The 'Gospel' between Emperor and Temple in the Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark pointedly opens with the statement, 'the beginning of the gospel'. This raises the question: What does 'the gospel' (?? ??????????) mean to Mark? Traditionally, an explanation has been found in the so-called 'religious use' of the notion of the 'messenger on the mountain' in Isa 40:9 and 52:7, paving the way for an understanding of Jesus's death as a sin sacrifice connected to Isa 53. Under the influence of recent postcolonial and/or anti-imperial reading strategies, however, Mark's gospel notion has rather been understood as tailored to counter a Roman dressing of the emperor as 'gospels' to the world. Morten Hørning Jensen re-investigates the entire concept of 'gospel' and concludes that Mark uses the concept to communicate the 'epoch-making victory' he finds to be the product of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Born 1972; 2005 PhD, University of Aarhus, Denmark; 2009-19 associate professor at Menighedsfakultetet, the Lutheran School of Theology, Aarhus, Denmark; since 2013 professor II at the Norwegian School of Theology and Religion, Oslo, Norway; since 2017 Research Fellow at the Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, University of South Africa; 2019-22 associate professor at Fjellhaug International University College, Aarhus, Denmark; since 2022 professor at Fjellhaug International University College, Aarhus, Denmark.