|
The production of the Gospel of Mark:
W S Vorster
|
Abstract
For more than a century the emphasis has been on the growth and not on the making of the Gospel of Mark. This essay focuses on the latter. Firstly, attention is paid to the current views on the origins of the material in order to illustrate the implications of the traditional focus. Secondly, the production of the Gospel of Mark is discussed from the perspective of a totally different perception of the phenomena of text and textual relationships.
Modern informed readers know the Gospel of Mark from critical Greek editions with text-critical and other notes in the margins. These notes inform them not only about the history of the transmission of the final text, but also about allusions and quotations in the text. In addition, it is commonly maintained that the Gospel was originally written in Greek, and that the final text represents a rather lengthy history of growth. For more than a century attempts have been made to explain the origin of the gospel material and to interpret the space between the related events and the final inscripturation of the contents of the Gospel. For that reason the emphasis has been on the growth and not on the making of the Gospel. Very few scholars have
• This article is a reworked version of a paper originally read at the annual meeting of the Society for General Literary Studies in March 1992 held at Broederstroom. [Professor Willem Vorster suddenly died on January 10, 1993 (editor)].
