Gospel Of Mark

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The following paper will outline the historical, literary and religious context of the first Gospel, Mark, as well as support the belief that The Gospel of Mark was written to uplift and inspire an early Christian community who, because of continued persecution, was beginning to doubt their belief of God’s word. Specifically, the meaning and significance of Mark 12:28-34 will be explored. The Gospel of Mark According to Marielle Frigge, a teacher of theology and author of Beginning Biblical Studies, “the word gospel comes from old English godspel, meaning “good story”, and reflects the Greek word evangelion”(Frigge, 2009, pg.121). Frigge asserts that rather than the Gospels of the Bible being factual, precise, biographical accounts of Jesus’…show more content…
132). In Understanding The Bible Commentary Series: Mark, Larry Hurtado, a New Testament scholar and professor of theology at University of Edinburgh, suggests that the Gospels of the New Testament are written accounts of Jesus’s life and ministry. Hurtado suggests that the interpretation of Jesus presented in the Gospels served not only to fill the role of the Messiah promised by God in the Old Testament, but also to further inspire the Christian religion (Hurtado, 2011, pg. 14). The Gospel of Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus and focuses mostly on the events in his adult life, from his teachings in Galilee to his interactions with Jewish leaders in…show more content…
These stories existed to strengthen the basis of this new faith, and to convince non-christians that Jesus truly was God’s Messiah. According to David Aune, a professor of theology at The University of Notre Dame, “Christianity began as a Jewish religious reform movement launched by Jesus of Nazareth, a rural Palestinian teacher and holy man who was executed as a revolutionary by the Roman occupation authorities”(Aune, 1987, pg. 11). In the time during and immediately following this time of Roman occupation in Jerusalem, four literary works, known as the Gospels, were written to tell the story of the life of Jesus. Like many of the Gospels, Mark is written mostly in the literary form of narrative. Most of the stories recounted in Mark are told very simply and in quick succession. Despite this unembellished writing form, Hurtado suggests that Mark cleverly, “connects two stories by enclosing one within another, his intent being to use the two stories to cast light on each other”(Hurtado, 2011, pg.

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