Newton's Cat

Mark wrote:

'Came John, the one baptising in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentence for forgiveness of sins. And went out to him ALL the Judaean country and the Jerusalemites ALL, and were baptised by him in the Jordan River confessing the sins of them.'

This was NOT supposed to be understood as a description of an historical event. The reader, when presented with an image of ALL (1-2 million!) the people of the Judaean part of Palestine experiencing a sudden change of mind was expected to fully realise that he was reading a work of fiction. When Jesus then came from Galilee, the northern part of Palestine, the historical region known as Israel, the informed reader would perceive that the plot of the story is in some way concerned with the traditional Israel-Judaea cultural split in Jewish society. Then Jesus, after being baptised by John, experiences a "communication with his deceased father" (not God!). Who was Jesus' father supposed to be? (In this work of fiction).

If you read:

Came Fred baptising by the River Thames, and went out to him ALL the people of the English countryside and ALL the people of London and they were baptised by him and confessed their sins. Then came Hamish from Scotland ... what would you think the author was up to?

The original story as written by Mark was a criticism of contemporary Judaism, possibly a play, meant for a sophisticated, well-informed audience.

rigorist

Michael Goulder's theory is that Mark (and indeed all the Gospels) was written as a lectionary to be read in conjunction with Torah readings.

sharon45

That is an interesting idea, but I think one could find about anything they wanted out of the story as long as it was heavily laden with symbolism.

It certainly is an abrasive attack on Judaism, but not for the knowledgeable.