Kim - The Heroic AinoΣ

2006·6.9 MB·English

by  Kim, Ho

THE HEROIC AIN02 :
JESUS IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK
A Dissertation
presented to
the Faculty of the
Claremont School of Theology
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
by
Ho Kim
May 2006
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©2002
Ho Kim
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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This dissertation, written by
Ho Kim
under the direction of h is Faculty Committee,
and approved by its members, has been presented to and
accepted by the Faculty of the Claremont School of
Theology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Faculty Committee /)
Chairperson
Date Dean
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ABSTRACT
THE HEROIC AIN02: JESUS IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK
Ho Kim
From the etiological motive for delivering a special message to his
community situated in a particular life setting, Mark adopted the aluoQ motif from
the ancient Near Eastern world. Having been already discovered in the
preceding bronze-age Mesopotamian and Egyptian myths, it began to appear as
a form of expression with the peculiar literary function in the Hebraic and Greco-
Roman traditions. In Greek Tragedy, this motif was united with qiapTia (to
misidentify a dear one) and its primary meaning (the hero’s unknown identity)
extended to misidentification of a dear one, with the result that the odvoc; motif
developed into a semantic form in which the misidentification by the heroic
enigma drove the hero into a tragic death.
In his Gospel, Mark designed the surface structure to show Jesus as the
Jewish Messiah; the deep structure, Jesus as a tragic hero; and the secret
structure, how two irreconcilable images, the Jewish traditional Messiah and
Greco-Roman tragic hero, are united in the historical figure of Jesus. Through
the dramatic irony of the secret structure, Mark makes Jesus’ opponents
proclaim Mark’s own Christology by the implications in their hostile speeches and
actions: Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament,
coming into this world under the disguise of the Greco-Roman tragic hero.
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By showing a correlation between the hero’s tragic death and Jesus’
crucifixion and the martyrdom of the Christians, Mark (1) protected his
community from a heretical theology that bypassed the theology of the cross and
highlighted that of glory, (2) answered a criticism—why the promised Messiah
had to die a violent death, how the most ignominious cross could be the symbol
of Christianity and how a crucified criminal could be the object of faith worshiped
by the Christians—, (3) provided theodicy for those who were intimidated by a
painful death, beyond that which a human being could endure, only because of
their faith in Jesus, and (4) tried to correct erroneous Christology and wrong
discipleship by accentuating that Jesus’ followers must deny themselves, take up
their crosses, and not be served, but serve.
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Acknowledgements
The alvoq theology of this study grew out of my advisor Dr. Gregory J.
Riley’s classes in which he taught me about the Greco-Roman background of the
New Testament, and opened my eyes to the influence of the heroic tradition on
New Testament authors, so that I began to read the works of Greek tragedies,
along with Aristotle’s Poetics. I would like to express my deep appreciation to
him, as well as to Dr. Karen Jo Torjesen, who introduced me to the complexities
of Hellenistic cosmology during a seminar on Origen and Augustine. I would
also like to thank Dr. Tammi J. Schneider for her ardent, challenging lectures as
well as her kind academic guidance. Special thanks must also be given to Mr.
Sang-Hun Gu and his wife Chun-Bin because they have supported me financially
for the past six years. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Kyung Kim, and my
children, Grace, Daniel, and Joseph for their spiritual support throughout this
academic journey. Had it not been for the help of all these people, this project
could never have been completed.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
1. THE APPROACH TO MARK’S CHRISTOLOGY
The Messianic Secret in History
Hypothesis Summarized . . . .
Responses in History...............................
New Quest for Approach to the Christology .
The History of Religion Analogy
One Christ in Many God-Men
Another Approach to Mark’s Christology
2. THE AINOS IN PRE-CHRISTIAN LITERATURE
The Alvoc in Greek literature . . . .
The Greek E p ic .......................................
The Greek D r a m a ...............................
The Greek M yth .......................................
The A lvoc; in Roman Literature . . . .
The Roman E pic.......................................
The Roman D ra m a ................................
The Roman Myth.......................................
The Alvog in the Hebrew Bible . . . .
The Way of New Reading . . . .
Theory of Anonymity . . . .
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Theory of Structuralism ......................................................75
The Voice of God as M o th e r......................................................79
Textual Analysis.....................................................................79
Structural Interpretation.....................................................81
The Atvoc in Apocrypha.....................................................................85
The Plot of Tobit.............................................................................87
The Aivoc; in T o b it.....................................................................88
The Function of Ai v o q .....................................................................89
The Alvoc; as AoKLpri.....................................................................90
The Alvoc, as 0eofyavzia..............................................................92
The Aivoq as E lpcoveta.............................................................93
3. THE AIN02 IN ARISTOTLE’S IDEAL GREEK TRAGEDY . 96
Significance of Greek Tragedy for Gospel Interpretation 97
Palestine Life Setting.....................................................................98
Education S y s te m ....................................................................100
Gospel Life S e ttin g ....................................................................104
Aristotle’s Ideal Greek T ra g e d y ....................................................106
The Best Tragic P lo t....................................................................107
The Best Tragic Structure............................................................112
The Ideal Tragic H e r o ............................................................115
The'A|iapi[cc in Aristotle’s T h e o ry ....................................................120
The 'Apaptia Interpretation in H is to ry ....................................120
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'Apapua—context: MD0o<;—structure 137
Exegesis of 'Apaptia—text . . . . 140
Some Aspects of 'Apapxia................................ 152
4. INTERPRETATION OF THE MESSIANIC SECRET
IN LIGHT OF THE HEROIC AINOI 155
Mark’s Role in Composition of the Gospel 156
The Provenance of the Gospel . . . . 157
Authorship............................................... 157
Place of Writing and Readership 169
Date of W ritin g ....................................... 181
The Purpose of Mark’s Gospel . . . . 192
Life S etting............................................... 192
Motive for Writing........................................ 197
A Scribe or a Theologian . . . . 207
Literary Analysis of Mark’s Gospel . . . . 210
Structural A nalyse s........................................ 210
The Surface Structure . . . . 211
The Deep S tructure................................ 225
The Secret Structure................................ 240
The 'Apaptta in Mark’s Gospel . . . . 245
The 'ApaptLa of Jesus . . . . 246
The'Apaptia of the Disciples 247
The 'Apapifa of the Jewish Authorities . 250
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The Concomitant Traits of 'ApapTia . . 252
The 'Apoqma and ELpcoveia................................. . 255
The Religious Authorities’ Elpwveia . . 256
Pilate’s Elpcoyeia......................................... . 257
Mocker’s E [prove [ a ................................. . 259
Mark’s Christology and Message . . . . . 262
Anarthrous Yloc 0eou in 15:39 . 262
Hot Controversy in History . 263
Interpretation of the Anarthrous Yloq 0eou . 275
Mark’s C hristo logy................................ . 278
Mark’s Message............................................... . 280
Against H e re sy....................................... . 280
A p o lo g y ............................................... . 284
T h e o d ic y ............................................... . 286
Discipleship ........................................ . 288
5. SETTLEMENT OF CHRISTOLOGY
IN THE EARLY CHURCH........................................ . 293
The Apostolic F a th e rs ........................................ . 297
Justin M a r t y r ................................................ . 298
Irenaeus of Lyon ........................................ . 300
The Third C e n tu ry ................................................ . 302
Tertullian of C a rth a g e ................................ . 302
Origen of Alexandria........................................ . 305
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