-Roman theater, readers lose their voices from the stress of emotional passages. Audiences cheer for philosophers as if at a rock concert, and in law courts, they are paid for their responses. Storytellers compete for attention with jugglers, and some speakers must fend off hostile crowds. Congregations at churches and synagogues cheer as if at the theater. Shiner reveals the ways that Mark wrote his Gospel to compete in this arena and how his audiences would have responded: applause for the miracles of Jesus, then an altogether different response at the cross. Whitney Shiner is Assistant Professor of Christian Origins at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, and the author of Follow Me: Disciples in markan Rhetoric.


Book Synopsis Proclaiming the Gospel by : Whitney Shiner

Download or read book Proclaiming the Gospel written by Whitney Shiner and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2003-10-30 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars have long understood that the texts we now know as the Gospels were read aloud in the Greco-Roman world, but few have actually envisioned what a performance of the Gospel of Mark would have been like in the first century and how it would have shaped the experience of its audience. Proclaiming the Gospel shows us. Oral performances in the New Testament world were lively affairs. In the performance of Greco-Roman theater, readers lose their voices from the stress of emotional passages. Audiences cheer for philosophers as if at a rock concert, and in law courts, they are paid for their responses. Storytellers compete for attention with jugglers, and some speakers must fend off hostile crowds. Congregations at churches and synagogues cheer as if at the theater. Shiner reveals the ways that Mark wrote his Gospel to compete in this arena and how his audiences would have responded: applause for the miracles of Jesus, then an altogether different response at the cross. Whitney Shiner is Assistant Professor of Christian Origins at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, and the author of Follow Me: Disciples in markan Rhetoric.

Embodied Performance

Embodied Performance

Author: Sarah Agnew

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2020-09-22

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 1725257866

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Embodied Performance presents a methodology by which performer-interpreters can bring their intuitive interpretations to the scholarly conversations about biblical compositions. It may not be comfortable, for scholarship is out of practice in listening to emotion and intuition. It may not be the only way to bring the fullness of human meaning making into scholarly discussions. It is a beginning, as Sarah Agnew, storyteller and scholar, places herself as the subject and object under examination, observing her practice as a biblical storyteller making meaning through embodied performance, and develops a coherent method rigorously tested with an Embodied Performance Analysis of Romans. Follow Sarah's story as she searches within Biblical Performance Criticism for such a method, before determining the need to strike out in a new direction from within an already innovative field. All biblical scholars are complex human beings, making meaning through their embodiment, their emotions, their embeddedness in community. Embodied Performance Analysis offers a way to attend to and incorporate the full range of human meaning making in our engagement with biblical compositions, for richer discussion closer to the intent of the compositions themselves.


Book Synopsis Embodied Performance by : Sarah Agnew

Download or read book Embodied Performance written by Sarah Agnew and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-09-22 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Embodied Performance presents a methodology by which performer-interpreters can bring their intuitive interpretations to the scholarly conversations about biblical compositions. It may not be comfortable, for scholarship is out of practice in listening to emotion and intuition. It may not be the only way to bring the fullness of human meaning making into scholarly discussions. It is a beginning, as Sarah Agnew, storyteller and scholar, places herself as the subject and object under examination, observing her practice as a biblical storyteller making meaning through embodied performance, and develops a coherent method rigorously tested with an Embodied Performance Analysis of Romans. Follow Sarah's story as she searches within Biblical Performance Criticism for such a method, before determining the need to strike out in a new direction from within an already innovative field. All biblical scholars are complex human beings, making meaning through their embodiment, their emotions, their embeddedness in community. Embodied Performance Analysis offers a way to attend to and incorporate the full range of human meaning making in our engagement with biblical compositions, for richer discussion closer to the intent of the compositions themselves.

