Overview

In this book Osvaldo D. Vena wants to bring into dialogue two communities. One is the hypothetical community of Mark, which can be reconstructed behind the Gospel. It is a community that is locked in place and time, the first-century Mediterranean world. It is made up of adults and children in a hierarchical relationship that places the former over the latter, speaking for them rather than allowing them to speak for themselves. The other is a contemporary, real community, whose members are children living in Israel/Palestine and in Argentina. Each community has produced a text that is open to interpretation. Mark will bring his narrative, his prose, the children their poetry. Therefore, this book is an intertextual exercise that uses two different types of text. This community has also produced a text--in this case poetry--that is also open to new and numerous interpretations. The author has termed this ""the community of the playground.""

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Reviews

""In this highly original reading of Mark's Gospel, Osvaldo Vena taps into the poetry of Jewish, Palestinian, and Argentine children who have experienced war and violence. The children's poems express an honesty and vulnerability that is both touching and eye-opening, and Vena uses them as a hermeneutical lens for understanding Mark's text more fully. The Gospel and the Playground is a beautifully written, thought-provoking, and important read not only for scholars but for anyone interested in the biblical text and its relevance to our world today."" --Melanie Baffes, Director of Academic Support and Student Thriving, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary ""Osvaldo Vena offers a refreshing insight in reading the Gospel of Mark with the poems of children from around the world. Vena's cultural-artistic and intertextual reading of Mark with children's poetry is trailblazing, invigorating, and liberating. In a world that neglects the voices of the children, Vena centers the presence of the children not just in reading the Gospel of Mark but also on how we should prophetically and creatively live here and now."" --Dong Hyeon Jeong, Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary ""Going beyond platitudes about childlikeness as an attribute of those who receive the kingdom of God, this rich and profound book by Osvaldo Vena explores that topic through the lens of play, doing so with a sophistication that is never obscure but always translucent, inviting, and moving."" --Charles H. Cosgrove, Emeritus Professor of Early Christian Literature, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Author Information

Osvaldo D. Vena is Emeritus Professor of New Testament interpretation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. He is the author of Postcards from Egypt (2020), Postcards from Rome (2023), and Postcards from Patmos (2024).

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