Mark: Images of an Apostolic Interpreter

by C. Clifton Black (Translator)

Overview

In this study of early Christian traditions, C. Clifton Black explores the figure and function of Mark, the apostolic associate to whom Christians traditionally have attributed authorship of the New Testament's anonymous Second Gospel and whose very existence has been a controversial issue among scholars. Black contends that in their justifiable doubt about Mark's writing of the Second Gospel, biblical scholars have neglected the development of that ascription as well as its religious motivations.

Using a variety of critical lenseshistorical, literary, and theologicalBlack examines the images of Mark that emerge from the New Testament and from the writings of the early church fathers. Black's comprehensive investigation culminates in a fresh appraisal of the relationship between the Gospel of Mark and the legends surrounding its composition. Black concludes that the figure of Mark was carefully crafted as a part of the interpretive framework within which early Christians read the Second Gospel and heard its witness as faithful to their understanding of Jesus. Like the Markan Gospel itself, the image of Mark the Evangelist helped the early church in the formation of its religious memory and theological identity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780800631680
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	07/03/2001
Series:	Studies on Personalities of the New Testament
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

C. Clifton Black, the author of the Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections on the First, Second, and Third Letters of John, is Otto A. Piper Professor of Biblical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. His other works include The Disciples According to Mark: Markan Redaction in Current Debate and Mark: Images of an Apostolic Interpreter. He is also the co-editor of Exploring the Gospel of John in Honor of D. Moody Smith and a founding editor of the New Testament Library.

Table of Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction: The Quest for the Historical Mark?

A Maximal Reconstruction

A Minimalist Reconsideration

Some Critical Shifts

The Reconsideration Reconsidered

A Way to Proceed

Part I: Glimpses of Mark in the New Testament

Chapter One: The Wayward Attaché: Mark in the Acts of the Apostles

The Portrayal of Mark in Acts

Conclusion: John Mark in the Lukan Tradition

Chapter Two: A Beloved Junior Partner: Mark in New Testament Letters

The Pauline Tradition

The Petrine Tradition

Some Conclusions: The Different Portrayals of Mark in the New Testament

Part II: Portraits of Mark in Patristic Christianity

Chapter Three: Lineaments of an Apostolic Author: The Figure of Mark in the Second Century

Some Orientative Observations

The Apostolic Fathers

Papias of Hierapolis

Justin Martyr

Toward the Century's End: Mark and His Gospel in Syria, Lyons, and Rome

Chapter Four: Sketches of an Apostolic Evangelist (I): The Figure of Mark in Western Christianity of the Third and Fourth Centuries

Stumpy-Fingered but Apostolic: Mark in Rome and Western Europe

Defender of the Faith or Obedient Epitomizer?

Mark in North Africa

Chapter Five: Sketches of and Apostolic Evangelist (II): The Figure of Mark in Eastern Christianity of the Third and Fourth Centuries

Attendant to the Apostles: The Alexandrian Traditions

The Return of the Pauline Collaborator: The Syrian Traditions

An Imperfect Marriage: The Palestinian Traditions

Chapter Six: Gathering the Threads: A Patristic Conspectus

Part III: The Second Gospel and Its Evangelist

Chapter Seven: The Second Gospel and the Traditions about Mark (I): Evangelical Author and Petrine Authority

The Evangelist Mark as Author

Mark and Peter

A Limited Warranty

Chapter Eight: The Second Gospel and the Traditions about Mark (II): Ubi et Unde?

All Roads Lead to Rome?

Mark and Alexandria

Some Conclusions: The New Testament's Gospel and the Fathers' Evangelist

Conclusion: Mark the Evangelist: Some Reflections out of Season

Personification and Apostolicity

The Evangelists on Jesus and the Father on Mark: Some Procedural Similarities

Jesus and Mark as Biographical Subjects

Select Bibliography

Index of Biblical and Ancient Sources

Index of Modern Authors

Index of Subjects