What is known of St Mark the evangelist?

Answer 1

Mark was a Jew, the son of a Mary of Jerusalem who was related to Barnabus. Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabus on the First Misssionary Journey, but returned to Jerusalem early. Paul was hesitant to have him along on the next journey. Mark was later with Paul during the latter's imprisonment in Rome. He also was in company with Peter and Timothy. Mark is most often remembered for his writing of the Gospel of Mark.

Answer 2

St. Mark the Evangelist is believed to have been one of the early followers of Jesus and is traditionally identified as the author of the Gospel of Mark. He is also considered one of the four evangelists in Christian tradition. St. Mark is said to have brought Christianity to Egypt and is considered the founder of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Answer 3

The term 'evangelist' is generally used to apply to the authors of the four New Testament gospels.

All four gospels were originally anonymous, but were attributed by the Church Fathers, later in the second century, to the disciples thought most likely to have written them. Thus, Papias, bishop of Hieropolis in Asia Minor (ca.130), named Mark as the author of this gospel and the 'interpreter' for Peter, presumably as if Mark had written from Peter's memory and notes as his secretary (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 3.39). Most New Testament scholars believe that Papias was probably in error when he attributed this gospel to Mark, in which case the evangelist remains anonymous.

By the end of the second century, Clement of Alexandria gave Rome as the place where Mark wrote the Gospel. However, since there was by then a strong tradition that Peter was martyred at Rome, the ancient claim may have been an imaginative derivation from the connection that Papias made between Mark and Peter.