Walk Thru The Bible Mark 1-24 Monday - Mark 1 Baptism and Temptation Mark 2 Calling of Levi Mark 3 Jesus and Beelzebub Tuesday - Mark 4 Parable of Sower Mark 5 Healing Demonized Man Mark 6 Feeding 5000 Wednesday - Mark 7 Healing a Deaf Man Mark 8 Feeding of 4000 Mark 9 Who is the Greatest? Thursday - Mark 10 Divorce, Children and Money Mark 11 Cleansing of Temple Mark 12 Parable Tenants Friday - Mark 13 End Time Prophecies Mark 14 The Lord's Supper Mark 15 Jesus Crucified Saturday - Mark 16 Resurrection Appearances Sunday - Make up day Sunday is make-up day. If you missed any reading or if you read only a few chapters per day make up for lost time by reading for an hour on the Lord's Day. Children's Bible Reading It is not easy for a child to read through the Bible nor to sit and listen to long passages being read. We recommend that if you have children in your home that you read daily one story from Ken Taylor's "The Book." Ken Taylor is the translator of the Living Bible. He did that while commuting by train to and from work so that his children would understand the Scriptures. The children have caught up with us. Be sure to go with us to the New Testament. It is important to follow the Law with the Grace of God as revealed in Jesus. "The Law came throught Moses but grace and truth came through our Lord Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday - Sunday - The History of Mark's Gospel The Gospel of Mark is most likely the first of the gospels to be written. (Though some scholars contest this.) It is the shortest of the four gospels and it appears to have been used by Matthew and Luke as a skeleton upon which to build their narratives. The earliest known manuscript of Mark was found to be in the library of the Essenes in the Dead Sea Scrolls which were sealed in a cave around AD 50. That would mean that within the first 16 years after Jesus' life, death, and resurrection this gospel was written and circulated among the churches. Critical scholars question the authenticity of Mark's gospel, rejecting historical tradition and recent archeological evidence that confirms its early existence. They also discredit Mark as being the John Mark of the New Testament based on their failure to find corroborating evidence in secular material of the time. They claim the book must have been written later than AD 70 and most probably by an unknown western Roman Christian who just happened to be named Mark, along with thousands of other Marks who lived at that time. Inspiration of Scripture We must ask ourselves an important question at this juncture: Does it matter who wrote the gospel of Mark? If you are a liberal theologian it probably doesn't matter since in the end liberals don't believe the scriptures to be divinely inspired any more than Shakespeare or Milton were inspired. If you believe in the inspiration of scripture and that the scriptures are inerrant and infallible, then it does matter who wrote the gospels or any of the other New Testament books. If it doesn't matter who wrote the scriptures then we could also say it doesn't matter now if one adds to or takes away from those writings. If there is no divine inspiration and no inerrancy to worry about then anyone could write anything and be on par with the New Testament scriptures. In fact, you would have no reason to limit scripture to the canon of the New Testament at all. Why not canonize every inspired writing? Do you see the folly of the liberal view of scripture? It destroys th e foundation of our faith and leaves revelation open to evolve with the times. The Bible itself declares its own inspiration as the inerrant, inspired, and unchanging word of God. (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21, 1 Corinthians 2;13, Matthew 5:18) Did Mark Write the Gospel that Bears His Name? There is no internal evidence of the authorship of Mark's gospel, yet it is the unanimous witness of the early church Mark is the author. The earliest record of Markian authorship was by Papias, a disciple of the apostle John, in AD 140. Papias wrote a detailed account of Mark's authorship of the gospel. In quoting an even earlier source Papias testified that 1. Mark, who was the author, was the same John Mark of the New Testament mentioned in Acts. 2. John Mark was a close companion of the apostle Peter and was his interpreter. 3. Mark wrote the account at Peter's request and it was based on Peter's preaching of the gospel. 4. Mark accurately recorded the events and sayings of Jesus which writing was approved by Peter to be distributed and read among the churches. (NIV Study Bible p1490 and Jeffrey p254) For many years higher criticism dated the Gospel of Mark near the end of Peter's life in Rome, at about AD 70 shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem. More recent research, based on the findings in the Dead Sea Scrolls (1947),have proved that fragments of Marks gospel were in the library of scrolls the Essenes preserved before AD 50. Therefore Mark's gospel had to have been written within a dozen years of Christ's life. Why is this so important? This discovery by professor Jose O'Callaghan concluded that the gospel was in circulation while hundreds of eyewitnesses, including the disciples, were still alive to correct, refute, or challenge any inaccuracies had there been any. (Jeffrey p251) Discovering God's Promises: Mark is particularly interested in showing Jesus' power over all the work of the devil. As you "mine" for promises to live by pay particular attention to Jesus power over "all the work of the enemy."