INTRODUCTION

The words ‘The Theology of the Gospel of Mark’, in the title of this book are deceptively simple. The three major expressions of which the title is composed, however, are far from straightforward. They beg a number of important questions. Firstly, what do we mean by the word ‘Theology’ in connection with the Gospel of Mark? In focusing upon Mark as ‘theology’ rather than as ‘history’ or as ‘literature’, what aspects of the Gospel have we in mind? Secondly, what is intended by the use of the term ‘Gospel’ as applied to this first century text? What does the word mean, and how appropriate a description is it from a historical, literary or theological point of view? Thirdly, who is meant or what indeed is conveyed by the traditional attribution ‘Mark’? Was the Gospel written by the John Mark of the New Testament, as tradition claims, or is this a fiction? Where the theology of the Gospel is concerned, does it matter?

An act of literary communication involves, in essence, an author, a text and a reader, and the process of interpreting that text must take into account all three. What then do we mean in overall terms by ‘The Theology of the Gospel of Mark’? Do we mean the theology of the author – in other words, the religious ideas, the philosophical perspective, the theological convictions, in short, the ideology which motivated the evangelist to write, which was a product of his own age, culture and tradition, and which influenced the treatment of his sources?