Opening Question: What do people mean when they say, “it’s the Gospel truth”? Introduction We begin our study this quarter of the Biblical “gospel” according to Mark, and the first couple days focus on John Mark as a historical character in the Christian scriptures. Modern historical critical scholars believe they have discounted John Mark as author of this gospel, but many of their arguments are built around speculation and an overemphasis on Mark’s author (or implied author) as ignorant of Palestinian geography and Judaism. The earliest writings after the disciples who speak about Mark’s authorship ascribe it to Peter who shared his ...