Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-191)

Machine generated contents note: The Historical Context of the Gospel of Mark -- What Type of Story Did Mark Compose? -- The Coherence of Mark's Narrative -- The Story World -- Guidelines for Reading Mark as a Story -- A Narrative Method for Interpreting Mark -- ch. 1 The Gospel of Mark -- Introduction to the Translation -- The Gospel of Mark -- ch. 2 The Narrator -- The Role of the Narrator -- The narrator speaks from outside the story world -- The narrator is not bound by time or space -- Mark's narrator is omniscient -- The narrator guides by means of "asides" -- The narrator gives the audience privileged knowledge -- The Narrator's Point of View -- The narrator is not neutral -- The narrator's standards of judgment -- The Narrator's Style and Tempo -- The Narrator's Patterns of Repetition in Storytelling -- Verbal threads -- Foreshadowing and retrospection -- Two-step progressions -- Type-scenes -- Sandwich episodes -- Framing episodes -- Episodes in a concentric pattern --

Contents note continued: Progressive episodes in series of three -- Other Literary Features -- Questions -- Riddles -- Quotations from the writings -- Prophecies -- Irony -- Conclusion -- ch. 3 The Settings -- The Cosmic Setting -- The Political-Cultural Setting -- The Journey -- Patterns of movement on the journey -- Settings recalling Israel's past -- Public and private settings -- The journey as the way of God -- Conclusion -- ch. 4 The Plot -- Approaches to the Plot -- The unity of Mark's plot -- Beginning, middle, and end -- Connections in Mark's plot -- The fulfillment or nonfulfillment of expectations -- The outcome of Mark's plot -- The plot involves conflict -- The Rule of God Initiates the Conflicts -- Stage 1 The inauguration of the rule of God -- Stage 2 The culmination of the rule of God -- Jesus in Conflict with Cosmic Forces -- Jesus in Conflict with the Authorities -- The development of the conflict in the plot --

Contents note continued: The authorities' side of the conflict: Defending God's law -- Jesus' side of the conflict: Message and evasion -- The resolution of the conflict -- Jesus in Conflict with the Disciples -- The development of the conflict in the plot -- The disciples' side of the conflict: Overwhelmed by the rule of God -- Jesus' side of the conflict: Making faithful disciples -- The resolution of the conflict -- Conclusion -- ch. 5 The Characters I: Jesus -- Approaches to Characterization -- Characters as types -- Standards of judgment -- Comparison and contrast -- Traits of the characters -- Identification with characters -- Summary -- Jesus -- Characterization -- Agent of the rule of God -- The authority of Jesus -- Faith -- Serving and not lording over others -- Renouncing self, being least, and losing life for others -- Jesus faces death -- The execution -- The meaning of Jesus' crucifixion -- The empty grave --

Contents note continued: ch. 6 The Characters II: The Authorities, the Disciples, and the Minor Characters -- The Authorities -- Characterization -- No authority from God -- No love for God or neighbor -- Blind and deaf -- Willful blindness -- The authorities save themselves -- Fear is at the root of their actions -- The authorities lord over people -- The audience and the authorities -- The Disciples -- Characterization -- Faith, loyalty, and authority -- Lack of understanding, fear, and lack of faith -- Seeking glory and resisting death on the journey -- Fear and flight in Jerusalem -- The failure of the disciples -- After the resurrection -- The audience and the disciples -- The Minor Characters -- Characterization -- Faith -- Losing life, being least, and serving -- Women -- Comparison and contrast with other characters -- Ongoing discipleship -- The crowds -- The audience and the minor characters -- Conclusion -- Conclusion: The Audience -- The Rhetoric --

Contents note continued: The Ideal Audience -- Stage 1 Experiencing the rule of God -- Stage 2 Overcoming resistance to the rule of God -- Stage 3 Facing persecution and execution in Jerusalem -- The ending -- Hypothetical First-Century Audiences -- Case Study: A Performance Scenario -- The reign of God and the empire of Rome -- The culture of the rule of God -- In the aftermath of the Roman-Judean War -- Opposing the Judean revolutionaries -- Call to commitment -- A new world -- Contemporary Readers.