The African Memory of Mark: Reassessing Early Church Tradition

The history and legacy of Mark is revisited in African tradition and contested in Western historiography in this thorough account of the saint's life and influence. Largely regarded as a shadow figure in biblical texts, the author of the gospel has a rich and varied story in "African memory." Pulling from Latin, Arabic, and both ancient and modern Coptic sources, Oden challenges the Western notion that Paul was the only father of modern Christianity and posits that Mark's influence in African Christianity has been largely ignored by the Western canon at the expense of the whole Christian church. Oden (After Modernity... What?) writes a well-crafted, convincing analysis of Mark's life, work, and contribution. While the tone of this book may be more oriented toward clergy and lay people than scholars, his project to recover Mark's prominence for Western believers is fascinating. A fresh and unusual perspective on early Church history, this text will surely interest both believers and church historians alike. (Aug.)