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Literary Criticism Of Mark's Gospel

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The greatest news the world has ever heard is the Gospel. In fact, the word ‘Gospel’ means good news and this is not any good news, but the good news about Jesus Christ (Strauss 26). What is more, the early church adapted the word Gospel from the Greek word Euangelion, which was used to announce the victory of the emperor or the birth of his son (Strauss 26). Indeed the church had a victory to share about the birth of a son—Jesus who overcame death on the cross and through his resurrection from the dead. Eventually, the story of Jesus’ life, ministry and teaching was written down so that future generation would know this good news and therefore put faith in God and trust his provision of salvation through the gift of his son. There are four …show more content…

In addition, literary criticism includes narrative criticism where the goal is to understand how each author wrote in order to produce a “desired effect on the reader” (Strauss 68). For instance, Mark was encouraging believers to stay strong under persecution by showing how Jesus endured the cross. Also, Luke includes so many outsiders—non-Jews, interacting with Jesus, which causes the reader to feel included in the Gospel story or to become one who includes those who have yet to meet Jesus. Additionally, literary criticism includes point of view; meaning, “The Gospel narrators always affirm the evaluative point of view of God, who is righteous and just and loving. By contrast, Satan and his demons are deceitful, evil, and destructive” (Strauss 70). By understanding the point of view, readers are able to grasp the theological goal of each Gospel …show more content…

Additionally, each Gospel contains distinct features such as the historical setting and theological purpose. Furthermore, each Gospel seems to be written both to a specific audience as well as people today. Lastly, literary criticism provides an excellent way of studying the Gospels in order to understand their meaning by keeping the writings intact rather than pulling all the pieces apart. Indeed the Gospel has the power to show just who Jesus was and is so that people can believe the Good News and spend eternity with

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