604 Journal of the American Academy of Religion

of the movement was on the CDU in support of Adenauer and Erhard's

"social market economy" and the participation of labor in management
(Mitbestimmung). Although the Christian trade unions did not directly
support the post-war SPD, Patch thinks their "sweetest triumph" was the
1959 SPD new comprehensive program that dropped the demand for state
ownership of the means of production and announced that "Democratic
socialism . . . is rooted in Christian ethics, in humanism, and in classical
philosophy."
Jack Forstman
Vanderbilt University

Jesus the Teacher: A Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation of Mark. By Vernon K.

Robbins. Fortress Press, 1984. 283 pages. $23.95.
This volume is the end product of its author's quest for an interpretative
method which would be neither sectarian nor anti-theological. Drawing on
his own analyses of biblical as well as Greco-Roman and Jewish literature,
and finding help in the rhetorical analysis of the work of Kenneth Burke,
Robbins, associate professor of Religious Studies and Classics at the Univer-
sity of Illinois at Champaign-Ürbana, presents in this volume the results of a
socio-rhetorical interpretation of Mark's Gospel. It is rhetorical, since
Robbins seeks indications in the language of the Gospel itself, by means of
such rhetorical devices as repetitions, clues to its structure and hence its
meaning. It is social, since Robbins seeks the social milieu out of which the
rhetorical devices come.
Defining "form" in the opening chapter as the structure of a literary work
whereby one part of it leads the reader to anticipate another part, Robbins
identifies four key forms for his analysis: progressive, repetitive, conven-
tional, and minor. Each form has its own function: minor forms perpetuate the
identity of a socio-religious group against the established society; conven-
tional forms awaken in the reader an expectancy anterior to the reading itself;
repetitive forms give emphasis by repeating the same point in new ways; and
progressive forms, either logical which build on expectancy/fulfillment, or
qualitative which present unexpected developments a reader is nonetheless
prepared to accept, structure the movement of thought. Using these forms,
rhetorical analysis will then look for the way in which the "arousal and
fulfillment of expectations and desires within the reader" occur in a piece of
literature, through which the reader can "become an active participant in the
process" of interpretation (7).
In the second chapter, Robbins analyzes repetitive forms in order to
establish the formal structure of Mark (Mark's outline), and in chapter 3 he
analyzes Mark's conventional repetitive forms, comparing Mark with pro-
phetic figures, principally Elijah/Elisha, Moses and Abraham, and with
Xenophon's Memorabilia. Having established that Mark shares structural
elements with both, Robbins then examines the content of Mark in three
further chapters, in each instance comparing a section of Mark (1:1—3:6 in ch.
4; 3:7-12:44 in ch. 5; 13:1-16:8 in ch. 6) with comparable portions of both
 Book R e v i e w s 605

H e b r e w and Greco-Roman literature. A final chapter explicates Robbins*

findings: Mark modified conventional repetitive and progressive forms in
prophetic biblical literature by adopting "a socio-rhetorical pattern in con-
temporary culture associated with Greco-Roman religio-ethical pattern in
contemporary culture associated with Greco—Roman religio-ethical teachers
who gathered disciple-companions" (53, et passim).
Such a cursory look at the progress of Robbins' argumentation must of
necessity fail to demonstrate in any detail the careful work which has gone
into this volume. Its contributions are many: a fresh attempt at gaining
leverage on the outline of the Gospel of Mark; a careful analysis of the way in
which the various parts of the Markan narrative anticipate one another, thus
carrying the reader along, and allowing Robbins to conclude that Mark is in
fact a carefully structured literary unity; the rehabilitation of the work of
Xenophon as a useful point of comparison with Mark; the careful and
perceptive analysis of relevant structures in the Biblical—prophetic traditions;
the conclusion that the fundamental base for Jesus' identity in Mark is his
teaching activity, to mention but a few.
There are weaknesses: the fact that Xenophon's Memorabilia is the only
extant example of this genre means of necessity a limited scope of comparison,
and the further fact that Robbins finds different points of similarity between
Mark and Philostratus' Life of Apollonius ofTyana, and Mark and the Platonic
dialogues Theaetetus and Meno leads one to wonder if he is not simply
finding parallels rather than locating literary conventions. One would expect
a "convention" to b e exhibited in the same way in various pieces of literature;
else how is it "conventional?" I would also want to argue that, rather than the
title "king" which appears in Mark 15 being as surprising a development as
Robbins thinks, it progresses quite logically from the royal elements in the
OT background of both "Son of God" (e.g. Pss. 2; 110; 2 Sam. 7:12-14) and
"Son of Man" (e.g. Dan. 7:14), key tides in that Gospel.
None of that is to take away from the value of this study, however. It is a
good example of the kind of helpful study that aids us in sharpening our
perceptions of the literary dimensions of a given NT writing, as well as
helping us examine the background out of which it developed. O n e hopes
Robbins has in mind the socio-rhetorical analysis of further NT books,
epistles as well as other Gospels.
Paul J. Achtemeier
Union Theological Seminary in Virginia

Explorations in Early Chinese Cosmology. Edited by Henry Rosemont, Jr.

Scholars Press, 1984. 171 pages. $19.50 ($12.95, member).
China is one of the relatively few cultures of antiquity to have produced
texts containing explicit cosmological statements. Yet, because they are
dispersed as fragments in a large variety of ancient writings scholars have
often shied away from attempting a systematic reconstruction of the ancient
Chinese worldview. T h e word "Explorations" in the title is well chosen, for
the authors of the work under review open new lanes of research in heretofore
 ^ s
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