The Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark
Updated 1 March 2003

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Adult Sunday School Class, January 12 - March 2, 2003

The Synoptic Gospels are read in the Episcopal lectionary over a three year period. In year A, we read the Gospel of Matthew, in Year B, we read the Gospel of Mark, and in Year C, we read the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel of John (not in the synpotic tradition of the other Gospels) is read in part during each of the three years. Since we are at the early part of Year B in the liturgical cycle, this class will study the Gospel of Mark, and contrast it with the other synoptic Gospels. Check out the class schedule.

We will primarily read the Gospel of Mark as story, trying to see what the author wants us to understand about the Kingdom of God on earth. In this context, it is partiuclarly important to remember that Mark does not contain the birth or the resurrection narratives of the other Gospels. What does this tell us about how Mark viewed Jesus' ministry? What might Mark say is our role as followers of Jesus?

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of books and articles that could be drawn into a class on a particular gospel. Below I have assembled a few books that you might want to look at. I will bring some of these to class from time to time, as we work together to unpack Mark's story.

Books and Other References

One of the following Gospel parallels is recommended for this class:

Kurt Aland (ed). Synopsis of the Four Gospels, English Edition. United Bible Societies. 1982.
Burton H. Throckmorton, Jr. Gospel Parallels: A Comparison of the Synoptic Gospels, 5th Edition. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers. 1992.
H.F.D. Sparks. A Synopsis of the Gospels, Part II: The Gospel According to St. John with the Synoptic Parallels. London, England: Adam and Charles Black. 1974.
Robert W. Funk. New Gospel Parallels, Vol 1, 2 Mark. Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge Press. 1995. (This is a volume in which the parallels are drawn together using Mark as the primary text. Funk draws together biblical and non-canonical references including the gospel of Thomas and other books of the Bible).

An additional text that will be useful is Q Document, although we will discuss Q as we go along. A couple of sources for the Q texts are:

James M. Robinson, Paul Hoffman, and John S. Kloppenborg. The Critical Edition of Q. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. 2000.
Stevan L. Davies. "Gospel Sources." New Testament Fundamentals, Revised Edition. Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge Press. 1994. pp. 37-65.

The Gospel of Thomas is another useful non-canonical source when studying Mark (or any of the synoptic gospels). A couple of sources for this document are:

"The Gospel of Thomas." The Other Bible. Willis Barnstone, Ed. San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins. 299-307.
Internet On Line Gospel of Thomas.

Although any version of the Bible can be used, the following study Bible is recommended:

The Harper Collins Study Bible, New Revised Standard Edition. San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins Publishers. 1989.

If you are new to the study of Gospels, you might want to start reading a general book about the gospel tradition, and how early Christian authors constructed a text to describe their understanding of the person of Jesus. A couple of books in this category are:

Stevan L. Davies. New Testament Fundamentals, Revised Edition. Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge Press. 1994.
David Rhoads, Joanna Dewey, Donald Michie. Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel, 2nd Edition. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. 1999.

There are many, many commentaries on Mark (and other Gospels). Here are a few that you might find useful:

Ched Meyers. Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press. 1988. (This book is in its 11th printing, and is a very, very good commentary on Mark. I recommend it highly).
Stevan L. Davies. "The Gospel of Mark." New Testament Fundamentals, Revised Edition. Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge Press. 1994. pp. 98-126.
Lamar Williamson, Jr. Mark: Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press. 1983.
William Barclay. The Gospel of Mark, Revised Edition. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. 1975.
Ray Pickett. The World of Mark. (This is a draft of a chapter that is on line. Ray is a former professor of mine, and I highly recommend this chapter - especially before he takes it off line. Please note that the chapter on line is a draft document, not meant for reproduction of any kind.)

The class notes are Adobe 5.0 *.pdf files, unless otherwise noted. You can download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader™ if you need to.

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The Class Schedule
(click on class period number to view the notes):

Class Date	Period	Topic	Comments
January 12, 2003	Class 1a Class 1b	1) The Historical Context of the Gospel of Mark. 2) Reading the Story: Narrator, Setting, Plot, Characters, and Point of View. 3) Reading the text for what it is, not what we put into it. (Note that the notes for this class are split between Class 1a and 1b at the left)	The text by Rhoads, et al. will be the primary source.
January 19, 2003	Class 2	The proclamation and beginning of Jesus' ministry *(This class will be facilitated by Bill Brookshire)*	Mk 1
January 26, 2003		NO CLASS - ANNUAL PARISH MEETING IN THE SANCTUARY
February 2, 2003	Class 3	Jesus' political proclamation: An attack against the imperial social order in Capernaum *(These class notes are in html format)*	Mk 1 - 4:36
February 9, 2003	Class 4	A new social order: The Markan healing stories, miracles involving nature, raising the dead (Mk 1:23-26, 1:30-31, 40-42; Mk 2:3-12; Mk 3:1-5; Mk 4:37-41; Mk 5:1-15, 22-24, 25-29, 38-42; Mk 6:48-51, 35-44; Mk 7:24-30, 31-37; Mk 8:1-9, 22-26; Mk9:17-29; Mk10:46-52; Mk11:12-14, 20-25)	What is the purpose of these stories?
February 16, 2003	Class 5	Discipleship in, and teaching about, the new social order	Mk 8 - 12
February 23, 2003	Class 6	Jesus face to face with the powers in Jerusalem and His trial by the powers: What does it all mean?	Mk 13-16
March 2, 2003	Class 7	The Epilogue: What Does Mark Mean to Us Today?

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