Mark the Evangelist

==Identity==
{{see also|Four Evangelists}}
[[File:Leone marciano andante - Vittore Carpaccio - Google Cultural Institute.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Mark the Evangelist's [[Saint symbolism|symbol]] is the [[winged lion]], the [[Lion of Saint Mark]]. Inscription: {{lang|la|PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEVS}} ('peace be upon you, Mark, my evangelist'). The same lion is also the symbol of [[Venice]] (on illustration).]]

According to [[William L. Lane|William Lane]] (1974), an "unbroken tradition" identifies Mark the Evangelist with [[John Mark]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Lane |first=William L.|author-link=William L. Lane|chapter=The Author of the Gospel |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nIjPDDlweUgC&pg=PA21 |title=The Gospel According to Mark |series=[[New International Commentary on the New Testament]] |year=1974 |publisher=Eerdmans |location=Grand Rapids |pages=21–3 |isbn=978-0-8028-2502-5}}</ref> and John Mark as the cousin of [[Barnabas]].<ref>Mark: Images of an Apostolic Interpreter p55 C. Clifton Black – 2001 –"... infrequent occurrence in the Septuagint (Num 36:11; Tob 7:2) to its presence in Josephus (JW 1.662; Ant 1.290, 15.250) and Philo (On the Embassy to Gaius 67), anepsios consistently carries the connotation of "cousin", though ..."</ref> However, [[Hippolytus of Rome]], in ''On the Seventy Apostles'', distinguishes Mark the Evangelist ([[2 Timothy 4]]:11),<ref name="bibleverse|2 Timothy|4:11">{{bibleverse|2 Timothy|4:11}}</ref> John Mark ([[Acts 12]]:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37),<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|12:12–25}}, {{bibleverse|Acts|13:5–13}}, {{bibleverse|Acts|15:37}}</ref> and [[Mark the cousin of Barnabas]] ([[Colossians 4]]:10;<ref name="bibleverse|Colossians|4:10">{{bibleverse|Colossians|4:10}}</ref> [[Philemon 1]]:24).<ref name="bibleverse|Philemon|1:24">{{bibleverse|Philemon|1:24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Hippolytus |author-link=Hippolytus of Rome |chapter=The same Hippolytus on the Seventy Apostles |chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf05.iii.v.iii.html |title=Ante-Nicene Fathers|title-link=Ante-Nicene Fathers }}</ref> According to Hippolytus, they all belonged to the "Seventy Disciples" who were sent out by [[Jesus]] to disseminate the [[gospel]] ([[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 10:1ff.)<ref name="bibleverse|Luke|10:1">{{bibleverse|Luke|10:1}}</ref> in [[Judea]].

According to [[Eusebius of Caesarea]],<ref>''The Ecclesiastical History'' 2.9.1–4</ref> [[Herod Agrippa I]], in his first year of reign over the whole of Judea (AD 41), killed [[James, son of Zebedee]] and arrested [[Saint Peter|Peter]], planning to kill him after the [[Passover]]. Peter was saved miraculously by [[angel]]s, and escaped out of the realm of Herod (Acts 12:1–19).<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|12:1–19}}</ref> Peter went to [[Antioch]], then through [[Asia Minor]] (visiting the churches in [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]], [[Galatia]], [[Cappadocia]], [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]], and [[Bithynia]], as mentioned in [[1 Peter 1]]:1),<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Peter|1:1}}</ref> and arrived in Rome in the second year of [[Emperor Claudius]] (AD 42).<ref>''The Ecclesiastical History'' 2.14.6</ref> Somewhere on the way, Peter encountered Mark and took him as travel companion and interpreter. Mark the Evangelist wrote down the [[sermon]]s of Peter, thus composing the Gospel according to Mark,<ref>''The Ecclesiastical History'' 15–16</ref> before he left for [[Alexandria]] in the third year of Claudius (AD 43).<ref>{{cite book |first=Jack |last=Finegan |title=Handbook of Biblical Chronology |location=Peabody, Massachusetts |publisher=Hendrickson |year=1998 |page=374 |isbn=978-1-56563-143-4}}</ref>

According to the Acts 15:39,<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|15:39}}</ref> Mark went to Cyprus with Barnabas after the Council of Jerusalem.

