Mark

Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that students will be able to:

Undergraduate

1. Give an informed and critical account of the history of interpretation of Mark’s Gospel;
2. Describe and discuss plausible socio-political and literary contexts in which the Gospel first circulated;
3. Identify distinctive Markan Christological, ecclesiological, pneumatological, missiological and eschatological themes and understandings;
4. Exegete the Markan text by employing a range of appropriate exegetical methods and resources; and
5. Discuss the interpretation and proclamation of Mark’s Gospel in meaningful ways for today’s world.

Postgraduate

1. Give an informed and critical account of the history of interpretation of Mark’s Gospel;
2. Describe and discuss plausible socio-political and literary contexts in which the Gospel first circulated;
3. Identify and describe distinctive Markan Christological, ecclesiological, pneumatological, missiological and eschatological themes and understandings;
4. Exegete the Markan text by employing a range of appropriate exegetical methods and resources;
5. Discuss the interpretation and proclamation of Mark’s Gospel in meaningful ways for today’s world; and
6. Engage critically with the scholarly literature on the relationship between the oral traditions and the Synoptic Gospels.

Undergraduate

Classroom:

• One critical review of readings (1,000 words) (25%)
• One thematic seminar paper (1,000 words) (25%)
• One exegetical essay (3,000 words) (50%)

Online:

• One critical review of readings (1,000 words) (30%)
• Online forum participation responding to set readings and peer interactions (at least 5 entries of approximately 200 words each) (20%)
• One exegetical essay (3,000 words) (50%)

Postgraduate

Classroom:

• One critical review of readings (2,000 words) (25%)
• One thematic seminar paper (2,000 words) (25%)
• One exegetical essay (4,000 words) (50%)

Online:

• One critical review of readings (2,000 words) (30%)
• Online forum participation responding to set readings and peer interactions (total 2,000 words) (20%)
• One exegetical essay (4,000 words) (50%)

• Byrne, Brendan. A costly freedom: A theological reading of Mark’s Gospel (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2008).
• Broadhead, Edwin K. Mark. Readings: A New Biblical Commentary (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2009, 2^nd edition).
• Donahue, John R & Daniel J Harrington. The Gospel of Mark (Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 2002).
• Leander, Hans. Discourses of Empire. The Gospel of Mark from a Postcolonial Perspective (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2013).
• Levine, Amy-Jill (ed.) A feminist companion to Mark (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001).
• Malbon, Elizabeth. Hearing Mark: A listener’s guide (Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 2002).
• Marcus, Joel. Mark 1-8 and 81-16. (2 vols). Anchor Bible Commentary (New Haven CT: Yale University Press, 2002/2009).
• Moloney, Francis J. The Gospel of Mark. A commentary (Peabody MA: Hendrickson, 2002).
• Myers, Ched. Binding the strong man. A political reading of Mark’s story of Jesus (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1988).
• Rhoades, David, Joanna Dewey & Donald Michie. Mark as story. An introduction to the narrative of a Gospel. 2^nd edn. (Minneapolis MN: Fortress Press, 1999).
• Webb, Geoff R. Mark at the threshold (Leiden: Brill, 2008).
• Witherington, Ben. The Gospel of Mark. A socio-rhetorical commentary (Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 2001).