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Gospel of Mark

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A picture of St Mark with his quill. It is from an illuminated manuscript of the Renaissance.

The Gospel of Mark is a gospel in the New Testament that records the ministry of Jesus, which begins at his baptism. It is called a Synoptic Gospel because it shares many stories with the Gospel of Luke and Gospel of Matthew, though it was probably written before them[1] [2]

The author is traditionally thought to have been a friend of the Apostle Peter called Mark.[3] The author is not mentioned by name.[4][5] He probably wrote from Rome, intending to strengthen the faith of a non-Jewish audience.[6][7]

Contents

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Summary

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The Gospel of Mark moves quickly, recording the 3-year ministry of Jesus beginning with his baptism by John the Baptist.

While this gospel lacks some stories that the Gospel of Luke and Gospel of Matthew have, like the birth of Jesus, it is still one of the Synoptic Gospels because of how similar they are. They share many parables like the Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Mustard Seed, and Parable of the Wicked Tenants. The book tells that Jesus healed many people, especially in the early chapters.

The Longer Ending

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While most manuscripts include the longer ending to Mark (Ch. 16, v. 9–20),[8] the earliest texts do not;[source?] they end earlier (Ch. 16, v. 8a) with the women running away in fear and telling nobody. Most scholars think that this ending is more original,[9] and early Church Fathers like Jerome probably didn't know about the longer ending.[8] Modern translations usually include the longer ending in brackets.[10]

Authorship

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Tradition

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Traditionally, the Gospel of Mark was written by Mark the Evangelist. This belief comes from Papias of Hierapolis[11] and Irenaeus of Lyon, but many modern scholars disagree with it.[source?] The Mark who wrote the book was said to be an associate of Peter. Peter refers to him in his Epistle [12]. Although the book does not mention its author, Many ancient and modern scholars think Mark may have been referring to himself as the young man who ran away naked in Mark 14:51-52. [13] [14][15]

Scholarship

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Most scholars believe that Mark was the first Gospel to be written and was used as a source for the other three gospels. [16][17]Dates for its writing vary from 42 to 75 (CE). [18] None of the Gospels say that Jerusalem has been destroyed, which happened in 70 (CE). Luke's Gospel was written before the Book of Acts, and by the same author. Acts ends with Paul still alive and he was killed in 64/65 (CE). If Luke got some material from Mark, Mark's Gospel must be even earlier. [19][20]It is not only conservative scholars who think that Mark's gospel was written quite a bit earlier that 70 (CE)[21] Some who hold to a post 70 (CE) date question if Jesus's prophecies about the destruction of the temple could have been made before the events themselves. [22]

While many scholars say that this gospel is the most reliable of the four,[23] some scholars like Michael Patrick Barber argue that the Gospel of Matthew is more accurate for a historical Jesus.[24][25]

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References

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  1. ↑ Edwards 2002, pp. 1–3.
  2. ↑ Telford 1999, p. 12.
  3. ↑ Sanders 1995, pp. 63–64.
  4. ↑ Tucker, J. Brian; Kuecker, Aaron, eds. (2019-12-26). T&T Clark Social Identity Commentary on the New Testament. London, UK; New York, NY, USA: T&T Clark. ISBN 978-0-567-66786-1.
  5. ↑ Hatina, Thomas R. (2014). "Gospel of Mark". In Evans, Craig A. (ed.). The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus. Taylor & Francis. p. 252. ISBN 978-1-317-72224-3. Like the other synoptics, Mark's Gospel is anonymous[...]Nevertheless, we can be fairly certain that it was written by someone named Mark.[...]The difficulty is ascertaining the identity of Mark. Scholars debate whether he is John Mark[...]or another person simply named Mark who was not native to the region.
  6. ↑ Aune 1987, p. 59.
  7. ↑ Perkins 2007, p. 241.
  8. 1 2 Schröter 2010, p. 279.
  9. ↑ Edwards 2002, pp. 500–01.
  10. ↑ Metzger 2000, pp. 105, 106.
  11. ↑ Keith 2016, p. 92.
  12. ↑ I Peter 5:13
  13. ↑ https://homiletix.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Kuruvilla-JETS-2011.pdf
  14. ↑ Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark (2d ed.; London: Macmillan, 1966) 561
  15. ↑ (Hermann Olshausen, Biblical Commentary on the New Testament [New York: Sheldon and Co., 1859] 46).
  16. ↑ Mendez, Hugo (2025). The Gospel of John: A New History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0197686126. And yet for much of the twentieth century, "a broad scholarly consensus…tended to regard John's Gospel as quite independent of the other gospels"…Today, however, an increasing number of scholars—now a majority—have arrived at a different view...they find no reason to exclude the Synoptic Gospels from among these sources
  17. ↑ Edwards 2002, p. 2.
  18. ↑ https://stpaulcenter.com/posts/when-were-the-gospels-written,
  19. ↑ Jonathan Bernier, Rethinking the Dates of the New Testament: The Evidence for Early Composition (Baker Academic: 2022)
  20. ↑ https://www.gotquestions.org/when-was-Mark-written.html
  21. ↑ https://progressivechristianity.org/resource/the-date-of-marks-gospel/
  22. ↑ Mark 13ː1-2
  23. ↑ Powell 1998, p. 37.
  24. ↑ Allison, Dale C. Jr. (2023). Foreword. The Historical Jesus and the Temple: Memory, Methodology and the Gospel of Matthew. By Barber, Michael Patrick. Cambridge University Press. pp. x, 238. ISBN 978-1-009-21085-0.
  25. ↑ Thiessen, Matthew (2024). "The Historical Jesus and the Temple: Memory, Methodology, and the Gospel of Matthew by Michael Patrick Barber (review)". The Catholic Biblical Quarterly. 86–1: 168. doi:10.1353/cbq.2024.a918386.
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