Editing Marcan priority (section)

===Content not present in Mark===

Mark's gospel is by far the shortest, just over half the length of Luke, and omits much found in Matthew and Luke. In fact, while the majority of Mark is included in the other two Synoptics, the additional material shared between Matthew and Luke only is quite extensive.

While Marcan priority easily sees Matthew and Luke building upon Mark by adding new material, Marcan posteriority must explain some surprising omissions. Mark has no [[Nativity of Jesus#Canonical gospels|infancy narrative]] nor any version of the [[Lord's Prayer]], for example.{{sfnp|Goodacre|2001|pp=57–58}}

Nor does Mark have more than a handful of unique [[pericopes]]. This is expected under Marcan priority, where Matthew has reused nearly everything he found in Mark, but if Mark was written last, it is harder to explain why so little new material was added.{{sfnp|Goodacre|2001|pp=61–62}}

However, Mark's selection of material must be explained in either case, unless it is to be believed that the author of Mark knew nothing more about Jesus than what was written in Mark. Bauckham argues that Mark's content is limited to what Peter himself had witnessed, or at least learned from trusted associates.{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|p=114–116}} Powers argues that Mark's purpose is fundamentally [[kerygma]]tic, needing to hold the attention of outsiders hearing the Gospel preached for the first time, and so focuses on who Jesus was and what he did, eschewing the sort of lengthy teachings that dominate the [[Synoptic Gospels#The double tradition|double tradition]] and most of [[Synoptic Gospels#Special Matthew and Special Luke|Special Matthew]].{{sfnp|Powers|2010|pp=55–93}} So, with Mark's selection process better understood, these omissions per se are no longer viewed as such compelling evidence for Marcan priority.{{sfnp|Goodacre|2001|pp=57–58}}