Liturgical Press
My Account
Catholic Social Teaching Faith and Justice Ecology Ethics Eucharistic Revival Parish Ministries Liturgical Ministries Preaching and Presiding Parish Leadership Seasonal Resources Worship Resources Sacramental Preparation Ritual Books Music Liturgical Theology The Liturgy of the Church Liturgy and Sacraments Liturgy in History Biblical Spirituality Old Testament Scholarship New Testament Scholarship Wisdom Commentary Little Rock Scripture Study The Saint John's Bible Ecclesiology and Ecumenism Vatican II at 60 Church and Culture Sacramental Theology Systematic Theology Theology in History Aesthetics and the Arts Prayer Liturgy of the Hours Spirituality Biography/Hagiography Daily Reflections Spiritual Direction/Counseling Give Us This Day Benedictine Spirituality Cistercian Rule of Saint Benedict and Other Rules Lectio Divina Monastic Studies Monastic Interreligious Dialogue Oblates Monasticism in History Thomas Merton Religious Life/Discipleship Give Us This Day Worship The Bible Today Cistercian Studies Quarterly Loose-Leaf Lectionary Bulletins
Liturgical Press

A Costly Freedom

A Theological Reading of Mark's Gospel

Brendan Byrne

A  Costly Freedom SEE INSIDE
A  Costly Freedom
SEE INSIDE

ISBN: 9780814618561, 1856

Details: 304 pgs, 6 x 9
Publication Date: 07/01/2008
Paperback  
$29.95
eBook
$27.99
See chart below for discounted group pricing.
Quantity    
Add to Cart
In Stock

With this study of the Gospel of Mark, Brendan Byrne completes his trilogy of works on the Synoptic Gospels. Mark, the "Cinderella gospel," as Byrne says, languished for millennia in the shadow of Matthew ("the first gospel") and Luke. Beginning in the nineteenth century, scholars uncovered what is now generally accepted as the more likely scenario: that Mark was the pioneer, creating a new literary genre ("gospel") in which to communicate the "Good News of Jesus Christ." This Good News according to Mark is essentially a message of freedom’s freedom, however, that does "not come about without cost: a cost to Jesus, a cost to the Father, and a cost to those called to associate themselves with his life and mission." Mark holds out to us both the price and the promise of freedom.

A Costly Freedom joins The Hospitality of God (on Luke) and Lifting the Burden (on Matthew) to make up a set of indispensable companions to the gospels for preachers, teachers, and those who simply want to read the gospels for understanding and a deepening of their spirituality and faith.

Brendan Byrne, SJ, is professor of New Testament at Jesuit Theological College, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. A member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (1990 '96) and Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (2000 '), he is the author of nine books and editor in chief of the theological journal Pacifica.

Purchase the four volume set

ISBN: 9780814618561, 1856

Details: 304 pgs, 6 x 9
Publication Date: 07/01/2008

Reviews

Byrne's Costly Freedom is perhaps the best work on Mark that I have ever read. It is clear that Byrne, an Australian Jesuit, writes with an experienced hand, drawing from his years of teaching and preaching for the church. Byrne's book is an exhilarating commentary on an exhilarating gospel.
Concordia Theological Quarterly

With this book Byrne has added an important interpretation of the Gospel of Mark which stands alongside many of the best hermeneutical efforts rather than against them. Presented in this format, the book can be well-used as part of a substantial comparative exegesis project in an upper level undergraduate course.
Catholic Books Review

This book is the fruit of years of teaching and interpreting Mark. It is suitable as a college or university textbook, but also for personal study.
Catholic Library World

Byrne offers a cohesive reading of the Gospel of Mark, bringing mainline scholarly insights to a popular audience.
Theological Studies

This is a very fine work by Australian Jesuit Brendan Byrne, which with The Hospitality of God (on Luke) and Lifting the Burden (on Matthew) completes a Synoptic trilogy. . . . I will return to this commentary again and again.
Review of Biblical Literature

. . . a revitalizing study of the Markan narrative and a sure complement to any library. . . . [a]n incredibly rich and invaluable resource.
Anglican Theological Review

Brendan Byrne's brief and readable commentary on Mark completes his Synoptic Gospels `trilogy.' . . . Byrne is clearly passionate about, and an expert in, assisting preachers and those who hear them to interpret the Synoptic Gospels theologically.
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly

Those searching for a sound and theologically rich commentary on Mark's gospel for this lectionary year might well consider this fine study by Australian biblical scholar Brendan Byrne.
The Bible Today

Brendan Byrne's commentary on Mark-A Costly Freedom: A Theological Reading of Mark's Gospel-is a wonderfully lucid, succinct and well-written study of the Second Gospel. Its approach is theological and contemporary, yet without shirking the difficult, exegetical questions of the ancient text. The writer is one of those rare people who, while being an experienced scholar and theologian, knows how to communicate that scholarship in a lively and engaging way, to those outside the academic world. This is a beautiful book and a useful book: for clergy, for preachers and teachers, and for all who are concerned with the meaning of the Bible today.
Revd. Dr. Dorothy Lee, Frank Woods Distinguished Lecturer in Biblical Studies, Trinity College, Melbourne, Australia

The Australian Jesuit, Brendan Byrne, a very learned and pastorally sensitive biblical scholar, calls Mark the 'scariest gospel' because it addresses the darkness of unbelief and despair that characterize so much of human living in antiquity and today. His latest work is a fitting conclusion to his excellent trilogy of commentaries on the Synoptic gospels. The scholarship is sound, and the presentation is both clear and challenging.
Daniel J. Harrington, SJ, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry

The publication of Brendan Byrne's presentation of the Gospel of Mark brings to a close a series on the Synoptic Gospels that has generated a literary form in itself. In all three volumes Byrne has achieved a remarkable marriage between a serious and accurate reading of the text, highlighted by a close familiarity with contemporary scholarship. But this reading never moves away from the impact the message of each Gospel can make upon contemporary Christians. In A Costly Freedom the difficult text of Mark is consistently presented to a contemporary reader as the portrayal of a conflict between good and evil (Jesus and the demonic) that can only be resolved in the fragile disciple's journey into the future with the Risen Lord.
Francis J. Moloney, SDB, Salesians of Don Bosco, Australia-Pacific Province

© 2024, Liturgical Press. All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use