Endnote 2 – Using Quintilian to Interpret Mark

C. G. Montefiore, The Synoptic Gospels (London: MacMillan, 1927) 1.223. Still another interpretation is given by Francis Wright Beare, (The Earliest Records of Jesus [New York: Abingdon, 1962] 149), who following Adolf Schlatter, interprets the saying on the basis of Mark 9:42: “Christian believers must avoid becoming a cause of offence to their fellows, and must discipline themselves without waiting for the Church to pronounce sentence, out of fear of the inescapable judgment of God.” However, the context of the saying in Mark does not give any clue to the interpretation because the connection with what follows is secondary, caused by the catchword “offend.”