Continuing the Discussion from the Forum…
Dr. Ehrman, what has been your position of where Mark lived after the Ascension of Jesus? Did Mark go to Alexandria?
Mark the Evangelist (Latin: Mārcus; Greek: Μᾶρκος; Coptic: Μαρκοϲ; Hebrew: מרקוס Marqos Amharic: ማርቆስ?) is the traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark. Mark is said to have founded the Church of Alexandria, one of the most important episcopal sees of Early Christianity. His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the winged lion.
We have another reason to see the gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and The New Testament at-large written under the literary gatekeeping of Rome and woefully, historically incomplete (let alone the inaccuracies, both producing an inaccurate perspective of Christianity in Antiquity) given there was the Alexandrian pogrom/riots which appear in the writings of Philo of Alexandria. The Alexandrian pogrom/riots are as big if not bigger than problems Pontius Pilate raised in Jerusalem.
If the gospel-writer Mark were a real person, his post-Ascension of Jesus acts deserve Letters, Acts, autobiography or biography.
After the Gospel according to Mark, is there any writings about Mark, from Mark, or from his followers?
Steefen
John K Winford and Lee Sidarthur, first, John missed the point of the post. Second, Lee is John’s cheerleader for missing the point. We have here what Jesus said: the blind leading the blind and the blind that are following are cheering for being misled.
The Gospel of Mark is not with us because God said “Let there be the Gospel according to Mark.” That Gospel was written by one or more humans who could have gone to Alexandria; then, after they got there, why not write more? Perhaps he/they were powerless against problems in Alexandria. If Philo could write about it, why couldn’t Mark or the Mark team collaborate with Philo?
Dr. Bart D. Ehrman
I don’t think there’s any reliable evidence to suggest Mark went to Alexandria (not mentioned in NT). And I don’t think the author of Mark was John Mark….
Stephen
Early Christianity got to Alexandria somehow. What got to Alexandria, Jerusalem Church or Judaism Lite/Pauline Christianity?
We have the New Testament, Josephus, and Philo of Alexandria. The latter two tell us problems Jews had with Romans. The New Testament gives us less than 50% of the content on this topic that Josephus and Philo give. The Gospels give us the question, should we pay taxes to Caesar. The Gospels give us a lot of torture of Jesus before crucifixion and the crucifixion, but even that is not a direct indictment of Rome, more of an accessory to the verdict of Temple authorities. Pro-Roman but not written by Rome or a Roman sympathizer, someone trying to get in the good graces of Rome–dated after Rome had extreme difficulty quelling Jewish military messianism, making the New Testament about a non-military messiah?
We do not have a Jewish Revolt in Alexandria to put down Jerusalem Church there. Second, you throw out Mark in Alexandria and you throw out Mark as the writer of Gospel Mark. The latter first: Gospel Mark is not with us by a Genesis “Let there be the Gospel According to Mark.” Some person/persons wrote it. How do we know it wasn’t written in Alexandria? Now for the former: after Mark, we have patriarchs of Alexandria after him: Anianus (68–85) and Avilius (85–98 ). Did they write anything under their own name? It would seem Anianus would be involved in the publishing, consulting and distributing of Gospel Mark, Gospel Matthew, and Gospel Luke since they are dated to within his tenure as patriarch of Alexandria. How do you cover these two in your textbooks?
See the Wikipedia entry on Pope Anianus of Alexandria
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Controversy
It is a matter of some dispute whether Anianus was the first or second Patriarch of Alexandria. The Roman Catholic Church and some others hold that Anianus was the first patriarch. The ** you do not have permission to see this link ** holds that Mark was the first patriarch of Alexandria, making Anianus second.
Veneration
He is regarded as a ** you do not have permission to see this link **.
Stephen:
Isn’t April 25th also Mark’s day?
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert
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