Mark In The Gospel Of Mark: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

King made the white churches feel guilty for doing nothing to help the African American protests and violating morals established by the early church. King mentions the word

was also distinguished by his faith and the work he dedicated to the churches he attended. He used his religious beliefs as a substantial part of his Civil Rights campaign. He was encouraged to use this strong part of his life to help him “as a potential force for social change” (“Martin”). Instead of using violent practices, King could use his spiritual beliefs as another non-violent method towards his Civil Rights movement. Using a non-violent approach created a tension that forced a community to address the topic. Since his faith was a tremendous part of his life, King used his perpetual religious views as a vast component in his protests for Civil Rights which helped with conquering his ambition to eradicate segregation in the South.

‘Nothing mattered more to king than being an outstanding preacher. Martin Luther King had an exceptional personal some state. He was a very proud and an outspoken man. He had been ‘conditioned’ from the mere age of nine and ordained in a black church for later life purposes (1). At a young age racism surrounded him and was affected first hand. He was abused by a white mill owner purely on the colour of his skin. He also witnessed other black people suffering from violence when he saw a white mob attack and barbarically murder a black man. King was a very opinionated person and became a lead figure head publicly known on a national scale. This came to be

“I Have A Dream”, became the most famous of his speeches, but people should also consider his other sermons, particularly, “Loving Your Enemies”. This sermon teaches us how we should love the people who hate us, and not hate them back. Kings’ purpose for preaching this sermon was because he wanted to provide answers. The segregation era of the 1900’s was a time when the white people were very racist to the black people and they separated areas of where the black people had to go. One example would be when the black people had to use the restroom and they could not use the white people’s restroom, they would have to like walk a mile to their restroom, labeled “Colored Only”, and they would be in dirty places, and that pitted the blacks against the whites. However, the purpose of preaching his sermon was because he wanted to show how Jesus’ teachings teach us not to hate our enemies, because in the sermon, “... this the very center of Jesus’ thinking, this is: that hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe” (King 6). King wanted the people to think like how Jesus has thought when our hate is stirring up evil into the universe. Hate is one of the main values of sin that Satan wants us to have, so we must be able to overcome our hate with Christ’s love.

Describing the devotion of Christians when they truly lived for god instead of for society, MLK demonstrates a complex interpretation of not only the past but current society. He marvels at a time when “Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed” and “the church was not merely” a vessel that “recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinions” but a catalyst that “transformed the mores of society” (King). King expresses disappointment that the church has become nothing more

The Gospel according to Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. The story explains how the Messiah, Jesus, was refused by Israel and finally sent the disciples to preach the gospel around the whole world. As Matthew wrote for his fellow Jews, he wrote his Gospel in the language Jesus spoke, Aramaic, which led early Church Fathers to believe Matthew’s was the first Gospel. On the other hand, the Gospel of Mark teaches that Jesus is the Son of God who assumed human nature. Mark wrote the gospel in Greek for a Gentile-Christian audience, which was undergoing persecution, perhaps in Rome. A central theme is that following Jesus often means that a Christian must suffer like Jesus did. Mark’s Gospel points out that Jesus accepted this important title, but that he was reluctant to let people know his identity. (Matthew 26:26-30 and Mark 14:22-26 )

John Mark was the author of the book of Mark in the New Testament. John Mark was traveling companion of Paul and interpreter for Peter in Rome(Harris,2014). It is believed that his accounts in the book of Mark came from oral passing knowledge regarding Jesus from individuals in the area. This word of mouth passing of information is hard for scholars to verify. Some say that John Mark wrote his gospel after the Jewish Revolt against Rome began. Scholars come to ths belief based on the focus on discord towards believers, war and destruction which would bring about the second coming of Christ(Harris,2014). With all the clues and information found in the book of Mark,it is still not known for cetainity who wrote the Gospel. The true author is considered

King continues to say that some of the preachers of God have understood the need for justice, but some have suppressed the blacks themselves. He believes that the preachers have to break the traditional, unjustified rules of the society to allow for the freedom of the children of God. The true meaning of the Bible lies in justice and co-existence. He wants moral justice to overcome the traditional norms which were unjust in nature. He conveys this message well in his letter. He further writes: “One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage” (King 6).

