Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

Social Psychology and Theology in Mark 3 I am writing this blog as a reflection on concepts drawn from two major fields of psychology that strike me in my study of Mark 3. In this post I look at social psychology concepts related to group leadership and formation. In the next post I will look at lessons from the perspective of Clinical Psychology. Group Identity Mark opens his gospel with a statement about the identity of Jesus as the anointed one and Son of God (1:1). Who is Jesus? That’s a question offered as guidance on one theme to guide people studying Mark’s gospel (e.g., Martindale ). My focus on group identity comes from a consideration that Mark is writing to people after Jesus has left his earthy ministry. In short, Jesus as leader is no longer visible to his followers. I suggest at least one of Mark’s aims is to identify who Christians are, but perhaps more importantly, who they are not. In this chapter he also identifi...