�1

�2

Conversations With ScriptureThe Gospel of Mark

Marcus Borg 2009: Morehouse Publishing

Available through amazon.ca in both paperback and Kindle formats, Marcus Borg’s brief commentary on the Gospel of Mark will function as our guide. While it is not necessary to purchase or read this commentary in order to participate in our conversations, those who do will find a wealth of background information that will enlighten their own reading of the Gospel according to Mark.

Marcus Borg provides both a Christian together with a mainstream scholarly perspective which approaches the text as the product of a developing tradition.

The Jewish Annotated New Testament

New Revised Standard Versioneditors: Amy-Jill Levine & Marc Zvi Bretter

2015: Oxford University Press

Although this text is the 1989 New Revised Standard Version translation from the Greek, the annotations from Jewish New Testament scholars Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler provide a splendid scholarly view into the world of the original anonymous gospel-storyteller known as Mark together with a much needed, often neglected, Jewish perspective.

Various printouts will be provided using this excel lent publ icat ion’s considerable contributions to the ever-expanding work of New Testament scholarship.

�3

“The word “Jewish” in the title “The Jewish Annotated New Testament” serves several roles.

The first 8 Chapters of Mark can be viewed on line at books.google.ca

1. Its annotations (notes) highlight aspects of first and second century Judaism that enrich the understanding of New Testament: customs, literature, and interpretations of biblical texts.

2. highlights connections between the New Testament material and later Jewish (especially rabbinic) literature, so readers can track similar as well as distinct ideas across time.

3. addresses problems that Jewish readers find in reading the New Testament, especially passages that have been used to perpetuate anti-Judaism and the stereotypes that non-Jewish readers sometimes bring to the texts…paying attention to passages that negatively stereotype Jews.

�4

�5

�6

�7