Book Of Mark Essay, Research Paper

The Book of Mark: An Essay for Humanities Courses That Treat The Bible As A Historical Document PART A MARK & # 8217 ; S THEOLOGY REFLECTED IN WRITING Mark and the other revivalists used fundamentally five ways to alter, edit or heighten Jesus & # 8217 ; expressions to reflect their ain positions of Christianity. Harmonizing to the Five Gospels Book, plagiarism and changing of authorship was non a offense, but really really common Mark & # 8217 ; s clip. Besides, Mark ne’er knew Jesus first-hand, he someway had to do a & # 8217 ; narrative & # 8217 ; from fundamentally Hearsay! Mark groups different fables and expressions of Jesus by subject ; doing a false feeling that these things happened in order. This may hold small consequence on altering the significance of the lesson, nevertheless it illustrates the fact that Mark was seeking to author a & # 8220 ; clear & # 8221 ; narrative for people, instead than a book of facts. The best illustration would be in Mark 10:17-31 ( Jesus Counsel to the Rich ) & A ; ( Parable of The Camel and the Eye of a Needle ) . It is dubious that these things happened at the same clip ; nevertheless, they are GREY in The Five Gospels anyhow & # 8230 ; and likely didn & # 8217 ; t go on as Mark describes. This brings us to Mark & # 8217 ; s composing manner. Mark seems to & # 8220 ; tack-on & # 8221 ; sentences to Jesus & # 8217 ; instructions to do them more & # 8220 ; Christian. & # 8221 ; This truly changes the significance more than any other tactic! Who knows what Mark may hold edited-out to carry through what he wanted to affect upon his readers? In this, he tries to construe the significance of Jesus & # 8217 ; actions & # 8230 ; and does this in a deceptive manner. For illustration: Mark 2:19, Jesus sing Fasting. Jesus makes a strong statement against importance to fasting, but Mark ( in 2:20 ) ticket on: & # 8220 ; But the yearss will come when the bridegroom will be taken off from them, and they will fast in those days. & # 8221 ; This blatantly shows that Mark held higher respect for the Old Traditions of Fasting instead than Jesus & # 8217 ; new instructions! This is besides an illustration of & # 8220 ; Christianizing Jesus & # 8221 ; harmonizing to traditions that have already earned regard from Jews in their tradition. ( Wow, this is get downing to sound like a battle between Today & # 8217 ; s Political Parties, International Relations and Security Network & # 8217 ; t it? [ Jesus = Liberal Politics / Judaism = Conservative Politics ] ) . Finally, Mark likes to & # 8220 ; soften the blow & # 8221 ; of Jesus & # 8217 ; Hard expressions. He does this for likely the same ground Paul preached that Circumcision was non required for Christians. A good illustration is The Inexcusable Sin ( Mark 3:28- ) . Jesus clearly states that words against the Holy Spirit are inexcusable. However, Mark adds that & # 8220 ; all things are possible with God, & # 8221 ; which softens this rough regulation! MARK & A ; THE PAROUSIA Mark lived during the Jewish War of 66-70 ADE. Unlike the ulterior revivalists, Matthew and Luke, Mark believed the Parousia was upon us, approximately to go on at any clip! And, for obvious ground: he lived in an highly troubled clip for the Jews, and he had non been worried yet by the Parousia & # 8217 ; s hold as were ulterior revivalists. Mark 13:4 & # 8211 ; & # 8216 ; Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the mark when all these things will be fulfilled? & # 8217 ; Harmonizing to Mark & # 8217 ; s authorship, Jesus foremost predicts the devastation of the Temple. However, Mark had written after the devastation of the Temple in 70 Fruit drink! This tactic agrees with The Five Evangels: composing revelatory expressions of Jesus after they have already been & # 8220 ; fulfilled. & # 8221 ; I would say he did this to give recognition to his authorship of the 2nd approach of God. An illustration is the fable of The Fig Tree in Mark 13:28-37. This add-on, evidently written by Mark and non said by Jesus, shows the urgency in which Mark expected the Second Coming: & # 8220 ; Assuredly, I say to you, this coevals will by no agencies pass off till all these things take place. & # 8221 ; You can easy see why the other revivalists, Matthew,

Luke & A ; John, re-wrote Mark & # 8217 ; s revelatory authorship to be more of a & # 8220 ; Sacred Time, & # 8221 ; and lupus erythematosuss

s definite. Mark used a common tactic of quoting scripture (especially Dan, Isa, Mic & some Psalms) for his apocalyptic writing. We also saw this in Paul’s letters years before. People regarded scripture as fact, therefore a perfect tool to give credit to Mark’s & Paul’s new writing! Our own culture today is wrapped-up in tradition and Bible quotes as undisputable fact, even though people twist these things to promote their own interests! My own family justifies their hatred for gays by quoting the Bible; they justify a “Woman’s Place” by using the Bible; they justify their racism through the Bible (saying that “Love your Brother” could only possibly refer to people of your own color, because your brother could not possibly be of another color); they justify violent punishment for criminals by using the Bible; they choose their political party according to their actions being as conservative as the Bible. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish that my own community was not still living in the dark-ages. PART B THE PARABLE: THE UNFORGIVING SLAVE This parable reflects a part of our American Lifestyle that is very Un-Jesus! Our culture, our government and our judiciary system thrives on punishment; at least we don’t still have debtors’ prison! Contrary to Mark’s interpretation of this parable, I belive it represents a type of perfect love for one’s neighbor that is reflected in Jesus’ Kingdom of God. Rather than forcing a rule upon the reader, as Mark does, Jesus meant it to be a story where the listener may choose an appropriate mode of behavior; for forgiveness cannot be compromised without undesirable consequences. Instead, Mark adds a Threat to the end of the parable (which is obviously NOT the words of Jesus)! “That’s what your heavenly Father will do to you, unless you find it in your heart to forgive …” I find in many examples that Jesus wanted to have his followers think for themselves, and make choices according to their own conscious; He only made sayings and parables to aid followers in finding the truth for themselves (much like Socrate’s tactic for the finding of Truth or Justice). Mark, for his own reasons, felt that it was his duty to attach every saying of Jesus with a command or threat … therefore making God seem vindictive! CONCLUSION: COMPARISON TO MY FIRST PAPER I remember that when I wrote my first paper, I made a point to discuss quotes from Jesus that seemed foreign to my traditional feeling for Jesus. I wanted to see something in Jesus that I never knew before! Well, I was surprised to find that these same quotes turned-up to be mostly Pink in the Five Gospels (some grey, but no black)! My first quote of Jesus was from Matthew 12:49-50; Jesus refers to the multitudes as his mother and brothers. This turned-up pink in the Five Gospels. I thought that this quote represented Jesus as a God on a equal level with his followers, creating a sense of community (I think that if Jesus were around today (and wasn’t in an asylum), he would be a Communist). To me, this contradicts today’s church of authority, having Bishops, Deacons, etc. Next, I quoted a few of Jesus’ words to live by in chapters 6 and 7 of Matthew. Most of these quotes turned up pink, however a few were mixed with grey, showing the additions of Matthew’s redaction. I noted in my paper that I felt these rules were simple & logical ways to lead a happy and loving lifestyle, rather than hard rules that we are used to. The next two quotes I used (Matthew 12:13 – Jesus Breaking the Sabbath) (Mark 15:1-15 – Jesus’ dealing with P. Pilate) were grey and black in the Five Gospels. The interesting point to this is that these are the two quotes in which I criticized Jesus’ actions. I made points that I thought Jesus was a hypocrite in preaching to keep Jewish Law, and at the same time, break t