The 'Gospel' between Emperor and Temple in the Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark pointedly opens with the statement, »the beginning of the gospel«. This raises the question: What does 'the gospel' (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον) mean to Mark? Traditionally, an explanation has been found in the so-called 'religious use' of the notion of the 'messenger on the mountain' in Isa 40:9 and 52:7, paving the way for an understanding of Jesus's death as a sin sacrifice connected to Isa 53. Under the influence of recent postcolonial and/or anti-imperial reading strategies, however, Mark's gospel notion has rather been understood as tailored to counter a Roman dressing of the emperor as 'gospels' to the world. Morten Hørning Jensen re-investigates the entire concept of 'gospel' and concludes that Mark uses the concept to communicate the 'epoch-making victory' he finds to be the product of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.Chapter 1. The Εὐαγγέλιον of Mark between Kingdom and Cross
Chapter 2. Mark and his Εὐαγγέλιον - Status Quaestionis
Chapter 3. Epoch-Making 'Gospel' Proclamations before Mark
Chapter 4. Mark's Prologue between Promise and Proximity
Chapter 5. The Galilean 'Gospel' of Victory and Proximity
Chapter 6. King, Cross, and Temple in Jerusalem
Chapter 7. Conclusions