In the Incarnation….

God took on human weakness. This is a crucial aspect, though an oft-neglected one, of Christian theology. Consider the kenosis hymn of Philippians 2:5-11. Christ had the form of God, but did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped for his own gain. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a…

Are Classical Liberalism and Postmodernity Both Oppressive?

I’m reading Rebecca Raphael’s very fine book, Biblical Corpora: Representations of Disability in Hebrew Biblical Literature (T & T Clark, 2008). In this work, she makes a very interesting observation: “[T]he classical liberal emphasis on autonomy assumed a standard, able, adult body and said virtually nothing about the presence of disabled persons in the body…

Post SBL thoughts

Well, I didn’t find any good bbq in downtown Atlanta (though I can’t say that I tried very hard). I ran into a lot of old friends, though, which was nice. The only program unit sessions that I went to were the three sessions of the Disability Studies and Healthcare in the Bible and Near…

SBL!

I’m off to the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Atlanta today. This is always a really beneficial conference. For me personally, the sections on the Bible and disability and social-scientific criticism of the NT are very important. Add in the lecture by N. T. Wright tonight, numerous receptions, and a chance…

Mark’s Counterculture

Last week I was reading through the proofs of an article that I’ve written and will come out later this year. The article compares the ancient novel The Life of Aesop and the Gospel of Mark. Coming back to this text, it struck me again just how deeply countercultural Mark is. Read through this text…

Honor Among Christians: The Cultural Key to the Messianic Secret

Publisher: FORTRESS PR Publication Date: 10/2010 ISBN-13: 9780800697099 Author: David Watson You can purchase your copy here. Readers have long puzzled over peculiar aspects of the Gospel of Mark: Jesus’ attempts to conceal his deeds and his identity. William Wrede called these and similar motifs the “messianic secret” in Mark, and proposed that Mark had…

A very interesting religious figure

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield is one of the more interesting figures in public religious discourse today. He’ll be a Stillwater UMC near Dayton, Ohio, on December 1 at 7:00 p.m. to speak on the topic “Finding Faith Without Fanaticism.” If you can make it, I’d love to see you there.

Honor Among Christians

Well, at long last, it’s out. Honor Among Christians is my take on the so-called “messianic secret” in Mark. I’m trying to answer the question, “How would ancient Mediterranean people have heard these stories in Mark in which Jesus attempts to conceal his deeds and identity?” In 1901 William Wrede wrote a book that we…