What do scholars think of St Mark's Gospel?

Answer 1

Since at least the second century, it has been clear that there is a literary dependency among the synoptic gospels. Not only do they present the same core stories in the same order, they do so in the same style and often the same words in the Greek language. Nevertheless, accepted wisdom became that Matthew's Gospel was written in Hebrew, while Mark and Luke were written in Greek. Any literary dependency must have been the result of the authors of Mark and Luke copying from a Greek translation of Matthew. Some two hundred years ago, scholars began to realise that Mark's Gospel was the original and that Matthew and Luke were copied from this gospel, in the Greek language.

Mark's Gospel was written in a rough, almost ungrammatical style, suggesting that the author was not highly educated, at least not in the Greek language. Yet it became apparent that the author was quite well versed in Greek rhetoric, a difficult skill only mastered by a highly educated elite. Some have wondered whether 'Mark' adopted this style in order to hide his true identity.
John Dominic Crossan (The Birth of Christianity) sees in Mark an advanced form of intercalation that he terms 'Markan intercalation', used as a literary device to achieve emphasis and develop hidden narratives with a theological purpose. Whoever Mark was, he was no ordinary writer.

Rhoads, Dewey and Michie say in Mark as Story (third ed, page 5) Mark should be read as story rather than as history. They say (page 1), the composer of this story has used sophisticated storytelling techniques, developed the characters and the conflicts, and built suspense with deliberateness, telling the story to generate certain insights and responses in the audience. And Burton L. Mack says in Who Wrote the New Testament, page 57, that Mark used pronouncement stories to great advantage in the construction of his gospel, partly because they were the appropriate building blocks for the "life" he wanted to write, partly because they turned on conflict, a conflict basic to the plot Mark wanted to develop, and partly because they were the kind of story that Mark's own community had learned to tell about Jesus. These are not the hallmarks of a historical account.

Various scholars have sought to establish what sources Mark might have used, in an attempt to establish how close the gospel is to the actual life and mission of Jesus. The earliest manuscripts we have do not include any appearances of the risen Jesus (Mark 16:9-20), and it is now accepted that these were not part of the gospel during the first century. Mark's Gospel was apparently written around 70 CE, because it talks of Jesus prophesying the destruction of the great buildings in Jerusalem, something that would be known by an author writing at that time, but also in the same prophecy that Jesus would return on clouds of glory within the lifetimes of some of his listeners. Since Jesus could not have prophesied something that clearly did not happen - his imminent return on clouds of glory - he also did not prophesy the destruction, which was based on the author's own experience. Scholars have also noted that Mark appears to use some material from Paul's epistles. Finally, Dennis R. MacDonald (The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark) has credibly suggested some parallels between Mark's Gospel and the more ancient Homeric epics.

Further research has focussed on Mark's use of chiastic structures, which are circular sequences in which an opening set of events is contrasted with another set of events that mirrors the first, and are used to create emphasis or develop themes that are not otherwise apparent. Several chiasms have been proposed in Mark, although in some cases they might only seem to be so in hindsight. One important new area of research is the framework parallel structure, similar to a chiastic structure, that encompasses the entire gospel:

A . John explains the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-8)

B .The baptism of Jesus (1:9)

C . The voice of God from heaven, "Thou art my beloved son" (1:11)

D . The forty days in the wilderness as an allusion to Elijah and Moses (1:13)

E . The people were astonished at what Jesus taught (1:22)

F . Jesus casts out an unclean spirit (1:23-26)

G . Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (3:6)

H . Demons, whenever they see Jesus, fall down and say that he is the Son of God.

-- Jesus commands that they tell no one of this (3:11-12)

I .. Jesus calls the 12 disciples (3:13-19)

J .. Jesus rejects his own family: he has a new family, his followers (3:31-35)

K . Jesus rebukes the wind (4:36-41)

L . The demoniac, wearing no clothes (5:15), cries out that Jesus not torment him and Jesus sends out the demons (5:1-20)

M . Jesus comes into his own country (6:1)
-- Where he was brought up

N . The people misunderstand Jesus and he can do no mighty work (6:2-6)

O . Jesus sends out the disciples and curses those who will not receive them (6:7-11)
-- in sending the disciples with authority and expecting all to receive them, Jesus is asserting his own authority

P . Herod thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead (6:14)

Q . Herodias and her daughter conspire to kill John the Baptist (6:16-29)

R . Feeding the thousands, and related miracles and discourses (6:33-8:21)

S . Who do people say that I am (8:27)

T . Peter affirms faith in Jesus as the Christ (8:29)

U . Whosoever shall be ashamed of me: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed (8:38)

V . The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes (8:31a)

W . Be killed and after three days rise again (8:31b)

X . Prophecy of second coming (9:1)- Jesus tells the disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power.

B' .The Transfiguration of Jesus (9:2-3)

C' .The voice of God from heaven, "This is my beloved son" (9:7)

D' . Jesus talks to Elijah and Moses then to the disciples about Elijah (9:4-13)

E' .A great multitude was amazed at Jesus (9:15)

F' .Jesus cast out a dumb spirit (9:17-27)

G' .They shall kill the Son of man and he shall rise on the third day (9:31)

H' .Jesus clarifies his divine status, saying that he is not God: "Why call me good? There is none good but God" (10:18)

I' . Peter says the disciples have left all and followed Jesus (10:28)

J' . Those who have left their family for Jesus have a new family: all Jesus' followers (10:29-30)

K'. Jesus rebukes the 'sons of thunder', James and John (10:35-45 - cf 3:17)

L' .Blind Bartimaeus cries out for mercy and casts off his clothes, then Jesus heals him (10:46-52)

M' .Jesus comes into Jerusalem (11:1-10)
-- Where he will die

N' .Jesus misunderstands the fig tree that can provide no fruit (11:13-14)

O' .Jesus casts out them that sold and bought in the Temple and curses them for making the Temple a den of thieves (11:15-17)
-- Jesus is asserting his authority

P' .Jesus asks whether the baptism of John is from heaven or of men, and the priests, scribes and elders can not answer (11:30-33)

Q' .Parable of husbandmen who conspire to kill the vineyard owner's son (12:1-9)

X' .Prophecy of second coming (chapter 13)

-- on clouds of glory, within the lifetimes of some of those to whom he was speaking

R' .The Last Supper (14:17-25)

S' .Art thou the Christ, Son of God (14:61)

T' .Peter denies Jesus three times (14:66-72a)

U' .And when he thought thereon, Peter wept (14:72b)

V' .The chief priests, elders and scribes delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate (15:1)

-- Delivering Jesus is a similar concept to rejecting him.
-- Both parts of the pair involve chief priests, elders and scribes

W' .Jesus dies and on the third day rises again (15:37, 16:6)

A' .The young man explains the departure of Jesus(16:6-8)