Monday 3Rs students: Several of you wrote asking for clarification on the essay question. The question essentially asks you to find examples of historical evidence in the Book of Mark that help to show the authenticty of the book. As we said in class, you could write about places in Mark (cities, rivers, mountains), people (kings, the fact that we have other accounts of people in other books), the customs of the time (they are specifically mentioned), and so on.

A sample introduction might run as follows (you may use this introduction if you like):

The New Testament's Book of Mark records the life of Jesus Christ. In this gospel narrative the writer places Christ in history in specific ways. Two of these ways are Mark's use of place-names and of customs.

(The italics are mine. Please use regular fonts). After that introduction, you would then have a paragraph about Mark using real places for his narrative and another paragraph discussing customs, followed by a conclusion.

I hope this information helps.