Is the Marcan Priority Really That Obvious? A Contribution to the Problem of Proving the Priority of Any Gospel
Abstract
New Testament scholars do not agree on many things, but one of the topics they usually agree on is the priority of Mark's gospel. Given the amount of work built upon this argument in the last one hundred years, one would expect scholars to continually review its foundations and assumptions to prevent any "collapse" of the conclusions built upon it.
This has not been the case, however, and most scholars take the Markan priority (MP) for granted. The present text argues that the most common arguments for MP are merely interpretations based upon the already existing assumption, are inconclusive or based upon modern Vorverständnis.
Such a consensus, however, represents a potentially ideological component of the study of the New Testament study. This study therefore aims to demonstrate the inherent methodological and logical problems associated with proving the priority of any gospel.