The Gospel of Mark

John Keenan's 'The Gospel of Mark' is a radically new reading of this most intriguing of the Synoptic gospels - a remarkable feat in the face of the explosion of Markan scholarship over the last twenty years. Keenan accomplishes this by approaching Mark as no other scholar has done: through the lens of Mahayana-Buddhist philosophy. This view stresses the emptying of all preconceived notions of how to begin reading as well as reclamation of such notions in terms of dependent co-arising and Jesus' assault on the validity of conventional religiosity. 'The Gospel of Mark' displays an alternative hermeneutical procedure, one generated by the Mahayana understanding of the function of text and doctrine, and informed by Mahayana philosophy.

Part One of 'The Gospel of Mark' provides an overview of different interpretive techniques in Markan scholarship. It describes and argues for the validity of a Buddhist approach to this charter document of the Christian Gospel. Here the author demonstrates a profound grasp not only of scriptural scholarship but of Mahayana philosophy. Keenan discusses themes such as Mark's elliptical style and the journeying that provides the impetus for the narrative, and explores them through the lens of emptiness and dependent co-arising which are the focal points of a Mahayana reading.

In Part Two Keenan gives the reader truly fresh insights into the paradoxical world of Mark's Jesus. Through a Buddhist lens, the text offers startling and new perspectives on Jesus himself, the experience of the Kingdom, miracle stories and parables, the passion and death, the resurrection and return.

Keenan has broken new ground in this study of Mark by asking what we might see when we look at the Gospel through a Buddhist lens. The results reveal to us much about Buddhism and foster new angles of vision on Mark. Keenan is at his best when he unpacks the variety of ways Mark subverts conventional thinking. His work also incorporates a wealth of recent research about Mark.

David Rhoads, Lutheran School of Theology

Mahayana deconstruction goes beyond post-structuralism in its radicality, and arrives at a serenity that is absent in Western deconstruction. Keenan brilliantly displays how this occurs and what it means for hermeneutics...[and] goes beyond a programmatic call for a Mahayana hermeneutic to a full-fledged commentary on Mark.

John B. Cobb Jr.

John P. Keenan is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Middlebury College and an Episcopal priest. He is also the author of 'The Meaning of Christ: A Mahayana Theology'.