C Clifton Black

This study of Mark, the apostolic associate to whom Christians have traditionally attributed authorship of the second gospel, views him from a variety of angles: historical, literary and theological. It shows how images of Mark helped shape the identity of the Early Church.

An essential collection of C. Clifton Black's best essays on the theology of the New Testament Clift Black is well known and widely loved for his exegetical acuity, his theological seriousness, his pastoral kindness, and the most delightful sense of humor in the biblical-studies guild. All these qualities are amply displayed in these thirty essays written across four decades (1983-2023) of his career, including four never before published. The chapters fall under four main headings: "Horizons" (essays of wider conceptual sweep), "Stopovers" (essays on particular topics or biblical passages), "Feuilletons" (brief essays on subjects in religious, political, or popular culture that intersect with biblical theology), and "Declarations" (essays that originated as sermons, or as thoughts about preaching). Chapter 1 attempts to define "New Testament theology." Chapter 30 professes "Jesus Christ Is Lord"--an apt label for this book's robustly challenging conclusion. Between these bookends, topics include exegesis as prayer, sin and retribution in the Gospels, Mary (mother of Jesus), grief and death, the King James Bible, biblical truth, the kindness of strangers, Johnny Cash, "early Catholicism," dogs (well, one very good dog), the lectionary, church and ministry, and God's promise for humanity. Biblical Theology: Essays Exegetical, Cultural, and Homiletical represents the fruit of a lifetime of studying, preaching, praying, training pastors, walking in the light, and laughing in the valley of the shadow of death. Black's keen mind and pastoral heart will inform and charm scholarly and lay readers alike.

A culmination of contemporary scholarship on the Gospel of Mark. A preeminent scholar of the Gospel of Mark, C. Clifton Black has been studying and publishing on the gospel for over thirty years. This new collection brings together his most pivotal work and fresh investigations to constitute an all-in-one compendium of contemporary Markan scholarship and exegesis. The essays included cover scriptural commentary, historical studies, literary analysis, theological argument, and pastoral considerations. Among other topics Black explores: - the gospel's provenance, authorship, and attribution - the significance of redaction criticism in Markan studies - recent approaches to the gospel's interpretation - literary and rhetorical analyses of the gospel's narrative - the kingdom of God and its revelation in Jesus - Mark's theology of creation, suffering, and discipleship - the Gospel of Mark's relationship to the Gospel of John and Paul's letters - the passion in Mark as the gospel's recapitulation Scholars, advanced students, and clergy alike will consider this book an indispensable resource for understanding the foundational gospel.

Now in its 8th edition, Anatomy of the New Testament is one of the most trust-worthy and enduring introductory textbooks of its kind. Its authors bring literary and historical approaches to the New Testament together, offering a comprehensive and accessible approach that appeals to students at all levels. Visually appealing and well-designed this compact edition has been designed for today's student, and is illustrated with engaging images, refreshed maps, and updated bibliographies that make the textbook enjoyable to read and easy to teach. The stand-out pedagogical features have been updated as well, updated for new advances in biblical scholarship and the needs of today's student: Have You Learned it? Offering questions for analysis and reflection; What Do They Mean? Presenting definitions for key terms to enhance student comprehension and critical thinking.

C. Clifton Black provides a thorough analysis of the most famous prayer in the Christian church, the Lords Prayer. He begins with an impressionist painting of how the ancients prayed during Jesus time in order to set the context for understanding the prayer he taught his disciples. Throughout the book, Black systematically interprets the rich meanings of each part of the Lords prayer. Additionally, he includes an overview of Christian thought on the Lords Prayer from early church mothers and fathers like Tertullian and Teresa of Avila to modern theologians like Karl Barth. Uniquely, this book is an academic study of the Lords Prayer with a focus on the rhetorical culture from which it developed as well as the theological, literary, and historical meanings of the prayer itself.

While most books on biblical rhetoric focus primarily on the epistles, this volume from prominent scholar C. Clifton Black considers the variety of rhetorical critical approaches now being applied to the Gospels (including Lukeâ€"Acts). This updated edition takes into account recent research since the first volume was published in 2001 and features two brand new chapters. Black provides an overview of the different forms of rhetorical criticism, with examples from the Gospel of John; studies of characterization in Matthew and Luke; an analysis of classical rhetorical criteria found in Mark and Lukeâ€"Acts; and an analysis of the rhetoric of the parables with implications for contemporary preaching.

Redaction criticism attempts to identify biblical authors' theological interests by examining their adaptation of sources. Focusing on representative studies of Jesus' disciples in the Gospel of Mark, this pioneering book by C. Clifton Black has become the standard evaluation of that method's exegetical reliability. Comprehensively reviewing recent scholarship, Black identifies three distinctive types of redaction criticism in Markan interpretation. He demonstrates that diverse redaction-critical interpretations of the disciples in Mark have bolstered rather than controlled scholarly presuppositions to a degree that impugns the method's reliability for interpreting Mark. The book concludes by assessing redaction criticism's usefulness and offering a more balanced approach to Mark's interpretation. This second edition includes a substantial, detailed afterword that revisits the book's primary issues, converses with its critics, and provides an update of Markan scholarship over the past twenty-five years.

In A Three-Dimensional Jesus, Clifton Black offers a fresh, critically sympathetic reading of the New Testament's first three Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Intelligent and accessible, conversational and whimsical, this volume helps readers consider the questions that are basic to the Synoptic Gospels' interpretation. Black addresses their literary genre and origins; portrayals of the figure of Jesus and other central characters; the relationships among these three books; and the social, political, and religious worlds from which they emerged and to which they were addressed. Individual chapters on each Gospel highlight their likely audiences, literary structures, and primary theological themes. Throughout, Black's presentation is clear and engaging, making use of topical sidebars, charts, and illustrations as well as wit and good humor to draw readers into these Gospels' interpretations. The volume also includes such original features as conversations with other well-established scholars, which help the reader appreciate a range of perspectives on topics like the historical Jesus and the Gospels' depiction of women, and interviews of experts on these Gospels' afterlife in the history of Christian thought, sacred music, fine art, and preaching. A Three-Dimensional Jesus is a concise, approachable study of the New Testament's first three Gospels viewed from multiple angles--historical, sociological, literary, theological--with attention paid to their history of interpretation. In as much, Black invites readers to better understand and appreciate the Synoptics, while guiding them to learn even more.