The Coptic Take On Whether the Gospel of Mark was Really 'According to Peter'

I love the Copts even if they don't love me. Here is what their current Pope Shenouda III writes in Chapter Three of his the Evangelist Mark on the subject:

CHAPTER THREE

ST. MARK AND ST. PETER

ST. MARK AND THE INJUSTICE:

How much injustice did St. Mark receive from the followers of St. Peter? They tried to rob him his apostolic dignity, and credit all his efforts to somebody else? I mean St. Peter.

SUMMARY OF THEIR CLAIMS:

1- Denying his fellowship to the Lord during the period of the Lord's ministry on earth and that he became Christian only after the resurrection at the hands of St. Peter.
2- They claimed that St. Mark's Gospel was written by St. Peter.
3- They attempted to credit all St. Mark's preaching, even that in Egypt and the Five Western Cities to St. Peter.

Strange was the fact that they tried to falsify the history of our fathers and our church.

A- The Attempt To Deny Him His Faith And Being An Apostle.

They ignored the fact that Lord Christ used to enter his house, and ate the Passover with His disciples there, and that he was the one who was carrying the pitcher of water when the two disciples met him on the road and followed him according to God's plan. [Mark 14:13,14] All the references pointed that St. Mark was the young man who followed Lord Christ the night He was arrested, "Having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him : And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked." [Mark 14:51,52]

In spite of all of that, they tried to rob the great apostle his faith. They claimed that St. Mark was one of those who accepted the faith by St. Peter after the receiving of the Holy
Spirit at the beginning of Christianity. They claimed that St. Peter referred to him in his first epistle as his son, because he became a Christian by him.(1) In the book "Moraweg Al Akhyar", accepted by Patriarch Meximos Mazloom, it was written that St. Mark didn't accept
Christ except after His resurrection, through St. Peter, who took him in his entourage. Again that was why he called him, his son, in his first epistle.(2)

More strange, is the fact that they published what was referred to Papias, claiming that St. Mark, "didn't hear God nor followed Him" They forgot that St. Mark was one of the seventy apostles as we mentioned earlier.(3) This was proven in the history books and rituals. The Coptic Catholics praise him in their own Theotokion,(4) saying "O the evangelist, the apostle, the theologian.evangelist, the apostle, you were awarded the crown of being an apostle, your fellow apostles were proud of you and we are proud of them and you."

So if he was an apostle to God, then how come he didn't hear God nor followed Him.?! If he was one of the seventy apostles, then how come he didn't become a believer till the Pentecost by Peter, while his house was prepared for celebrating the Passover for God. St. Peter, we are sure
wouldn't have approved what Papias wrote, in trying to diminish the credibility of Mark.

The fact that Peter called Mark his "son", didn't mean that he was a son in the faith, but as a father because of his age.(5) In the Catholic history and liturgy books, Mark was described
as an apostle. The French Encyclopedia, with its Catholic publishers, stated, "The claim that Mark was a disciple of Peter was nothing other than stupidity based on some failed writers."

B- The Attempt to refer his Gospel to Peter:

Some called it the "Book of St. Peter and His Follower Disciple". Father Chineau called him, " His dear secretary and translator"(7) [ Marc, son secretaire et son cher interpréte.] Others said that Peter dictated the gospel to Mark. Others claimed that Mark wrote from the collection he had when he heard Peter, or from what he knew from him. Some even dared to call this Gospel, "Peter's memoir."

Bizarre was the printing of these claims in our liturgy books when they published them in their countries. As in the case when Rene Basset published a Synaxarium in Paris about the Oriental Fathers, "Patrologia Orientales" and mentioned on St. Mark's feast on the 30th of Baramoda, "He went to Peter in Rome and became his disciple. There he wrote his Gospel that Peter dictated to him, and preached in Rome."(8) That is what it appeared in French : "Marc, alla trouver Pierre à Rome et devint. son disciple. Ily êcrivit son evangile que Pierre lui dicta et l' annonça dans la ville"

In order to express this wrong idea about the Book of Mark, they created an icon for St. Mark by the artist Angelico drawing Mark at Peter's feet, while preaching in Rome, with a caption in
the book which read, : " Saint Marc assis au Pieds de Saint Pierre Prechant au Romains, note dans un livre ses paroles"

Here we may say that the Gospel was Mark's and it wasn't dictated by Peter, but was from the filling of the Holy Spirit. Mark the apostle had no need to know from St. Peter any information about Lord Christ, he knew it very well as he witnessed God and saw His miracles from the start, beginning with the first one at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, as one of the seventy apostles. He knew it all as his house was the place where the apostles assembled and with them was Saint Mary, the Mother of God.

C- The Attempt To Credit St. Peter For St. Mark's Preaching:

According to their story, it was St. Peter who sent him to Egypt and the five western cities and he was the one to be reported to.

