I saw this new online journal Relegere: Studies in History and Reception which has already been advertised by several different bloggers. James Crossley has an article on Monty Python’s Life of Brian that looks worth checking out. I have always had a fascination with hollywood depictions of the Bible and particularly Jesus films (I even had to watch the more cheesy Jesus films like “The Encounter” that I first heard from my friend Scott Bailey’s blog). I find the Life of Brian as not only funny as a spoof on the classic biblical film genre, but actually surprisingly well-researched. Below is one of my favour clips of the movie (warning: some language and nudity so don’t watch if you find offensive), a spoof of the “messianic secret” which is a major theme in Mark:
To introduce Mark’s messianic secret, the (redactional?) theme where Jesus tells those he heals or those who recognize his true identity (e.g. demoniacs, Peter at Caesarea Philippi, etc.) to keep silent, see William Wrede, Das Messiasgeheimnis in den Evangelien (Göttingen, 1901) ( The Messianic Secret, London: Clark 1971); Räisänen, Heikki. The ‘Messianic Secret’ in Mark’s Gospel (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1990); JDG Dunn, “The Messianic Secret in Mark,” Tyndale Bulletin 21 (1970): 92- 117; Christopher Tucket, ed. The Messianic Secret (London: SPCK, 1983); idem, ”The Disciples and the Messianic Secret in Mark” pp 131-150 in Fair Play: Diversity And Conflicts In Early Christianity. Essays in Honour of Heikki Räisänen (ed. Ismo Dunderberg et al; Leiden: Brill, 2002); Mark Goodacre’s podcast The Messianic Secret in Mark’s Gospel.
