Jesus Framed

Jesus Framedis a collection of essays on reading the gospel of Mark. It uses literary theory, most notably the writings of Roland Barthes, to examine some of the difficulties in the text of Mark. A series of close readings of the gospel of Mark is compared to similar texts, biblical and otherwise. This approach challenges widely held notions regarding textual meaning. Drawing on Mark's famous phrase that "to those who are outside all comes through parables" (Mark 4:11-12),Jesus Framedexplores the boundaries between insiders and outsiders, those who can and those who cannot find a meaning in the text.