MARK - The Gospels: God Walks Among Us

WIKIPEDIA:
The word gospel derives from the Old English god-spell (rarely godspel), meaning "good tidings" or "good news".

The first canonical gospel written is Mark (c 65-70), which in turn was used as a source for the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew and Luke may have also used the hypothetical Q source. These first three gospels are called the synoptic gospels because they share a similar view. The last gospel, the gospel of John, presents a very different picture of Jesus and his ministry from the synoptics. The canonical gospels were originally written in Greek.

Of the many gospels written in antiquity, only four gospels came to be accepted as part of the New Testament, or canonical. An insistence upon there being a canon of canonical four, and no others, was a central theme of Irenaeus of Lyons, c. 185.

• Irenaeus declared that the four he espoused were the four Pillars of the Church: "it is not possible that there can be either more or fewer than four" he stated, presenting as logic the analogy of the four corners of the earth and the four winds (3.11.8).
• His image, taken from Ezekiel 1, of God's throne borne by four creatures with four faces—"the four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and the four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle"—equivalent to the "four-formed" gospel, is the origin of the conventional symbols of the Evangelists: lion, bull, eagle, man.

By the turn of the 5th century, the Catholic Church in the west, under Pope Innocent I, recognized a biblical canon including the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which was previously established at a number of regional Synods, namely the Council of Rome (382), the Synod of Hippo (393), and two Synods of Carthage (397 and 419). This canon, which corresponds to the modern Catholic canon, was used in the Vulgate, an early 5th century translation of the Bible made by Jerome under the commission of Pope Damasus I in 382.

DATING: Estimates for the dates when the canonical Gospel accounts were written vary significantly; and the evidence for any of the dates is scanty. Because the earliest surviving complete copies of the Gospels date to the 4th century and because only fragments and quotations exist before that, scholars use higher criticism to propose likely ranges of dates for the original gospel autographs. Scholars variously assess the consensus or majority view as follows:
• Mark: c. 50–73,
• Matthew: c. 70–100. c 80-85. Some conservative scholars argue for a pre-70 date, particularly those that do not accept Mark as the first gospel written.
• Luke: c. 59–100, with most arguing for somewhere around 80-85
• John: c 50-100, The majority view is that it was written in stages, so there was no one date of composition.

OTHER GOSPELS: In addition to the four canonical gospels there have been other gospels that were not accepted into the canon; perhaps as many as 50.
Generally these were not accepted due to
1. doubt over the authorship,
2. the time frame between the original writing and the events described,
3. or content that was at odds with orthodoxy.
For example, if a gospel claimed to be written by James, yet was authored in the second century, clearly authorship was not authentic. This differs from the four canonical gospels which historians agree were authored before 100. For this reason, most of these non-canonical texts were only ever accepted by small portions of the early Christian community. Some of the content of these non-canonical gospels (as much as it deviates from accepted theological norms) is considered heretical by the leadership of mainstream churches, including the Vatican.

The Jesus Seminar All four gospels present Jesus as both the Son of God and son of man. They all record His baptism, the feeding of the 5,000 from five loaves and two fishes, Mary's anointing of the Lord Jesus, His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, His betrayal, trial, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. However, each writer does so in a slightly different way, recording additional details or emphasizing one aspect more than the others.

The Jesus Seminar is a group of about 200 individuals who include "scholars with advanced degrees in biblical studies, religion or related fields [as well as] published authors who are recognized authorities in the field of religion" founded in 1985 by the late Robert Funk and John Dominic Crossan under the auspices of the Westar Institute. One of the most active groups in biblical criticism, the seminar uses votes with colored marbles (see below) to determine what Jesus, as a historical figure, may or may not have said or done. In addition, the seminar popularizes research into the historical Jesus.]

MARK
The Gospel of Mark is anonymously written but traditionally ascribed to Mark the Evangelist (also known as John Mark. The Gospel is neither a discussion nor a debate,” said Dr. Paul S. Rees. “It is an announcement!” Many of the stories bear the mark of eyewitness testimony. The early church believed that Mark, a close companion of Peter, reported what Peter had witnessed, and represents Peter’s testimony to the life of his Lord. The Gospel narrates the life of Jesus from John the Baptist to the Ascension (or to the empty tomb in the shorter recension), but it concentrates particularly on the last week of his life (chapters 11-16, the trip to Jerusalem). Its swift narrative portrays Jesus as a heroic man of action, an exorcist, a healer and miracle worker. It calls him the Christ (the Greek translation of Messiah), the Son of Man, and the Son of God.

Two important themes of Mark are the Messianic secret and the obtuseness of the disciples. In Mark, Jesus often commands secrecy regarding aspects of his identity and certain actions. Jesus uses parables to obscure his message and fulfill prophecy (4:10-12). At times, the disciples have trouble understanding the parables, but Jesus explains what they mean, in secret (4:13-20, 4:33-34). They also fail to understand the implication of the miracles that he performs before them.

The general theory is that Mark is a Hellenistic gospel, written primarily for an audience of Greek-speaking residents of the Roman Empire. Jewish traditions are explained, clearly for the benefit of non-Jews (e.g., Mark 7:1–4; 14:12; 15:42). Aramaic words and phrases are also expanded upon by the author. Alongside these Hellenistic influences, Mark makes use of the Old Testament in the form in which it had been translated into Greek, the Septuagint, for instance.
Starting in the 19th century, textual critics have commonly asserted that Mark 16:9–20, describing some disciples' encounters with the resurrected Jesus, was a later addition to the gospel. Mark 16:8 stops at the empty tomb without further explanation. The last twelve verses are missing from the oldest manuscripts of Mark's Gospel. The style of these verses differs from the rest of Mark, suggesting they were a later addition. In a handful of manuscripts, a "short ending" is included after 16:8, but before the "long ending", and exists by itself in one of the earliest Old Latin codices.

OUTLINE OF MARK
I. Jesus has authoritative credentials. 1:1-13
II. Jesus ministered and taught in Galilee. 1:14-6:29
III. Jesus ministered and taught outside Galilee. 6:30-9:50
IV. Jesus moved toward his Passion. 10:1-13:37
V. Jesus was crucified and resurrected. 14:1-16:20

EXPLORE
1. When your group members come in have Mark 1:1 written on the chalkboard. Ask each to quickly read through Mark 15, and select the “most compelling evidence that Jesus is the Son of God.”
2. Explain that Mark, like the other Gospel writers, reported what really did happen, but may sequence events to support a particular emphasis. Chronological sequence isn’t the only valid way to organize material.

Then outline the organizing principle of authentication as it functions in these chapters. Jesus was:
1. •authenticated by God (Mark 1:1-13);
2. •authenticated by power (Mark 1:14-29);
3. •authenticated by compassion (Mark 1:40–3:12);
4. •authenticated by personal authority (Mark 3:13–5:43).
Together work through the first of these sections, pointing out the nature of the authentication and the importance of witnesses.

EXPAND
1. Break into teams to examine the other three “authenticating” segments. Each team is to look at the nature of the authenticating words, guided by the section titles. Each is also to note the witnesses. Finally each team should try to explain just how the incidents reported are linked to each other.
Do not follow up these studies by having each team report its findings to the others.
2. Have each group member select one incident from these chapters as his or her favorite. Each is then to read and reread his or her incident, and write down two or three “lessons for living” that can be learned through it.

APPLY
Form teams of four. Each person should share the “lesson for living” that he or she drew from a Mark incident that is most important to him or her personally, and explain why this lesson has personal value.