Timothy Keller, “King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus”

This close reading of Mark is very good, though it drags a bit toward the end.

The author says C.S. Lewis is his “favorite author”; he cites N.T. Wright, too.  And he says that a key way to cultivate faith is to pray for if (cf. 56).  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”  Other notes:

  • Even when Jesus is not saying directly that He is God, he claims to be things and do things that only God does.
  • “Richard Bauckham’s Jesus and the Eyewitnesses makes, I think, the most conclusive argument that the Gospels are not long-evolving oral traditions but rather oral histories, written down from the accounts of eyewitnesses themselves who were still alive and active in the community.” (xii)
  • Having money is not intrinsically bad (127-29).