Fortress Press

"This imaginative book is not just a study of the Gospel of Mark, but of primitive Christianity in all its variegated forms, for which it represents a new paradigm ... It deserves serious reflection and discussion at several levels, in a variety of contexts, by quite diversified discussion partners."
– James M. Robinson, Professor Emeritus, Claremont Graduate University

"This is an epic-making work because it turns scholarship on its head. Mack asks questions not about origins but about social meaning. The entire conception of what we want to know, why we want to know it, and how we shall find it out is new and compelling."
– Jacob Neusner, Bard College

"A Myth of Innocence is the most penetrating historical work on the origins of Christianity written by an American scholar in this century. Its strikingly innovative feature is the recombination of literary and social histories, and the placement of diverse Jesus movements into their respective social contexts."
– Werner H. Kelber, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly

"A Myth of Innocence is surely one of the most important studies of the origins of Christianity since Schweitzer's Quest. With a single stroke, Burton Mack has shifted the investigation from the quest for a singular genesis to the perspective of the social history and imaginative labor documented in the texts."
– Ron Cameron, Wesleyan University

Preface

Introduction: Christian Origins and the Imaginations

Part I: Christian Beginnings

1. The Temple and the Land of Palestine
2. Jesus in Galilee
3. The Followers of Jesus
4. The Congregations of the Christ
5. The Patterns of Social Conflict


Part II: Stories in the Gospel Tradition

6. The Parables of Jesus
7. The Pronouncement Stories
8. The Miracle Stories
   
   Part III: Narratives of the Passion
   
9. The Entanglements of History and Myth
10. The Narrative Designs
11. The Compositional Process


Part IV: The Gospel According to Mark

12. The Gospel as Myth
13. The Gospel as Apocalypse
14. The Gospel as Parable
15. The Gospel as Paradigm


Conclusion: Imagination and the Myth of Innocence

Apendices
I. The Pronouncement Stories in Mark
II. Linnemann: The Traditions of the Passion
III. Dormeyer: The Acts of the Martyr
IV. The Gospel of Mark: An Overview

Bibliography

Indices
I. Subjects
II. Ancient Authors and Writings
III. Modern Authors