King goes on in the letter and gets on a personal level with the clergymen. He opens the doors of emotions with his reader’s. With referring to words of religious icons, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." (740). Martin Luther King was able show the clergymen that segregation was happening and unjust acts toward African Americans were still occurring in the United States. King also knew that he was going to need to get the White majority to listen. King used personal experiences from his children,

The gospel of Mark is a short recollection of Jesus life, it has many details but is missing pieces or additions to his life. The Gospel of mark was said to have lost pieces, and also the first account of Jesus life. Although it is not as detailed in some areas as it is in others, it tells many accounts of Jesus life on earth and what kind of a person he was, the life he lived, his struggles and his ending.

King combines the use of ethos and pathos as he compares himself and the rights of men to religious backgrounds. His first comparison is with the Apostle Paul, where Paul had “carried the gospel of Jesus Christ,” as to Kings carrying of “the gospel of freedom.” King addresses this similarity to show why he felt committed to go to Birmingham, because like Paul, he needed to respond as an aid to his people. Towards the end of Kings letter; he exemplifies courageousness in the Negro demonstrations by relating them to the actions of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they refused to follow what they believed to be unjust laws. Saying that if they are supposed heroes by going against unjust laws, why shouldn't the people see Negro demonstrators the same way? They are also God's children and by those disobedience’s, they were really showing the grace of God. These connections to religion supports their fighting against unjust laws as a divine cause.

King creates an empathetic link when he utilizes the words "When you have" (King 2) followed by grievous moments in a typical African American life. For the purpose of showing the leaders why the Negroes cannot wait any longer for civil justice. Rather it is not that simple, King chose to write this to create an empathic link between the religious leaders and the African Americans. He does this with the intention of having the leaders feel the urgency and the burning pain the oppressed race has gone through. Simply, the African American walk of life is encroached by the actions and power of whites, creating an emotional scene for the leaders. King also rejects the fallacy that the leaders created with the "Isn't this like condemning..."(King 3) anaphora. The leaders believed that the peaceful actions of the civil rights group should be condemned for they participated in violence. King felt that this statement did not make any logical sense, but instead of outright saying it, he simply repeated instances where peaceful actions were taken place, but the subject faced consequences. In fact, by comparing the situation to the Christian icon Jesus, King exposes the fallacy of the leaders. In a broader sense, the parallelism between Jesus and King is noticed. Biblically, Jesus came down to Earth from Heaven to save sinners by acting as a sacrifice and dying on the cross. On the other hand, Historically, King came to Birmingham from Atlanta to aid the Civil Rights Movement by protesting, thus sending him to jail. Both came down to save a group, but to do so both were

The genre of this specific pericope is best described as a narrative (Mann 398). This narrative is seen not only here in Mark but also in Luke 18:18-30 and Matthew 19:16-30. Thus, though the Markan story is written by Mark, it does not stand alone. The Book

A Gospel in general, is a textual document written in narrative form of the good news and teachings proclaimed by Jesus to announce the power of God. Mark’s Gospel is one of four others (Matthew, Luke and John), where each Gospel has its differences in structure, language and theological slants. Mark’s Gospel is divided into three main sections: The Ministry of Jesus, Jesus’ prologue of foretelling his Passion, and his Passion and Death. Mark set out

Mark: The Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus Christ’s life from when he was baptized by John the Baptist until the days of his death, and his resurrection. Mark was the second of four Gospels although some Scholars argue and insist Mark was the first Gospel written 1. Mark was written by John Mark in AD 65, with a target audience of Roman Christian beleivers 2. Mark was written in a unique manner in regards to literary genre, as it contains figures of speech, and portray life situations in a passionate story like setting that can make the reader feel as if he is there 3. The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, however it is written in a manner that emphasizes more so on Jesus’s works than Jesus’s words 4. The key theme in Mark is to portray the life of Jesus Christ as the son of God 5, and the purpose was to show the human qualities and emotions that Jesus displayed from anger (Mark 3:5), and compassion (Mark 1:41). Some of the key events of Jesus Christ’s life in the Gospel Mark include his miracles, his entrance into Jerusalem, the last supper, his arrest and trial, his crucifixion, his resurrection, and his ascension 6. The Gospel of Mark ends with his instruction to the eleven Apostles “And he said unto them “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:16), and his ascension into Heaven (Mark 16:19).