The First Biography of Jesus

“This is a beautifully crafted study that soundly explores the Gospel of Mark and probes its meanings, written by one of the world’s most eminent scholars in the field. In taking its genre seriously, Bond demonstrates that the Gospel’s curious characteristics fall into place. Mark is an innovative work, recrafting the Jesus tradition into a form that would serve as a model for discipleship. With this insight in place, Bond takes the reader through the world of ancient ‘lives’ to this one, allowing us to see the Gospel with fresh eyes, to admire both its literary craft and its message.”
— Joan Taylor
King’s College London

“Despite the now widely held view that Mark’s Gospel is an ancient biography, few Markan scholars have explored the narrative-critical implications of this genre. In this groundbreaking work full of fresh insights, Helen Bond skillfully redresses that deficiency and shows how reading Mark’s Gospel as ancient biography can fruitfully inform how we understand its message.”
— Craig S. Keener
Asbury Theological Seminary, author of Christobiography

“With characteristic insight and clarity, Helen Bond places Mark's Gospel in the company of other ancient lives of philosophers. The result is a fascinating reading of Mark's Gospel as a bios that both reflects and subverts the literary conventions of that genre, all in light of its intent focus on its protagonist, Jesus of Nazareth. Bond's considerable achievement is to hold in tension both the narrative world of the Gospel and the social and historical circumstances of its first-century readers, demonstrating not simply how to read Mark as a bios, but what difference it made, and makes.”
— Chris Keith
St Mary's University, Twickenham

“In her well written study Helen Bond makes a strong case for reading Mark’s Gospel as an ancient biography. Her careful analysis of ancient bioi shows why the genre of the gospels matters. Moreover, Mark’s Gospel is approached from a literary as well as a historical perspective to demonstrate that the work was written by a creative and learned author who provides a vivid portrait of Jesus. This study opens up a fresh reading of Mark which overcomes less-helpful alternatives of previous scholarship.”
— Jens Schröter
Humboldt University Berlin