Mark the Evangelist

==Biblical and traditional information==
Evidence for Mark the Evangelist's authorship of the Gospel of Mark that bears his name originates with [[Papias of Hierapolis|Papias]] ({{circa|60|130 AD}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oyc.yale.edu/sites/default/files/canon_0.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705013329/http://oyc.yale.edu/sites/default/files/canon_0.pdf |archive-date=2016-07-05|title=From Stories to Canon|access-date=2023-08-20}}</ref><ref name="Papias01">{{cite book|chapter=[[s:Ante-Nicene Christian Library/Fragments of Papias|Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord]]|title=Ante-Nicene Christian Library, Volume I|year=1885|publisher=T. & T. Clark in Edinburgh|author=Papias|author-link=Papias of Hierapolis|translator=Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson}}</ref><ref name=NJBCp596>{{Citation
|last=Harrington
|first=Daniel J.
|year=1990
|contribution=The Gospel According to Mark
|editor1-last=Brown
|editor1-first=Raymond E.
|editor1-link=Raymond_E._Brown
|editor2-last=Fitzmyer
|editor2-first=Joseph A.
|editor2-link=Joseph_A._Fitzmyer
|editor3-last=Murphy
|editor3-first=Roland E.
|title=The New Jerome Biblical Commentary
|place=Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
|publisher=Prentice Hall
|page=596
|isbn=0-13-614934-0
}}</ref> Scholars of the [[Trinity Evangelical Divinity School]] are "almost certain" that Papias is referencing [[John Mark]].<ref>[[D. A. Carson]], [[Douglas J. Moo]] and [[Leon Morris]], ''An Introduction to the New Testament'' (Apollos, 1992), 93.</ref> Modern mainstream Bible scholars find Papias's information difficult to interpret.<ref name="MuddimanBarton2010">{{cite book|first1=Henry|last1=Wansbrough|editor-first1=John|editor-last1=Muddiman|editor-first2=John|editor-last2=Barton|title=The Gospels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=utMUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA243|date=22 April 2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-958025-5|page=243|quote=Finally it is important to realize that none of the four gospels originally included an attribution to an author. All were anonymous, and it is only from the fragmentary and enigmatic and—according to Eusebius, from whom we derive the quotation—unreliable evidence of Papias in 120/130 CE that we can begin to piece together any external evidence about the names of their authors and their compilers. This evidence is so difficult to interpret that most modern scholars form their opinions from the content of the gospels themselves, and only then appeal selectively to the external evidence for confirmation of their findings.}}</ref>

The [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic Church]] accords with identifying Mark the Evangelist with [[John Mark]], as well as that he was one of the Seventy Disciples sent out by Jesus (Luke 10:1),<ref name="bibleverse|Luke|10:1"/> as [[Hippolytus of Rome|Hippolytus]] confirmed.<ref name=Shen01/> Coptic tradition also holds that Mark the Evangelist hosted the disciples in his house after Jesus's death, that the resurrected Jesus came to Mark's house ([[John 20]]), and that the [[Holy Spirit]] descended on the disciples at [[Pentecost]] in the same house.<ref name=Shen01/> Furthermore, Mark is also believed to have been among the servants at the [[Marriage at Cana]] who poured out the water that Jesus turned to wine ([[John 2]]:1–11).<ref>{{bibleverse|John|2:1–11}}</ref><ref name=Shen01>[[Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria|Pope Shenouda III]], ''The Beholder of God Mark the Evangelist Saint and Martyr'', Chapter One. [http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/Stmark/ Tasbeha.org]</ref>

According to the Coptic tradition, Mark was born in [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]], a city in the [[Pentapolis (North Africa)|Pentapolis of North Africa]] (now [[Libya]]). This tradition adds that Mark returned to Pentapolis later in life, after being sent by [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] to [[Colossae]] ([[Colossians]] 4:10;<ref name="bibleverse|Colossians|4:10"/> [[Epistle to Philemon|Philemon]] 24.)<ref>{{bibleverse|Philemon|24}}</ref> Some, however, think these actually refer to [[Mark the Cousin of Barnabas]]), and serving with him in Rome (2 Timothy 4:11);<ref name="bibleverse|2 Timothy|4:11"/> from Pentapolis he made his way to [[Alexandria]].<ref name=SUSCopt>{{cite web
|publisher = Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
|url = http://www.suscopts.org/diocese/about/
|title = About the Diocese}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web |url = http://www.suscopts.org/coptic-orthodox/church/saint-mark/
|title=Saint Mark
|access-date = May 14, 2009}}</ref> When Mark returned to Alexandria, the pagans of the city resented his efforts to turn the Alexandrians away from the worship of their [[Hellenistic religion|traditional gods]].<ref name=Shen07/> In AD 68, they placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.<ref name=Shen07>[[Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria|Pope Shenouda III]]. ''The Beholder of God Mark the Evangelist Saint and Martyr'', Chapter Seven. [http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/Stmark/ Tasbeha.org]</ref>