The Moral Life According to Mark

M. John-Patrick OConnor proposes that in contrast to recent contemporary scholarship that rarely focuses on the ethical implications of discipleship and Christology Marks Gospel, as our earliest life of Jesus, presents a theological description of the moral life. Arguing for Marks ethical validity in comparison to Matthew and Luke, OConnor begins with an analysis of the moral environment of ancient biographies, exploring what types of Jewish and Greco-Romanic conceptions of morality found their way into Hellenistic biographies. Turning to the Gospels own examples of morality, OConnor examines moral accountability according to Mark, including moral reasoning, the nature of a world in conflict, and accountability in both Gods family and to Gods authority. He then turns to images of the accountable self, including an analysis of virtues and virtuous practices within the Gospel. OConnor concludes with the personification of evil, human responsibility, punitive consequences, and evils role in Marks moral landscape.