BYU Studies Quarterly
Article Title
Narrative Atonement Theology in the Gospel of Mark
Keywords
Mormon studies, New Testament Gospels, Atonement
Abstract
Since each of the four New Testament Gospels contains an account of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, it is perplexing that they receive so little attention in discussions of the Atonement: thinkers both ancient and modern are more likely to turn to Leviticus, Isaiah, or Paul’s letters than they are to the actual accounts of Jesus’s death. But the Gospels—particularly Mark’s Gospel as the oldest canonized account of the life and death of Jesus Christ—surely deserve attention when thinking about the concept of atonement. Yet at the level of discourse, Mark is almost silent on the meaning of Jesus’s death: save a line here or there, reasons for the death—and the impact of that death on humanity—are barely mentioned in the text, and these scant wisps of discourse-level atonement theology are inadequate to the importance of the topic, especially since on the three occasions3 when Jesus predicts his suffering and death and shows their necessity, neither Jesus himself nor Mark explains their meaning.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Julie M.
(2015)
"Narrative Atonement Theology in the Gospel of Mark,"
BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 54:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol54/iss1/4