According to tradition, in AD 49, about 19 years after the [[Ascension of Jesus]], Mark travelled to [[Alexandria]] and founded the [[Church of Alexandria]]. The [[Coptic Orthodox Church]], the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria]], and the [[Coptic Catholic Church]] all trace their origins to this original community.<ref name="georgetown1">{{cite web |url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/egypt |title=Egypt |publisher=[[Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs]] |access-date=December 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220145046/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/egypt |archive-date=December 20, 2011 }} See drop-down essay on "Islamic Conquest and the Ottoman Empire"</ref> Aspects of the Coptic liturgy can be traced back to Mark himself.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Christian Coptic Orthodox Church Of Egypt|url=http://www.coptic.net/EncyclopediaCoptica/|website=Encyclopedia Coptica|access-date=26 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050831164722/http://www.coptic.net/EncyclopediaCoptica/|archive-date=August 31, 2005}}</ref> He became the first [[bishop]] of Alexandria and he is honored as the founder of [[Christianity in Africa]].<ref name=OSVESp401>{{cite book
|last1=Bunson |first1=Matthew |last2=Bunson |first2=Margaret |last3=Bunson |first3=Stephen |title=Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints |publisher=Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division |year=1998 |place=Huntington, Indiana |page=401 |isbn=0-87973-588-0}}</ref>

According to Eusebius,<ref>''The Ecclesiastical History'' 2.24.1</ref> Mark was succeeded by [[Pope Anianus of Alexandria|Anianus]] as the bishop of Alexandria in the eighth year of [[Nero]] (62/63), probably, but not definitely, due to his coming death. Later Coptic tradition says that he was martyred in 68.<ref name=cocn/><ref name=macrory>{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09672c.htm |title=Catholic Encyclopedia, St. Mark |access-date=March 1, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|15:36–40}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|2 Timothy|4:11|NASB}}</ref><ref name="bibleverse|Philemon|1:24"/>

