The date of Mark's gospel: a perspective on its eschatological expectation

Abstract

This thesis attempts to find a date and general context for Mark' s gospel. Scholars are in general agreement that this is the earliest of the gospels. and thus of key importance for our dating of the other Synoptics and valuable for New Testament chronology generally. The focus of my study is Mark 13, the so-called 'eschatological' passage of Mark. Unlike other scholars, I have concentrated less on trying to locate a single set of historical circumstances against which to date it. While it is true that Mark is not a mere copy-and-paste compiler of transmitted traditions, and that his editorial work is likely to reflect the circumstances in which he worked, I argue that existing scholarly attempts at identifying these circumstances have failed to produce a firm consensus. Rather, I attempt to locate Mark’s eschatology within the context of evolving early Christian eschatological expectations as found in other New Testament documents, for which more secure datings have been proposed