…because the author’s name was Mark
The earliest manuscripts of this Gospel are titled ‘According to Mark’ – which summarizes the uniform Church tradition that Mark, a disciple of Simon Peter, wrote the second Gospel. Mark was not an eyewitness of Christ’s public ministry he was a channel of apostolic tradition through Peter.
In the New Testament, Peter refers to his companionship with Mark in an amicable manner ‘my son Mark’ in 1 Peter 5:13. Further, interpreters have noted that the general outline of Mark’s gospel is similar to Peter’s presentation of the gospel in Acts 10:36-43. Outside the New Testament, multiple Church Fathers insist that Peter’s authority lies behind this Gospel. Papias (A.D. 130) describes Mark as the “interpreter” of Peter, while Irenaeus (A.D. 180), Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 200) and Tertullian (A.D. 200) echo this tradition.
Few details exist about the life and character of Mark. He is known by his Roman name “Mark” (Marcus in latin), but is sometimes called by his Jewish name “John” (Acts 12:25; 15:37). He is the cousin of the missionary Barnabas according to Colossians 4:10, and he was also an associate of the Apostle Paul (Acts 12:25) and a welcome companion on Paul’s first missionary journey (Acts 13:5). According to Paul’s estimation “he [Mark] is very useful in serving me” (2 Timothy 4:11), and Tradition states that after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, Mark was the first to establish churches in Alexandria and northern Egypt.
These factors held together, especially with the unanimity of voices attributing this gospel make it difficult to contend that some ‘mysterious author’ penned this Gospel.
He was probably the first one to start writing too
Two main factors suggest that Mark completed his Gospel before A.D. 70 – within one generation of the events he records.
- First, the Gospel itself points us in this direction. In Mark 13, Jesus prophesies the imminent destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This was fulfilled in A.D. 70, when the Romans violently destroyed the Holy City. Mark, however, makes no mention of this as a past event, nor does he give detailed information about the catastrophe that would indicate he was writing after the fact.
- Second, prominent traditions in the early Church date Mark’s gospel in the 60s or even earlier. Both a second-century document, called the Anti-Marcionite Prologue, and Irenaeus (A.D. 180) state that Mark wrote soon after Peter’s martyrdom (~A.D. 67) – a tradition that still allows for a date in the late 60s. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 200) on the other hand, maintains that Mark wrote his Gospel before Peter’s death. Still another witness, Eusebius (A.D. 340), fixes a date for Mark during the reign of Emperor Claudius, between A.D. 41 and 54. Although these varying traditions make it impossible for use to assign an exact date for the Gospel, they together suggest that Mark published his work sometime before A.D. 70. Many modern scholars likewise place the composition of Mark just before A.D. 70, though some put it just after this critical date.
Halfway there now.
Sources are linked throughout. It should be made clear that the arguments in this post are not at all my own and are, as I have said, taken from the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (New Testament) by Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch.
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