Paul Fullmer – författare

Through a careful reading of several ancient texts such as Chariton's Callirho, Fullmer identifies an ancient storytelling convention with roots in the Homeric tradition in which narratives of death and revival accentuate significant points in a story. In Mark's Gospel, resurrection narratives accentuate the power of Jesus' ministry (Mark 5:21-43) as well as the ironic disloyalty of Jesus' disciples as their failure is first assured (Mark 9:14-29) and later realized (Mark 16:1-18). The reader of this study will come to appreciate how the irony of the Gospel a literary feature that is prominent in novelistic literature is furthered by a novelistic application of the resurrection theme. These observations affirm an identification of the genre of the Gospel as novelistic literature. The study also examines themes of death and revival in texts of the Hebrew Bible, revealing a recurrent constellation of motifs. In these texts, Fullmer convincingly traces a Prophetic resurrection topos with characteristics that are compared to an Epic resurrection topos identified in the Homeric tradition.He then demonstrates how the two topoi merge in later, novelistic texts of Hellenistic Judaism such as the Gospel of Mark, witnessing to a widespread amalgamation of cultures that characterizes the Hellenistic period. This study supports a growing appreciation of the ethnic hybridity of the context that produced Mark's Gospel, contributing to the work of scholars who question an often overdrawn dichotomy between Jewish and Greek culture in the Hellenistic period. Moreover, the significant influence of epic, non-biblical traditions upon the Gospel becomes manifest without an assertion of direct dependence upon Homeric epic. Overall, the study provides a model for the examination of specific themes of the Gospel in light of related ancient literature which enhances modern understanding and appreciation of Mark's story.

  Through a careful reading of several ancient texts such as Chariton''s Callirhoë, Fullmer identifies an ancient storytelling convention with roots in the Homeric tradition in which narratives of death and revival accentuate significant points in a story. In Mark''s Gospel, resurrection narratives accentuate the power of Jesus'' ministry (Mark 5:21-43) as well as the ironic disloyalty of Jesus'' disciples as their failure is first assured (Mark 9:14-29) and later realized (Mark 16:1-18). The reader of this study will come to appreciate how the irony of the Gospel - a literary feature that is prominent in novelistic literature - is furthered by a novelistic application of the resurrection theme. These observations affirm an identification of the genre of the Gospel as novelistic literature.

The study also examines themes of death and revival in texts of the Hebrew Bible, revealing a recurrent constellation of motifs. In these texts, Fullmer convincingly traces a Prophetic resurrection topos with characteristics that are compared to an Epic resurrection topos identified in the Homeric tradition. He then demonstrates how the two topoi merge in later, novelistic texts of Hellenistic Judaism such as the Gospel of Mark, witnessing to a widespread amalgamation of cultures that characterizes the Hellenistic period.

This study supports a growing appreciation of the ethnic hybridity of the context that produced Mark''s Gospel, contributing to the work of scholars who question an often overdrawn dichotomy between Jewish and Greek culture in the Hellenistic period. Moreover, the significant influence of epic, non-biblical traditions upon the Gospel becomes manifest without an assertion of direct dependence upon Homeric epic. Overall, the study provides a model for the examination of specific themes of the Gospel in light of related ancient literature which enhances modern understanding and appreciation of Mark''s story.

'Read Greek by Friday' is a lean, mean introduction to the basics of New Testament Greek. The philosophy of the book is simple: "e;People learn to read Greek by reading Greek, not by reading books about Greek."e; Because each brief lesson concludes with a summary of key information, students are able to focus their energy on reading a Greek text such as the Gospel of John. In addition to essential grammatical information, the book offers vocabulary lists, exploratory exercises which examine ancient Greek in its own context, and "e;Summary Reference Sheets"e; for use as students read Greek. Although the book is intended to cover the work of beginning Greek class offered at a seminary or college, it would meet the needs of an individual curious about the original language of the New Testament, working independently of any class. This book could also serve clergy who are looking to refresh their memory of the Greek they learned at seminary.

Robert H. Smith (1932-2006) served as Christ Seminary-Seminex Professor of New Testament at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. Among his books are Apocalypse: A Commentary on Revelation in Words and Images and Easter Gospels: The Resurrection of Jesus according to the Four Evangelists as well as commentaries on Acts, Hebrews, and Matthew. Paul M. Fullmer serves as chaplain at Lebanon Valley College. In 1998 he received the Pritchett Greek prize for excellence in Greek and in 2000 he was awarded the American Bible Society Scholarly Achievement Award for outstanding achievement in biblical studies. He is the author of Resurrection in Mark's Literary-Historical Context ( 2006).