Becoming Fully Human

the Gospel of Mark as a path toward individuation

an online class with Gianluigi Gugliermetto

The Gospel of Mark is very likely the first account of the life of Jesus. Written in Greek around the time of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple (AD 70), its deceivingly simple narrative presents its hero Jesus as a fighter of demons which keep captive the souls and bodies of human beings. Evil is all around, but a small group of people captained by this guy are determined to break its power. Until the awareness grows that he will be captured and executed. Will the movement survive its death? Within this main story line, many other individual biographies are woven, as one discovers that the issues pressing them then are still real and pulsating for most human beings now.

At an even deeper level of reading, one finds that the story of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Mark is a type of the full human life, despite the tragedy of his violent death. It can therefore be read both as a historical/theological document and as a psychological/spiritual one.

As a historical/theological document, the Gospel of Mark reveals the religious aspirations and social upheavals of its time in Palestine: the struggle against a static and mummified religion, the intertwining of social demands and theological thought, and the battle against the rule of the Roman Empire. All themes that can give food for thought to us in our present struggles.

As a psychological/spiritual document, the Gospel of Mark represents a journey of profound transformation that passes through the fundamental stages of the process of individuation, including separation from the family of origin, overcoming guilt, the creation of a community, and the acceptance of death. Being open to work on this level makes this class quite rewarding.

This course  draws on historical-critical, literary, sociological, theological, and psychological tools—keeping them distinct while allowing them to interact. Students will be encouraged both to study the text and acquire knowledge, and to reflect on their own life journey through autobiographical writing or other creative means.

________________(Re)Vision______________

Putting aside religious persuasions while letting the spiritual meaning of the text emerge by itself is the attitude that Dr. Gianluigi Gugliermetto brings to all his (Re)Vision classes.

Students bring to (Re)Vision classes different intentions, among which: giving a fresh look at texts that one thinks one knows; learning about the latest developments in non-confessional biblical studies or mysticism studies; allowing the texts to reshape one’s sense of the meaning of life; meeting people who are engaged in a similar deep quest.

“The novelty of my approach is immediately felt in the classroom as I don’t bend my knowledge of the texts to serve a particular set of beliefs; in fact religious beliefs are not very relevant in our discussions; the literary structure of the narrative and what it provokes in the readers are our focal points. Also, we try to avoid to read into the texts what we want to see there. Even if hypotheses are unavoidable in the field of critical biblical studies, or history in general, positing some of them should never amount to invent meaning; rather, meaning emerges from an honest reading.”

Gianluigi’s formation in history, theology, and Jungian studies provides an ample palette for the in-depth exploration of such ancient books. 

Selected Bibliography for the BECOMING FULLY HUMAN class:

This bibliography is published for the purpose of showing the breadth of approaches that the class will entail. Students will not be required to read any book except the text of the Gospel itself. A few pages or quotes from each of these books will be made available. 

Historical-critical approach (general):

Adela Yarbo Collins, Mark: A Commentary, Fortress Press 2007 

Francois Vouga & Carmen Burkhalter, L’èvangile d’une femme: une lecture de l’évangile de Marc, Bayard 2021.

J.C.Anderson & S.D.Moore (eds.), Mark and Method, Fortess Press 2008.

Maia Kotrosits & Hal Taussig, Re-Reading the Gospel of Mark Amidst Loss and Trauma, Palgrave Macmillan 2013.

Andreas Hauw, The Function of Exorcism Stories in Mark’s Gospel, Wipf and Stock 2019.

Matthew Thiessen, Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels’ Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within First-Century Judaism, Baker 2020.

Jungian Studies:

Eugen Drewermann, Il Vangelo di Marco: immagini di redenzione, Queriniana 1994.

Diarmuid McGann, The Journeying Self: The Gospel of Mark Through a Jungian Perspective, Paulist Press 1985.

Sociological studies:

Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus, Orbis Books 1997.

Malina-Rohrbaugh, Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, Ausburg 2003.

Literary Studies:

Ben Witherington, The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, W.B.Eerdmans 2001.

Christopher Bryan, A Preface to Mark: Notes on the Gospel in Its Literary and Cultural Settings, Oxford University Press 1993.

Dennis R. MacDonald, The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark, Yale University Press 2000.

Buddhist studies:

John P. Keenan, The Gospel of Mark: A Mahayana Reading, Orbis Books 1995. 

Liturgical Studies: 

Charles a. Bobertz, The Gospel of Mark: A Liturgical Reading, Baker Academic 2016.

Feminist/Womanist Studies:

Jin Young Choi, Postcolonial Discipleship of Embodiment: An Asian and Asian-American Feminist Reading of the Gospel of Mark, Palgrave MacMillan 2015.

Raquel A. St.Clair, Call and Consequences: A Womanist Reading of Mark, Fortress Press 2008.