Asked • 02/02/21

Does the author of Mark knows that Jesus was the son of God?

The third century Gospel of Mark does not have the words "The son of God". Unfortunately, the scribes of the Gospel of Mark have allowed themselves to manipulate the Biblical text as they wished.


Codex Sinaiticus, a third century Bible. 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way:


Mark 1:1 NIV. 1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 

2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” —


Codex Sinaiticus link is https://codexsinaiticus.org


Fawzy S.

The absence of these words in the forth century gospel of Mark indicates that this idea was not known in the first three centuries prior to Codex Sinaiticus. Otherwise, these words will have appeared in the Codex Sinaiticus. Check it yourself at Codex Sinaiticus following link https://codexsinaiticus.org
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02/07/21

Sorita D.

The divinely inspired record of the ministry of Jesus Christ written by John Mark. This account of “the good news about Jesus Christ” begins with the work of Christ’s forerunner, John the Baptizer, and concludes with a report of the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ resurrection. Hence, it covers the time from the spring of 29 to the spring of 33 C.E.​—Mr 1:1. Ancient tradition indicates that Peter provided the basic information for Mark’s Gospel, and this would agree with the fact that Mark was associated with Peter in Babylon. (1Pe 5:13) According to Origen, Mark composed his Gospel “in accordance with Peter’s instructions.” (The Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius, VI, XXV, 3-7) In his work, “Against Marcion” (IV, V), Tertullian says that the Gospel of Mark “may be affirmed to be Peter’s, whose interpreter Mark was.”John Mark evidently also had other sources of information. Since Jesus’ early disciples met in the home of his mother (Ac 12:12), Mark must have been acquainted with persons other than Peter who had known Jesus Christ well, individuals who had seen him doing his work and had heard him preach and teach. Probably being the**{noteworthy point from the Bible}-- “certain young man” whom those arresting Christ tried to seize but who “got away naked,” Mark himself was apparently not totally without personal contact with Jesus.​—Mr 14:51, 52.Time and Place of Composition. According to ancient tradition, Mark’s Gospel was first made public in Rome, this being the testimony of such early writers as Clement, Eusebius, and Jerome. Mark was in Rome during Paul’s first imprisonment there. (Col 4:10; Phm 1, 23, 24) Thereafter he was with Peter in Babylon. (1Pe 5:13) Then, during Paul’s second imprisonment in Rome, Paul asked that Timothy come soon and bring Mark with him. (2Ti 4:11) Probably Mark did then return to Rome. Since no mention is made of Jerusalem’s destruction in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy, Mark must have compiled his account before that event in 70 C.E. His presence in Rome at least once, and likely twice, during the years 60-65 C.E. suggests that Mark may have completed his Gospel there sometime during those years. HIGHLIGHTS OF MARK Mark’s concise, fast-moving account of Jesus’ life, presenting Jesus as the miracle-working Son of God After preaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, he proceeds to preach throughout the whole of Galilee (1:21, 22, 35-39) Jesus forms a group of 12 apostles to preach (3:13-19) Jw online library App
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02/27/21

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Cameron B. answered • 02/09/21

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First, in questions challenging various perspectives of textual criticism, it is difficult to ascertain with any real amount of certainty changes in passages via translations. Only a comparison of the original texts (in Mark's case, Greek texts) can any real comparison and challenge be presented. With that said, let me provide a few passages that may help in understanding if the author of Mark's Gospel understood Jesus to be truly divine.


1) Mark 2:1-12 (Jesus Heals a Paralytic): In this passage, Christ declares that the sins of the paralytic are forgiven, to the horror of the onlooking Pharisees (a Jewish religious/ruling sect). The problem is clear, only God can forgive sins. The following miracle of healing the paralytic is clear to the audience--just as Jesus is visually able to make the lame man walk, he too can forgive sins, which is not visually apparent to his audience. The forgiveness of sins is a claim by Jesus to have authority that were considered to be God's alone.


