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Abstract
The study of ethics in Mark has been largely shortchanged in twentieth-century scholarship in favor of Matthew, Luke, and Paul. Conclusions drawn by, among others, Jack T. Sanders became oft-repeated in Markan studies: “Regarding how the Christian was expected to relate to his fellow Christian, Mark has almost nothing to say.” In short, the themes of discipleship and Christology received (and continue to receive) disproportionate attention, often with little or no reflection on the ethical implications of such themes. This study offers an alternative account: Mark’s Gospel presents a theological description of the moral life.
The first chapter outlines the history of scholarship in Markan studies, describing the particular lacuna this dissertation intends to fill. I conclude by attending to the recent interest in Mark’s ethical content by scholars such as Dan O. Via, Richard Burridge, Wayne Meeks, Richard Hays, and Allen Verhey, as well as an array of postcolonial studies that examine the moral landscape of Mark’s account of Jesus.
Chapter two evaluates Mark’s account of Jesus within the genre of ancient biography. While biographies often possess a moral tone for their central characters, many of which advocate for moral imitation, Mark’s account is more complicated. Unlike many Jewish or Greco-Roman biographies of his day, Mark’s central character is opaque and difficult to imitate as evidenced by Jesus’s parables and Mark’s depiction of the disciples.
Chapter three argues that this perceived dissonance between Mark and other Greco-Roman biographies is due, in part, to Mark’s theology. The neglected role of God in Mark helps to explain Jesus’s cryptic words and deeds. God’s kingdom demands a new moral account of the world, pitting that which is human against that which is God.
Finally, chapters four and five evaluate the implications for Mark’s theological account of the moral life. In chapter four, I examine the virtues of faith, love, and humility as well as the moral practices of loving one’s neighbor, demonic exorcism, and prayer. The fifth chapter turns to Mark’s account of evil, examining the role of the demonic in Mark as well as the moral vices of greed and pride, modeled by characters such as Judas, Pilate, and Herod.
