First published in 1971, Mark-Traditions in Conflict touched off a decade of debate on a number of enigmatic questions concerning the Second Gospel: What prompted its composition? Why are the disciples portrayed in opposition to Jesus? Why does the Gospel end so abruptly? Weeden proposes that the Gospel of Mark was written to settle a major christological dispute. Wherever one encounters Jesus' claims about himself in the Gospel, that is Mark's Christology; wherever one reads the disciples' reactions concerning Jesus, that is the viewpoint of Mark's opponents. Weeden seeks to know what a first-century writer and reader would expect in a gospel. The result is a highly provocative study that can be seen as a fundamental hermeneutical key to the origin of Mark.