Father Peter Fermag, a Jesuit, in his book, "Moraweg al Akhyar" he wrote, " When King Kilouddos dismissed the Jews from Jerusalem, 49 AD(10) The Beloved St. Peter was sent to Egypt to preach the Holy Bible."

Maximos Mazloom, The Roman Catholic Patriarch, a Melchite, repeated the same words saying, "St. Peter sent St. Mark to Egypt in 49 AD,(11) to preach these people with the Gospel that he wrote."

In a bizarre words Father Chineau in his book, "Saints of Egypt" wrote that St. Mark, after preaching in the five western cities, went to see his distinguished teacher, Peter the apostle,
to give him an account for the assignment that was given to him.(12)

It is known, that the Holy Spirit directed the apostles in their preaching. This was shown in the Book of Acts, where it was mentioned that St. Paul and his company, after going through Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to go to Asia. When they arrived to Mysia they tried to go to Bithynia, and the Holy Spirit stopped them. During the night, when Paul saw a man from Macedonia in a vision pleading to be reached for help, he realized that the Holy Spirit was guiding them, and God was calling them to go and preach. [Acts 16:6-10]

What Chineau mentioned was strange. He said that St. Mark the apostle, went to St. Peter, his teacher to deliver an account about the assignment that was given to him. However himself
in the same chapter in the Book of The Saints of Egypt, he referred to St. Mark, "By the guide of the Holy Spirit he sailed to Cyrene, then to Alexandria. These were his words in French,
"Ensuite sur L'inspiration d'Espirit Saint, il s'embarqua à Cyréne et fit voitle vers Alexandrie" (13)

There is difference when one speaks guided only by his conscience, and when he speaks influenced by a fixed idea, trying to have the world to adopt his views. Historians agreed of what Severus Ibn Al Mokafaa, Bishop of Ashmouneen, in the tenth century when he said, "The region of the world was assigned to the apostles with the guide of the Holy Spirit, to preach the Word of God...St. Mark's assignment was to go to Alexandria by the order of the Holy Spirit, so they
listen to the words of the Gospel of Lord Christ." (14)

The Claim Of Being Ordained As A Bishop:

Among the strange things mentioned about St. Mark was his appointment by Peter as a bishop in three different continents.

It was said that Peter the apostle appointed him a bishop of Akoyla, near Venice in Italy, in Europe. It was also mentioned that he was appointed also by Peter as bishop for Gobayel(15) in Lebanon, that is in Asia. This was beside the appointment as Bishop of Alexandria in Africa. That is, he was appointed as a bishop in the only known three continents of the world at that
time.

With these claims, they confused every body. Probably they were trying to express their views about the Roman supremacy, at a time when Alexandria was on the top among the universal councils. At that period the pope of Alexandria was called as, "The judge of the universe".

The Works Of St. Mark With St. Peter:

St. Peter was related to St. Mark. Peter's wife was the cousin of Mark's father. Thus St. Peter was like a father, age wise. St. Peter used to visit their home frequently and when he was freed
from jail by the angel, he went directly to, "The house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying." [Acts 12:12]

It may be possible that Mark had accompanied his relative in his preaching in Jerusalem and 'Beth-Ania' and other Jewish places as was mentioned by Severus Ibn Al Mokafaa in his book
"the History of the Patriarchs".

St. Mark was with St. Peter when he wrote his first epistle and he wrote, "The church that is Babylon, elected together with you salutes you and so does Marcus my son." [I Peter 4:13] A big dispute among the historians occurred about this Babylon. Was it literally Babylon, or what meant was Rome.?

Did St. Mark really preached in Rome with St. Peter?
DID HE PREACH WITH HIM IN ROME?

It was proven in the history of the church and recorded in both the Orthodox and the Catholic books, even the Holy Bible, that Mark the apostle did preach in Rome.

References:
1- Morawag Al Akhyar fi Taragem Al Abrar (25 Nissan) p.
233.
2- Kinz Al Ebad Al Thameen fi Akhbar Al Kiddiseen (25
Nissan) p. 551.
3- Referred to it earlier.
4- From Theotokos month of Kihak p. 175-177.
5- Look the book : Love your parents.
6- part 16 p. 871 of The Rock 1951 p. 107.
7- Chineau : Les Saints d'Egypte I, p. 500.
8: Le Synaxaire Arab- Jacobite.
9- Louis Reau Icongraphie de l'art chretien, III p. 871
10- Not agreed upon by most of the historians.
11-Look up the chapter for the five western cities in this book.
12- Les Saints d'Egypte, I p.500.
13- Ibid.
14- The History of the Patriarchs Part I.
15- Assad Rostom: The City of God, Antioch the Great. Part III
p. 298.