In this study of early Christian traditions, C. Clifton Black explores the figure and function of Mark, the apostolic associate to whom Christians traditionally have attributed authorship of the New Testament's anonymous Second Gospel and whose very existence has been a controversial issue among scholars. Black contends that in their justifiable doubt about Mark's writing of the Second Gospel, biblical scholars have neglected the development of that ascription as well as its religious motivations.

Using a variety of critical lenseshistorical, literary, and theologicalBlack examines the images of Mark that emerge from the New Testament and from the writings of the early church fathers. Black's comprehensive investigation culminates in a fresh appraisal of the relationship between the Gospel of Mark and the legends surrounding its composition. Black concludes that the figure of Mark was carefully crafted as a part of the interpretive framework within which early Christians read the Second Gospel and heard its witness as faithful to their understanding of Jesus. Like the Markan Gospel itself, the image of Mark the Evangelist helped the early church in the formation of its religious memory and theological identity.