Who Is The Target Audience Of Mark's Gospel

Mark’s gospel is the first and shortest gospel of the New Testament. The target audience of this gospel was Gentile converts and Roman believers, with its main purpose being to highlight that Jesus is God’s son. This Gospel recounts the life and death of Jesus Christ, developing from his early career through to key points of his life to his death. Cardinal Nguyen Thuan was a Vietnamese cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was also the nephew of South Vietnam’s first president and archbishop, Ngo Dinh Thuc. He was a prisoner of the Vietnam Civil War. Despite living in different places in different centuries, there are so many similarities that connect them.

Body Para 1 Conflict, suffering, and prosecution are themes that are prevalent in Mark’s

They believed in the one and only God, whereas the Romans were polytheistic (many Gods). The Jews refused to worship the Roman Gods, which caused the start of their conflict. This resulted in many Jews being tormented, imprisoned, and killed because of their refusal in Roman beliefs and customs. This is important to the Gospel of Mark as it doesn’t allow Mark to publicly preach his faith as he was part of the group that was discriminated against. His followers were provided with faith from the teachings of Jesus as he promotes kindness and selflessness, which can still be applied in everyday life today. He notably provides hope and strength during difficult times where people were being tortured by the Romans. The message is still relevant in the present day as followers of Christianity are still facing persecution, although not as much as they used to. Mark wrote the Gospel around the time of the second Jewish revolt, where a Jewish temple was destroyed by the Romans. This historical event is significant as it shapes the way Mark tells the stories. Mark explains the significance of Jesus’ death in light of the Jewish-Roman political tensions. In Mark 13:1 – 37 Jesus told his disciples

The Vietnam War lasted from 1955-1975 in which the communist party of North Vietnam pitted against the South of Vietnam. The communist government of North Vietnam wanted to promote socialism and Christianity was seen as a threat to their authority. Those Christians who didn’t renounce their faith faced persecution, imprisonment, forced labour or even execution. Cardinal was alive during the Vietnam war where Vietnamese Christians were prosecuted due to their beliefs, just like during the time of the writings of Mark’s Gospel. Cardinal Nguyen was forced into solitary confinement for his connection with the first president of Vietnam and his Christian faith. The solitary confinement lasted 9 years where he was receiving torture and being dehumanised. This caused him to feel hopeless and lose his mind. ‘But thanks to God’s help he never regretted his destiny.’ Comparably, to Jesus he didn’t indulge in the feeling of self-pity and believed that it was all part of God’s plan for him. Fr. Thuan saw this time as an opportunity to come closer to God. In prison he would think about how Jesus was crucified and immobile, He was seen in the eyes of the world as useless, but in God’s eyes he was heroic. The cardinal strived to be like Jesus. Despite being locked up, Cardinal Nguyen wrote a book called ‘The Road of Hope’ and held masses in his cell inspiring other Vietnamese Christians and dioceses. He put his full