LE3 .A278 2014

2014

Evans, Craig

Acadia University

Masters of Arts in Early Judaism and Christianity

Masters

Theology

Acadia Divinity College

In his 2004 dissertation, James Crossley argues that the Gospel of Mark should not be dated later than the late 30s or early 40s. Such an early date for Mark’s gospel has rarely been advanced by critical scholars. Most scholars place Mark somewhere between 65 and 75 CE, largely because of the eschatological discourse, which includes a prediction of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple (Mark 13), and its actual destruction in 70 and the events that preceded and followed. Crossley offers a critique of this scholarly approach, concluding that there is no need to date Mark during the conflict or after the destruction. Crossley argues for an early date based on how Jewish law is understood in Mark.1 Crossley compares the portrayal of Jewish law in Mark with that of Josephus, Philo, and other pre-70 Jewish sources, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Second-Temple literature, and concludes that the similarities indicate an early date for the gospel. Crossley’s thesis builds on the work of his doctoral supervisor, Maurice Casey, who has argued that the Greek version of Mark depends on Aramaic sources written by a Jew (or Jews) in Israel before 40 CE that portray Jesus as thoroughly Jewish and at home in first-century Palestine.2 Like Casey, Crossley finds that the gospel of Mark is thoroughly Jewish, and when compared with the Jewish law, its Jewish character sheds light on the date of the composition of Mark. Has Crossley succeeded in dating the Gospel of Mark to as early as the 40s? The task of this paper is to examine Crossley’s work and reassess the implications of the coherence between Mark’s understanding of the law and Jewish understanding of the law. This thesis will not aim to provide a full scale treatment for dating Mark. That project would require much more space. This thesis will assess Crossley’s proposal for dating Mark in light of current scholarship. Chapter one will offer an assessment of scholarly attempts to date the Gospel of Mark. Chapter two will provide an overview of James Crossley’s new thesis. In chapter three a critique of Crossley’s thesis will be presented. In chapter four a proposal for the meaning of the Jewish law in Mark will be set forth. Finally, conclusions will be drawn and a summary provided.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:318