Conflict in Mark

Conflict in Mark is a great book for literary criticism for the Gospel of Mark. Kingsbury does a great job of describing the interaction of Jesus, disciples and the religious authorities with each other and what they communicate to the reader. Unfortunately with such a short book, Kingsbury leaves the reader wanting to know more. There is little or no explanation of minor characters, including the crowd, in their role in the Gospel of Mark. At times, Kingsbury can be a bit repetitive because he is dealing with the three characters repeatedly in each of the three chapters. Overall, it is a good book to begin studying the Gospel of Mark.

Jack Dean Kingsbury, formerly of Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virgina has left us all in his debt with this beautiful little book on Mark's gospel. Pointing out what should be the obvious, but like many other things isn't obvious until someone points it out, Kingsbury has written a book for the pastor to sink their (his or her) teeth into. My copy has seen profuse reading, underlining, highlighting, and note-making. Great for the pastor during the RCL year of Mark's gospel.

The book approaches the Text from a narrative point of view, and focuses mostly on how the plot is developped. He divided the chapters according to the major characters of the Gospels: Jesus, the Authorities and the Disciples. I found it easy to read and right to the point. I consider it to be a good way to start to deepen the understanding of the gospel. I would read this one BEFORE reading any commentary.