<!doctype html public «-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en»> http-equiv=content-type> Was Paul a direct influence on Mark? On the basis of the latest methods in New Testament scholarship, the battle over Yes and No to this question is waged within these pages. In the end, no agreement is reached, but the basic issues and their impact on studying epistolary and narrative literature in 1st-century Christianity stand out with much greater clarity than before.