The Oral Ethos of the Early Church

The Oral Ethos of the Early Church

Author: Joanna Dewey

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2013-10-30

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1630870064

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To experience the gospel message as first-century people heard it is to move into an oral world, one with very little reliance on manuscripts. The essays in this book explore this oral world and the Gospel of Mark within it. They demonstrate the oral style of Mark's gospel, which suggests that it was composed orally, transmitted orally in its entirety by literate and nonliterate storytellers, and survived to become part of the canon only because it was widely known orally. Women's storytelling also thrived during the first centuries of Christianity. With the transition to manuscript authority beginning in the middle of the second century, women's voices were often minimized, trivialized, or completely omitted in written versions. Further, when the Gospel of Mark was one of four written Gospels these voices were quickly ignored. An ancient audience hearing Mark performed, however, enjoyed a vibrant experience of the gospel message and its urgent call to follow.


Book Synopsis The Oral Ethos of the Early Church by : Joanna Dewey

Download or read book The Oral Ethos of the Early Church written by Joanna Dewey and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2013-10-30 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To experience the gospel message as first-century people heard it is to move into an oral world, one with very little reliance on manuscripts. The essays in this book explore this oral world and the Gospel of Mark within it. They demonstrate the oral style of Mark's gospel, which suggests that it was composed orally, transmitted orally in its entirety by literate and nonliterate storytellers, and survived to become part of the canon only because it was widely known orally. Women's storytelling also thrived during the first centuries of Christianity. With the transition to manuscript authority beginning in the middle of the second century, women's voices were often minimized, trivialized, or completely omitted in written versions. Further, when the Gospel of Mark was one of four written Gospels these voices were quickly ignored. An ancient audience hearing Mark performed, however, enjoyed a vibrant experience of the gospel message and its urgent call to follow.

The Gospel According to Mark

The Gospel According to Mark

Author:

Publisher: Canongate Books

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 73

ISBN-13: 0857860976

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The earliest of the four Gospels, the book portrays Jesus as an enigmatic figure, struggling with enemies, his inner and external demons, and with his devoted but disconcerted disciples. Unlike other gospels, his parables are obscure, to be explained secretly to his followers. With an introduction by Nick Cave


Book Synopsis The Gospel According to Mark by :

Download or read book The Gospel According to Mark written by and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The earliest of the four Gospels, the book portrays Jesus as an enigmatic figure, struggling with enemies, his inner and external demons, and with his devoted but disconcerted disciples. Unlike other gospels, his parables are obscure, to be explained secretly to his followers. With an introduction by Nick Cave

Short Stories by Jesus

Short Stories by Jesus

Author: Amy-Jill Levine

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2014-09-09

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 006219819X

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The renowned biblical scholar, author of The Misunderstood Jew, and general editor for The Jewish Annotated New Testament interweaves history and spiritual analysis to explore Jesus’ most popular teaching parables, exposing their misinterpretations and making them lively and relevant for modern readers. Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus’ stories ignore this disparity and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their perspectives. In this wise, entertaining, and educational book, Amy-Jill Levine offers a fresh, timely reinterpretation of Jesus’ narratives. In Short Stories by Jesus, she analyzes these “problems with parables,” taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. Levine reveals the parables’ connections to first-century economic and agricultural life, social customs and morality, Jewish scriptures and Roman culture. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.


Book Synopsis Short Stories by Jesus by : Amy-Jill Levine

Download or read book Short Stories by Jesus written by Amy-Jill Levine and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-09-09 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The renowned biblical scholar, author of The Misunderstood Jew, and general editor for The Jewish Annotated New Testament interweaves history and spiritual analysis to explore Jesus’ most popular teaching parables, exposing their misinterpretations and making them lively and relevant for modern readers. Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus’ stories ignore this disparity and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their perspectives. In this wise, entertaining, and educational book, Amy-Jill Levine offers a fresh, timely reinterpretation of Jesus’ narratives. In Short Stories by Jesus, she analyzes these “problems with parables,” taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. Levine reveals the parables’ connections to first-century economic and agricultural life, social customs and morality, Jewish scriptures and Roman culture. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.