An expert guide from Galillee to Jerusalem This new resource examines the major literary units of Mark's Gospel with an eye toward helping the pastor in sermon preparation. Rather than major themes, Thurston guides the reader through the lectionary readings and how Mark's work offers a wealth of materials for Christian life and reflection.

A common assumption is that the piety of the earliest Christians is determinative for the church of all ages. But what were the basic features of this spirituality? Thurston examines the Jewish and Hellenistic religions that provided the basis for early Christianity and explains what early Christians would have understood as "spirituality".