Was John the Baptist Raised from the Dead?

• Authors: Nathanael Vette , Will Robinson
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In the vox populi of Mark 6:14-16 (cf. 8:28), we find the puzzling claim that some believed Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead. The presentation of John in the Gospel is similar to Jesus: Mark depicts John as a prophetic figure who is arrested, executed, buried by his disciples, and-according to some-raised from the dead. This paper reviews scholarship on the question of whether the tradition concerning John's resurrection-as well as the tradition concerning his death to which it is prefixed (6:17-29)-originated outside of the early Christian community. We examine the possibility that sects or individuals in the ancient world believed John had indeed been raised from the dead-as well as figures supposedly connected to John (Dositheus, Simon Magus). We conclude on the basis of internal evidence from the Gospel that the report in 6:14-16 likely originated in a Christian context. At the same time, it may also provide a glimpse into first-century CE attitudes concerning the resurrection from the dead.

Keywords

EN

Gospel of Mark; Resurrection; John the Baptist; Historical Jesus; Second Temple Judaism; Samaritan Studies

PL

Gospel of Mark; Resurrection; John the Baptist; Historical Jesus; Second Temple Judaism; Samaritan Studies

• Publisher: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
• Journal: The Biblical Annals
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 335-354

Dates

published

2019-03-11

Contributors

author

Nathanael Vette

• University of Edinburgh

author

Will Robinson

• Macquarie University

Identifiers

DOI

10.31743/biban.4378