When Those in Judea Flee to the Mountains: Mobility, Property, and Loss in Mark's Gospel
Date
2014-09-29
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Abstract
The synoptic gospels contain teachings that promote a lifestyle of mobility and a rejection of home and family. Employing recent developments in humanistic geography, place theory and mobility studies, this thesis considers why the author of Mark chooses to present texts that enshrine the surrendering of all one’s property and possessions in order to gain a share in the kingdom of God. It is proposed that Mark's audience is experiencing a turbulent period in history, which will culminate in an imminent loss of home, homeland, Temple, and – emanating from all of those – orientation in the world. It is further argued that the shift in identity instigated by these events plays a formative role in how Mark depicts the life and teachings of Jesus. Mark’s enshrinement of mobility in the gospel could have served to provide adherents of the Jesus Movement with a model for detachment and innovation that facilitated the creation of new notions of homeland in the wake of the catastrophic events leading up to, during, and after 70 CE.
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Biblical Studies, History--Ancient
Citation
Fry, M. (2014). When Those in Judea Flee to the Mountains: Mobility, Property, and Loss in Mark's Gospel (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28695