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Authorship
Though the author does not directly identify himself, there is still strong evidence to attribute the Gospel to John Mark. In addition to Markan composition, church fathers also state that Mark was the interpreter of Peter, which would give reason to believe that he wrote his Gospel under the guidance or assistance of the apostle. [1] Like the other Gospels, the title "According to Mark" ( ) is found in the earliest manuscripts. With only ten verses in the New Testament making mention of John Mark, it is surprising that there is still enough information to create a sufficient biographical sketch of him. Besides being the author of the second Gospel, he was the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10) and the son of the Mary who provided a meeting place for early Christians (Acts 12:12). Some have even speculated that John Mark was the young man at the garden of Gethsemane during the betrayal of Jesus (Mark 14:51-52). [2] What is certain is that John Mark accompanied Barnabas and Saul on the first missionary journey (Acts 12:25; 13:5), but departed early for Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). After the Jerusalem Council, Barnabas and Paul were planning on making their second journey. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark, but Paul opposed the idea because Mark had departed from them on the first Journey. Consequently, Barnabas took John Mark, and Paul took Silas and the two groups went their separate ways (Acts 15:36-41). After Barnabas gave his cousin a second chance, Paul was later able to call him a coworker (Philem 24; cf. Col 4:10) who was helpful to his ministry (2 Tim 4:11). It is also evident that Mark shared a special relationship with Peter. Not only does Peter call him his son (1 Pet 5:13), but they have both experienced failure and restoration.
Date of Composition
The majority of scholarship places Mark's Gospel as the first to be composed. [3] In order to properly date the Gospel it is important to consider the dating timeframe of all the Synoptics. If Luke is considered to be the latest of the Gospels, then it is important to date his Gospel first. The dating of Luke first depends on the dating of Acts which succeeds Luke (cf. Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1). Because the book of Acts has an abrupt ending with Paul waiting to go before Caesar, the best explanation is that Luke wrote it up to the events that had taken place. This would place the composition of Acts in the early Sixties. With this in mind, Luke could be placed in the late Fifties to early Sixties, Matthew in the mid to late Fifties, and Mark in the early to mid Fifties. These dates are debatable and have a certain degree of elasticity to them, but for the stated reasons they seem the most likely to the present author.
Gospel of Mark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Gospel According to Mark (Greek: , , to euangelion kata Markon), commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second gospel in the Bible. However, most contemporary scholars now regard it as the earliest of the canonical gospels [1] (c 70),[2] a position known as Markan priority.
The Gospel of Mark narrates the Ministry of Jesus from John the Baptist's baptism of Jesus to the Ascension of Jesus, and it concentrates particularly on the last week of his life (chapters 1116, the trip to Jerusalem). Its swift narrative portrays Jesus as a heroic man of action,[2] an exorcist, a healer and miracle worker. An important theme of Mark is the Messianic Secret.[3] Jesus silences the demoniacs he heals, keeps his messianic identity secret, and conceals his message with parables. [3] The disciples also fail to understand the implication of the miracles of Jesus.[2] All four canonical gospels are anonymous, but Early Christian tradition identifies this gospel's author as Mark the Evangelist, who is said to have based the work on the testimony of Saint Peter.[4] Some modern scholars consider the traditional authorship account to be essentially credible,[5] while others doubt it.[6] Even scholars who doubt Mark's authorship acknowledge that much of the material in Mark goes back a long way and represents important information about Jesus.[7] The Gospel of Mark is often considered to be the primary source of information about the ministry of Jesus.[8]
Differing versions
Mark is the shortest of the canonical gospels. Manuscripts, both scrolls and codices, tend to lose text at the beginning and the end, not unlike a coverless paperback in a backpack.[24] These losses are characteristically unconnected with excisions. For instance, Mark 1:1 has been found in two different forms. Most manuscripts of Mark, including the 4th-century Codex Vaticanus, have the text "son of God",[25] but three important manuscripts do not. Those three are: Codex Sinaiticus (01, ;dated 4th century), Codex Koridethi (038, ; 9th century), and the text called Minuscule 28 (11th century).[26] Textual support for the term "Son of God" is strong, but the phrase may not have been original.[27] Interpolations may not be editorial, either. It is a common experience that glosses written in the margins of manuscripts get incorporated into the text as copies are made. Any particular example is open to dispute, of course, but one may take note of Mark 7:16, "Let anyone with ears to hear, listen," which is not found in early manuscripts. Revision and editorial error may also contribute. Most differences are trivial but Mark 1:41, where the leper approached Jesus begging to be healed, is significant. Early (Western) manuscripts say that Jesus became angry with the leper while later (Byzantine) versions indicate that Jesus showed compassion. This is possibly a confusion between the Aramaic words ethraham (he had pity) and ethra'em (he was enraged).[28] Since it is easier to understand why a scribe would change "rage" to "pity" than "pity" to "rage," the earlier version is probably original.[29] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_mark
Gospel of Mark
Estimated Range of Dating: 65-80 A.D.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/mark.html
taken place. On the other hand, if xvi, 20: "But they going forth preached everywhere", be from St. Mark's pen, the Gospel cannot well have been written before the close of the first Apostolic journey of St. Paul (A.D. 49 or 50), for it is seen from Acts 14:26 and 15:3, that only then had the conversion of the Gentiles begun on any large scale. Of course it is possible that previous to this the Apostles had preached far and wide among the dispersed Jews, but, on the whole, it seems more probable that the last verse of the Gospel, occurring in a work intended for European readers, cannot have been written before St. Paul's arrival in Europe (A.D. 50-51). Taking the external and internal evidence together, we may conclude that the date of the Gospel probably lies somewhere between A.D. 50 and 67. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09674b.htm