John's Relationship with Mark : An Analysis of John 6 in the Light of Mark 6-8

This book is a literary-historical enquiry into the relationship between John and Mark, with special emphasis on the feeding saga in each. Because of the differences between these key canonised texts the question of how their differences are to be understood is important in regard to our understanding of Biblical authority and interpretation, and in particular of the meaning and importance of the Eucharist. The research finds that the writers of John's Gospel knew Mark and that John shows a certain degree of influence from it, both positive and negative. Ian D. Mackay surveys the debate to date, looks at general literary and strategic similarities and differences between John and Mark, and then analyses John 6 in comparison with Mark 6-8 and certain other related texts in Mark. The detailed analysis of the debate, the points of literary similarity between the two Gospels as a whole, and the emergence of Markan strategies lifted from Mark and applied in John to supporting a literary agenda virtually contrary to that of Mark - especially in regard to the roles of the disciples and the crowds in the plot of each as a whole - may well be useful for those interested in the question of how the four Gospels relate to one another.