715 The First Gospel in the New Testament: The Meaning of Mark
Class | Registration opens 8/10/2026 11:00 AM
This course will include lecture, discussion of the text of the Gospel of Mark, and its relationship to the rest of The Bible and its connection with Jewish and Hellenistic and Roman backgrounds. It will include discussion of such questions as:
Why does Mark challenge the Emperor in the first verse?
How are Jesus's miracles used as teaching devices?
What are its political Implications?
Why does it end with the women running away from the empty tomb?
Why does it conclude with the word "but"?
This course is open to people of all religious or nonreligious backgrounds.
Participants are expected to have computer literacy/access and email.
Earl Johnson, Jr.
EARL S. JOHNSON, JR. is a retired Presbyterian pastor (PCUSA) and adjunct professor of religious studies at Siena College. His doctoral dissertation at the University of St. Andrews was entitled The Theme of Blindness and Sight in the Gospel According to Mark, and he has published articles on Mark in New Testament Studies, Catholic Biblical Studies and The Journal of New Testament Studies. As a member of Albany Presbytery, he led seminars on "AI and the Church: Pros and Cons" and "The Barman Declaration (1934) and Its Relevance Today." He also taught at Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, N.Y. Earl now lives in Elysburg, near his family.