Modern Bible scholars (i.e. most critical scholars) have concluded that the Gospel of Mark was written by an anonymous author rather than by Mark.<ref name="Ehrman 2004 p. ">{{cite book | last=Ehrman | first=Bart D. | title=The New Testament | publisher=Oxford University Press, USA | date=2004 | isbn=0-19-515462-2 | pages=58–59 | quote=Proto-orthodox Christians of the second century, some decades after most of the New Testament books had been written, claimed that their favorite Gospels had been penned by two of Jesus' disciples&mdash;Matthew, the tax collector, and John, the beloved disciple&mdash;and by two friends of the apostles&mdash;Mark, the secretary of Peter, and Luke, the travelling companion of Paul. Scholars today, however, find it difficult to accept this tradition for several reasons.}}</ref><ref name="Jeon Baugh 2017 p. 181">{{cite book | last1=Jeon | first1=Jeong Koo | last2=Baugh | first2=Steve | title=Biblical Theology: Covenants and the Kingdom of God in Redemptive History | publisher=Wipf & Stock | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-5326-0580-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVoQDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA181 | access-date=13 August 2023 | page=181 fn. 10 | quote=10. Just as historical critical scholars deny the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, so they also deny the authorship of the four Gospels by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.{{nbsp}}[...] But today, these persons are not thought to have been the actual authors.}}</ref><ref name=lost>{{cite book|last=Ehrman|first=Bart D.|author-link=Bart D. Ehrman|title=Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=URdACxKubDIC&pg=PA235|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-518249-1|page=235|quote=Most scholars today have abandoned these identifications,{{sup|11}} and recognize that the books were written by otherwise unknown but relatively well-educated Greek-speaking (and writing) Christians during the second half of the first century.}}</ref><ref name=nickle>{{cite book |last=Nickle |first=Keith Fullerton |title=The Synoptic Gospels: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SSytjasmAgC&pg=PA43|date=January 1, 2001|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-22349-6|page=43|quote=We must candidly acknowledge that all three of the Synoptic Gospels are anonymous documents. None of the three gains any importance by association with those traditional figures out of the life of the early church. Neither do they lose anything in importance by being recognized to be anonymous. Throughout this book the traditional names are used to refer to the authors of the first three Gospels, but we shall do so simply as a device of convenience. }}</ref> For instance, the author of the Gospel of Mark knew very little about the geography of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] (having apparently never visited it),<ref name="leach">{{cite book | last=Leach | first=Edmund | editor-last1=Alter | editor-first1=Robert | editor-last2=Kermode | editor-first2=Frank | title=The Literary Guide to the Bible | publisher=Harvard University Press | year=1990 | isbn=978-0-674-26141-9 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MSEwEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT354 | chapter=Fishing for men on the edge of the wilderness | page=590 | quote=5. The geography of Gospel Palestine, like the geography of Old Testament Palestine, is symbolic rather than actual. It is not clear whether any of the evangelists had ever been there.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Wells | first=George Albert | title=Cutting Jesus Down to Size: What Higher Criticism Has Achieved and Where It Leaves Christianity | publisher=Open Court | year=2013 | isbn=978-0-8126-9867-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KuccAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA25 | access-date=13 August 2023 | page=25 | quote=Mark's knowledge even of Palestine's geography is likewise defective.{{nbsp}}[...] Kümmel (1975, p. 97) writes of Mark's "numerous geographical errors"}}</ref><ref name="Evans 2014 p. 252"/>{{sfn|Reddish|2011|p=36|ps=: "Evidence in the Gospel itself has led many readers of the Gospel to question the traditional view of authorship. The author of the Gospel does not seem to be too familiar with Palestinian geography.{{nbsp}}[...] Is it likely that a native of Palestine, as John Mark was, would have made such errors?"{{nbsp}}[...] Also, certain passages in the Gospel contain erroneous statements about Palestinian or Jewish practices."}} "was very far from being a peasant or a fisherman",<ref name="leach"/> was unacquainted with Jewish customs (unlikely for someone from Palestine),<ref name="Evans 2014 p. 252"/>{{sfn|Reddish|2011|p=36|ps=: "Evidence in the Gospel itself has led many readers of the Gospel to question the traditional view of authorship. The author of the Gospel does not seem to be too familiar with Palestinian geography.{{nbsp}}[...] Is it likely that a native of Palestine, as John Mark was, would have made such errors?"{{nbsp}}[...] Also, certain passages in the Gospel contain erroneous statements about Palestinian or Jewish practices."}} and was probably "a Hellenized Jew who lived outside of Palestine".<ref>{{cite book | last=Watts Henderson | first=Suzanne | editor-last1=Coogan | editor-first1=Michael | editor-last2=Brettler | editor-first2=Marc | editor-last3=Newsom | editor-first3=Carol | editor-last4=Perkins | editor-first4=Pheme | title=The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2018 | isbn=978-0-19-027605-8 | chapter=The Gospel according to Mark | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T05WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1431 | access-date=13 August 2023 | page=1431 | quote=suggest that the evangelist was a Hellenized Jew who lived outside of Palestine.}}</ref> Mitchell Reddish does concede that the name of the author might have been Mark (making the gospel possibly homonymous), but the identity of this Mark is unknown.{{sfn|Reddish|2011|p=36|ps=: "Evidence in the Gospel itself has led many readers of the Gospel to question the traditional view of authorship. The author of the Gospel does not seem to be too familiar with Palestinian geography.{{nbsp}}[...] Is it likely that a native of Palestine, as John Mark was, would have made such errors?"{{nbsp}}[...] Also, certain passages in the Gospel contain erroneous statements about Palestinian or Jewish practices."}} Similarly, "Francis Moloney suggests the author was someone named Mark, though maybe not any of the Marks mentioned in the New Testament".<ref name="Tucker Kuecker 2020 p. 70">{{cite book | last1=Tucker | first1=J. Brian | last2=Kuecker | first2=Aaron | title=T&T Clark Social Identity Commentary on the New Testament | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | year=2020 | isbn=978-0-567-66785-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tKbDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 | access-date=13 August 2023 | page=70 | quote=Francis Moloney suggests the author was someone named Mark, though maybe not any of the Marks mentioned in the New Testament (Moloney, 11-12).}}</ref> ''The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus'' takes the same approach: the author was named Mark, but scholars are undecided who this Mark was.<ref name="Evans 2014 p. 252">{{cite book | last=Hatina | first=Thomas R. |editor-last=Evans | editor-first=Craig A. | title=The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-317-72224-3 | chapter=Gospel of Mark | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=StasAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA252 | access-date=13 August 2023 | page=252 | quote=Like the other synoptics, Mark's Gospel is anonymous. Whether it was originally so is, however, difficult to know. Nevertheless, we can be fairly certain that it was written by someone named Mark.{{nbsp}}[...] The difficulty is ascertaining the identity of Mark. Scholars debate{{nbsp}}[...] or another person simply named Mark who was not native to Palestine. Many scholars have opted for the latter option due to the Gospel's lack of understanding of Jewish laws (1:40–45; 2:23–28; 7:1–23), incorrect Palestinian geography (5:1–2, 12–13; 7:31), and concern for Gentiles (7:24–28:10) (e.g. Marcus 1999: 17–21)}}</ref>

The four canonical gospels are anonymous and most researchers agree that none of them was written by eyewitnesses.<ref name="Millard 2006">{{Cite book|last=Millard|first=Alan|chapter=Authors, Books, and Readers in the Ancient World|editor1-last=Rogerson|editor1-first=J.W.|editor2-last=Lieu|editor2-first=Judith M.|title=The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies|publisher=Oxford University Press|year= 2006|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKZYMifS1fAC&dq=%22written+virtually+entirely+in+a+form+of+ancient+Greek%22&pg=PA558|isbn=978-0-19-925425-5|page=558|quote=The historical narratives, the Gospels and Acts, are anonymous, the attributions to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John being first reported in the mid-second century by Irenaeus}}</ref>{{sfn|Reddish|2011|pp=13, 42}}{{sfn|Cousland|2010|p=1744}}{{sfn|Cousland|2018|p=1380}} Some conservative researchers defend their traditional authorship, but for a variety of reasons most scholars have abandoned this theory or support it only tenuously.{{sfn|Lindars|Edwards|Court|2000|p=41}}