2) Mark 2:27-28 (Son of Man in Daniel 7): Jesus refers to himself by the Title, "Son of Man." Without a careful reading and understanding of the Title in Daniel 7, it mistakenly could be used as a reference to Jesus's humanity; however, it is very clear from the context of Daniel, that this is a Divine Title (i.e. the Son of Man receives the worship of the nations and stands in the heavens with YHWH). Cf. Mark 14:61-64


3) Mark 1:23-24; 3:11; 5:6-7 (Conversations/Power over Demons): Jesus's power over demons appear to have baffled a multitude of people around him. Not to get off track, but it is clear from other references in the Synoptic Gospels (i.e. Matthew, Mark, & Luke) that the audience considered Jesus's power over demons to be a reference to the Davidic King spoken of in the Old Testament (notice in these passages the phrase, "Son of David" is frequently applied to Jesus in those passages). Mark uniquely though steers away from the discussion of David and veers towards Christ's divinity as the source of his power and command over Angels and Demons. In particular, you will notice references to his "Holiness" and "Sonship," both of which would have been associated with his Divinity by his audience.


Lastly, since Codex Sinaiticus is the main point of your question, let me just clarify one thing: The earliest manuscript evidence for Mark's Gospel are B45 & B137, both dated in the early to mid second century. Whereas C. Sinaiticus dates at the earliest between the Third and Fourth centuries, well over a hundred years from the earliest manuscript evidence. That is not to say that the Codex is not significant, it remains one of the most complete manuscripts of Mark's Gospel. However, the later date certainly ought to restrict or challenge its use as a primary text for textual criticism.

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Fawzy S.

Well, if your argument is true, then why Jesus cried for help from his God. Mark 15:34 NIV https://www.biblestudytools.com/mark/15-34.html And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). Matthew 27:46 NIV https://www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/27-46.html About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,lemasabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
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02/09/21

Cameron B.

Well, there are really two options for interpreting the verse: Option 1) Jesus’s cry dereliction is in conflict with expressions of his divinity. Option 2) Jesus’s cry dereliction is not in conflict with expressions of his divinity. A really important principle of Biblical exegesis is to look first at the broader context, in this case, Mark’s whole Gospel. It is clear that in multiple places throughout the Gospel that Mark ascribes divine qualities/actions to the Person Jesus. New Testament writers, notably Mark, are extremely consistent with their overarching narrative/purpose, making each chapter not disconnected accounts but rather events/stories interconnected by various themes (A prime example of this has been pointed out by several scholars who note that Mark arranges his Gospel in a similar way to the Exodus account in the Pentateuch). While “proof texting” (taking a verse out of its immediate context/passage or book for the sake of proving a point) may be easy, it does little to addressing or answering the complex narrative of the text. Therefore, any answer as to how we as the readers ought to interpret the verse is ultimately grounded in the overall writing of Mark. *Personally, I don’t consider Option 1) to be viable when questioning whether Mark considered Jesus to be divine. We may personally disagree with Mark’s overall message, but when one considers Mark’s gospel as a whole, it is very clear that at least for Mark and his community of Christians, Jesus was both divine and human and neither of these realities were contradictory to the Gospel. With that said, in the thread of Historical Theology, the Christological debates of the 3rd-5th centuries ultimately provided the formulation of “Two Natures Christology”: That in the Second Person of the Trinity, there exists two natures, a divine and human nature, which co-exist in One Person yet never intermingle so as to become one nature. Thus, Christ’s cry reflects the fact that his human nature was experiencing the full brunt and force of sin and all of its consequences of the Cross, not his divine nature. *Also, it is important to note that another New Testament writer, Paul, appears to have held a similar view when in Romans 8 he suggests that the Divine Son participated in his own resurrection with the Father and Holy Spirit, which doesn’t really make sense if Paul 1) didn’t consider the death of Jesus a death of his humanity and not of his divinity, or 2) that Christ was fully divine in his own right and a full participant in the divine actions of the Trinity including the resurrection of the flesh. All of that said, the point of the original question was whether Mark claimed Jesus to be divine. Regardless of personal convictions or beliefs by ourselves, it would seem that taken as a whole Mark considered Jesus to be fully divine and yet equally human. Hope that helps! ~Cameron
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02/24/21

Stephanie R. answered • 02/07/21

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It’s knows that God gave inspiration and knowledge to people who wrote The Holy Bible. It’s also known that Mark wrote his chapter based of what Peter had teach him. For Mark wasn’t a disciple of Jesus, but a disciple of Peter who did know that Jesus is the son of God. Bases on Matthew 16,13-23: Peter declares that Jesus is the messiah, son of God.


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Fawzy S.

The absence of these words in the forth century gospel of Mark indicates that this idea was not known before the forth century where Codex Sinaiticus was written. Otherwise, these words will have appeared in the Codex Sinaiticus. Check it yourself at Codex Sinaiticus following link https://codexsinaiticus.org
Report

02/07/21

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