Why Mark?
Why Mark?
Mark was the first gospel I read alongside a commentary. Who knew that underneath the English word baskets1 there were identifiably Jewish and Greek baskets in the Gospel of Mark!? And it had never occurred to me that numbers might be symbolic pointers rather than a plain historical record. I was captivated. Through this gospel I learned that theological education and scholarship need not destroy faith. In this book, I hope I can provide at least a glimpse of the freedoms and joys I have found in studying the biblical texts.
Today, I see an urgency about Mark, a call to decide between loyalty to Christ or to Empire. Mark's urgency fits the desperation and the despair of our time, not to mention our trauma. Urgency often translates into human violence, particularly the violence of exclusion and tribalism. How does Mark deal with the violence which so often compromises our attempt to follow Jesus' command to love one another?2 What might a "deep dive" into one gospel teach me? I write not as one who knows what they think but in order to work out what I think.
Andrea Prior (Jan 2025)
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1. Cf. Mark 6:43, Mark 8:8
2. Cf. Mark 12:30-31
Good people.
