The Greatest Story Ever Retold - by John Anthony Dunne & Jeannine K Brown (Paperback)

About the Book

Two New Testament scholars explore the ways the Jesus story has been told and retold from the earliest Gospel writings to contemporary film adaptations, highlighting what these narratives can teach us about the hermeneutical process we employ as we read the Gospels.

Book Synopsis

In this innovative book, two respected New Testament scholars explore the ways the Jesus story has been told and retold from the earliest Gospel writings to contemporary film adaptations. John Anthony Dunne and Jeannine Brown highlight what later narratives can teach us about the hermeneutical process we employ, knowingly or unknowingly, as we read the Gospels.

Dunne and Brown explain that we visualize the Jesus story in particular ways as we read the Gospels. We inevitably play the part of a director--casting the actors, blocking a scene, encouraging a particular line reading, and more--as we imagine the story playing out in a Jesus film of our own. The authors show that Jesus films can help us think through how and why we direct our own film in the way that we do when we read or hear the story of Jesus. The book incorporates many contemporary film adaptations to demonstrate how we become participants in the creation of such narratives.

The Greatest Story Ever Retold accounts for the ways humanity has been grappling with the Jesus story for two millennia, often casting it in a way that forms to our own questions and identities. It will be useful for students, scholars, and readers of Christianity and popular culture.

From the Back Cover

"An excellent way of thinking about how the stories of Jesus have been transformed in early writings, Jesus films, and our own imaginations"

We often visualize the Jesus story in particular ways as we read the Gospels, inevitably playing the part of a director as we imagine the story playing out in a Jesus film of our own. This book explores the ways the Jesus story has been told and retold from the earliest Gospel writings to contemporary film adaptations. It highlights what these narratives can teach us about the hermeneutical process we employ, knowingly or unknowingly, as we read the Gospels.

"An engaging interplay between the Gospels and the Jesus movies, addressing matters of genre, characterization, and themes all while keeping the reader/viewer at the center of the hermeneutical enterprise. A wonderful addition to the library of books on Jesus in the Gospels and on the screen."
--Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa; author of Jesus of Hollywood

"This volume is deeply engaged with the depiction of Jesus and the Gospels in film but is also wonderfully engaging for anyone who has read a Gospel or watched a film about one."
--David J. Shepherd, Trinity College Dublin; author of The Bible on Silent Film: Spectacle, Story and Scripture in the Early Cinema

"A valuable contribution to the study of Bible and visual culture. This volume is sure to help readers engage biblical literature and Jesus films more thoughtfully and with a clearer understanding of their own roles as interpreters."
--Rhonda Burnette-Bletsch, Eastern University

"An excellent way of thinking about how the stories of Jesus have been transformed in early writings, Jesus films, and our own imaginations."
--Matthew Page, author of 100 Bible Films

"Dunne and Brown invite readers to share both their fascination with Jesus films and their humble recognition of interpretation's inevitability, which empowers readers to reflect on their own evaluative standards for Jesus films--and their own preexisting internal Jesus 'films.' Such humble curiosity is particularly recommended for anyone creating Jesus films/stories."
--Richard Walsh, Methodist University (emeritus)

About the Author

John Anthony Dunne (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is associate professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the author of The Mountains Shall Drip Sweet Wine: A Biblical Theology of Alcohol.

Jeannine K. Brown (PhD, Luther Seminary) is the David Price Professor of Biblical and Theological Foundations at Bethel Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is the author of numerous books, including Scripture as Communication, The Gospels as Stories, and Embedded Genres in the New Testament.