Vast amounts of scholarly attention have been devoted for several decades now to the study of the historical Jesus, which debate has had an impact on attitudes towards the four gospels. They are often seen as impediments to the discovery of the "real Jesus" and widely viewed with suspicion for the "agendas" their unknown authors brought to their presentation of Christ.
In The Spirituality of Mark, Dr. Mitzi Minor works different ground and brings to the Gospel of Mark a very different perspective. She trusts the author of the gospel and values it for what it is, a spiritual work of faith in response to what the author took to be God's act in Christ. Her intent is to mine the gospel for its spiritual insights, which she believes continue to be of value twenty centuries later. She herself labels this book "an exercise in biblical spirituality" and writes, "I believe Mark offers a profound perspective on what it means to be Christian." (p. 2).
In this book, Minor seeks to link two worlds, the world of biblical scholarship and the world of the personal spirituality, which includes the church. The Spirituality of Mark is a rewrite of her doctoral dissertation—"The Spirituality of the Gospel of Mark" (Ph.D. dissertation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1989)—and it starts out feeling very much like a scholarly work. The Introduction and Chapter One contain a number of definitions and a description of Minor's methodology, which may not be the best way to begin a work aimed at bringing Mark's spirituality into the present. While biblical scholars may be reassured by such a beginning, the book starts out as a "slow read" for those more concerned primarily with the gospel's spirituality. That being said, with Chapter Two the book picks up the pace and ably directs the reader's attention to Mark's spirituality rather than Markan scholarship.
Focusing on eleven key passages, Minor examines each one of them to discover what the author of Mark portrays as authentic and inauthentic spirituality, that is "the way of the Lord" as opposed to "the way of humanity." Minor believes that Mark intentionally crafted the gospel to make clear the contrast between these two ways, which with careful reading can still discerned today. In the process, Minor entirely ignores the contemporary search for the historical Jesus. She understands that the Jesus of Mark is very much "Mark's Jesus," a term she uses regularly. The author of the gospel was in her estimation a spiritual individual himself and in a sense used Jesus as a vehicle to communicate the author's own sense of spirituality as shaped by the emerging Christian tradition and its understanding of the person of Christ. Minor is not interested in the Gospel of Mark as historiography but as work of spiritual discernment, a key faith document from the early days of the Christian movement.
As she proceeds through her analysis of each passage, Minor pays attention to important nuances that modern readers of the gospel will miss. In her analysis of Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41, pages 41-47), for example, she notes that the language used by Mark's Jesus is that of an exorcism to remove a force of chaos and evil. It also echoes language from the Hebrew Bible used in reference to God's power over the sea thus associating Jesus with divine power.
Minor's perspective is that of a feminist, progressive Protestant Christian concerned with social justice. In Mark's Jesus, she sees the spiritual and prophetic sources of her concerns. He challenged the corrupt temple system of his day and the self-concerned religious leaders that rode that system to personal wealth, power, and prestige. He also challenged his own disciples who seemed unable to see and hear his call for a radically new, just community that would foreshadow the Kingdom. They, Minor notes, only wanted to replace who benefitted from the current system (p. 103). Thus, for Minor, Mark is relevant for its call for a new age, one that is just and inclusive. The gospel teaches that faith requires sacrifice and it is about service all directed to the end that the Kingdom (she prefers to use the Greek, basileia) comes.
At the same time, The Spirituality of Mark also points clearly to the applicability of Mark's spirituality to the personal life of followers of Jesus. In her summary of authentic spirituality (pp. 98-101), thus, Minor brings together the many qualities that constitute Mark's spirituality, and most of those qualities are personal ones—admittedly lived out in a community of faith, but still personal. Her description of authentic (and inauthentic) spirituality according to Mark is not in and of itself new, but what is helpful is the way in which she extracts that description from the gospel. The Spirituality of Mark takes the reader through a process of discovery, which is well worth the time and effort spent in reading the book.
As a work that straddles the worlds of scholarship and spirituality, there is a bit of an issue concerning the audience The Spirituality of Mark addresses. It may be a little too general for scholars that is not a serious contribution to the scholarly literature on Mark, and it is a tad too academic for lay readers who are not familiar with New Testament scholarship. It is worth noting that the book seems to have received little attention, if any, from reviewers which may be a further indication that it doesn't have a natural audience. It deserves more attention than it seems to have attracted for the very reason that it does bring biblical scholarship to bear on one of the key issues facing local (mainline) congregations, namely the recovering of a vital spirituality.
In sum, The Spirituality of Mark is a relatively brief, well-written book that is useful for those exploring the meaning of Christian spirituality in its biblical context. Minor unlocks the ancient meaning of the Gospel without engaging in esoteric jargon. She treats the text of Mark with respect and clearly admires its author.
