My fellow classmates,
The role of the Pharisees in Mark's gospel is basically how Catholics have been conditioned to see the Pharisees. In chapter 3, verses 2-6, Mark states "They(Pharisees) watched him(Jesus) to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they may accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand 'Come forward'. Then he said to them, 'Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or kill?' But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man 'Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. (Mark 3:2-6) This plays right into the rude, strict, uncaring way people see them nowadays. However, at the plenary on emerging Christianity, Dr. Ullucci talked about how those were misunderstandings and that was not how things were. Taking his historical view as accurate, this would lead me to believe that Mark was manipulating the view the Christians reading his gospel would have of the Pharisees. I believe that Mark was attempting to make sure there was a clear delineation between the Jewish faith as practiced at Jesus' time, and the, in his opinion, better Christian faith that developed from Jesus. The Pharisees and Jewish elite were unjustly, according to Dr. Ullucci, portrayed, and this reason, I think, is to give Christians reading the gospel a more independent identity. What do you think the purpose of Mark's descriptions of the Pharisees is? Do you think the description is completely accurate?
I believe you have a good point of the delineation factor. It was imperative to distinguish between the Jewish faith and the new Christian faith to create two separate entities that you could become a part of rather than a confused inter-mingled religion, and Mark tried to make this clear to the viewers and to the eventual readers.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this could also be an example of how early promoters of the church were trying to make it so it was more accessible/easy to be a part of. Here, they are saying that following the law (not working on the Sabbath) is less important than just doing the right thing, making religion with all its rules and laws less intimidating and therefore more appealing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and Brad, by emphasizing the divergence between Judaism and Christianity, Mark was revealing Christianity as its own religion. However Marc went beyond just distinguishing the two religions, he clearly portrays the Jewish faith as inferior to help bolster Christianity. This portrayal of Christianity versus Judaism is a clear example of the Bible influencing political appeals.
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