Customer Reviews

Sowing the Gospel: Mark's Work in Literary-Historical Perspective

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In this excellent commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Professor Tolbert takes the "Parable of the Sower" and uses it as an interpretive tool to understand the story and meaning of the Gospel text. This method helps the reader (or hearer) of the Markan story interpret the many characters within the Gospel narrative. Highly recommended.

The author approaches her interpretation of the gospel from one basic line of analysis - the four types of "earth" of the "sower". Even so, the approach is deeply insightful in depicting the theme of discipleship and response to Mark's message. Although promising early in the book to provide an allegorical interpretation of the text, I was disappointed that the allegorical meanings of the "unclean spirits" and "demons" of the early episodes in the story were neither recognized nor explained. Thus, the social context of the implied audience was left virtually untouched in an otherwise thorough treatment of the characters of the narrative. Because the interpretation is based on understanding individual and group characters and not on the social context in which they lived, the overall interpretation left this reader unsatisfied. Not the most highly recommended or complete treatment among the contemporary texts on Mark, but nonetheless worthy of consideration for understanding the theme of discipleship in greater depth than many texts offer.