Robert Hamerton-Kelly (1938–2013)

Four and a half stars.


This is mostly a very good book. The introduction to mimetic theory (and its application as a method of biblical interpretation), and the appendix with its even more detailed discussion of the scapegoat mechanism, are valuable in and of themselves. The main body of the text, chapters one through four, is akin to a commentary on the gospel of Mark as interpreted through mimetic theory. H-K’s reasonably close reads of the text and his explications of significant or puzzling passages are well done, frequently although not invariably persuasive; they are slightly marred by the ubiquitous use of the technical terms for elements of mimetic theory: these make the text hard to follow for a reader who has not mastered H-K’s presentation of mimetic theory, and thus difficult for a reader to share with others. But this slight flaw is actually consistent with H-K’s premise that in order to fully understand the gospel, one must indeed have mastered mimetic theory.

Read the rest of the review on my blog.… (meer)