Christian Gospel and Its Jewish Roots: A Redaction Critical Study of Mark 2:21-22 in Context »

Against the tendency to interpret Scripture in ways that separate Christianity and Judaism, Joseph F. Mali, through a redaction-critical analysis of the two sayings on the "new" and the "old" (Mark 2:21-22), argues that Mark does not leave his readers with a complete break between Jesus and his Jewish heritage. Rather, the Evangelist opens a ray of hope that the gospel and its Jewish soil are ultimately reconcilable, not fatally antagonistic. His thorough and incisive study inform Mali's conclusion that standing at the literary center of the controversy series (Mark 2:1 - 3:6), the location of the two sayings on "new" and "old" (Mark 2:21-22) corresponds to their function of making a condensed statement for Mark, the Evangelist, of the meaning and impact of the whole conflict section.