The John Also Called Mark

Book excerpt: In this study, Dean Furlong explores the reception in Christian tradition of "the John also called Mark" spoken of in the book of Acts and (probably) in the Pauline corpus. He examines the portrayals of John/Mark as both a Markan figure (i.e., as a figure identified with Mark the Evangelist and/or with the Mark who was associated with the founding of the church of Alexandria) and as a Johannine figure (i.e., as a figure identified with the Beloved Disciple and/or with John the Evangelist). The author argues that the three Markan figures were originally differentiated and only came to be identified during the third and fourth centuries; furthermore, after drawing attention to "Johannine" depictions of John/Mark in some sources and to the attribution to him of a Gospel containing a Logos theology, he posits that some early Christian writers identified John/Mark with John the Evangelist.