<P> The Gospel of Mark was written anonymously . Early Christian tradition ascribes it to John Mark , a companion and interpreter of the apostle Peter . Hence its author is often called Mark , even though most modern scholars are doubtful of the Markan tradition and instead regard the author as unknown . It was probably written c . AD 66 -- 70 , during Nero 's persecution of the Christians in Rome or the Jewish revolt , as suggested by internal references to war in Judea and to persecution . The author used a variety of pre-existing sources , such as conflict stories ( Mark 2 : 1 -- 3 : 6 ) , apocalyptic discourse ( 4 : 1 -- 35 ) , and collections of sayings ( although not the Gospel of Thomas and probably not the Q source ) . </P>
<P> The Gospel of Mark was written anonymously . Early Christian tradition ascribes it to John Mark , a companion and interpreter of the apostle Peter . Hence its author is often called Mark , even though most modern scholars are doubtful of the Markan tradition and instead regard the author as unknown . It was probably written c . AD 66 -- 70 , during Nero 's persecution of the Christians in Rome or the Jewish revolt , as suggested by internal references to war in Judea and to persecution . The author used a variety of pre-existing sources , such as conflict stories ( Mark 2 : 1 -- 3 : 6 ) , apocalyptic discourse ( 4 : 1 -- 35 ) , and collections of sayings ( although not the Gospel of Thomas and probably not the Q source ) . </P>
scholars date the composition of the gospel of mark to
scholars date the composition of the gospel of mark to
c . AD 66 -- 70
c . AD 66 -- 70