As we all know, when it comes to Mark's Gospel, scores of great resources exist. Indeed, even I have enough books and journal articles on Mk. to fill numerous bookshelves. I have vocalized my opinion more than once on Pisteuomen regarding these resources. I have said, for example, that finding a commentary on Mk. that makes new contributions to the field and offers fresh insights, etc. is tough. Having read nearly every major English commentary on Mk., I can honestly say that for the most part, it is all regurgitated information--every commentary sounds pretty much the same. Not only is this problematic in the way of commentaries but when one consults homiletical texts concerning Mk., they find the same things (e.g. the authors of the homiletics books were, of course, drawing knowledge from the commentaries). It is more than clear to me that if you want to find anything new in Markan studies, journal articles (and occasionally monographs) are the way to go. Having said that, I want to offer here what I percieve to be the most helpful texts at the forefront of their genres when it comes to Markan studies. This was difficult to boil down and I could list many more but in my view, these are the best places to start! In fact, these are the resources I find myself returning to (in their respective genres) more than most others.
* Commentary: Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus *Note: I must qualify my ranking here by saying that I think Myers often goes too far with his political readings and that he even has the identity of "the strong man" wrong. However, when it comes to commentaries, this one is different than all of the rest and as such, yields the greatest amount of unique insights and fresh contributions to the genre of Markan commentaries!
* Homiletical Resource: Richard Swanson, Provoking the Gospel of Mark: A Storyteller's Commentary (Year B)
* Monograph: David A. Fiensy, Jesus the Galilean: Soundings in a First Century Life
* Book: Whitney Shiner, Proclaiming the Gospel: First-Century Performance of Mark
* Layperson's Guide: N.T. Wright, Mark For Everyone
* Historiography: Sean P. Kealy, Mark's Gospel: A History of its Interpretation
* Collected Essays: Janice Capel Anderson, Stephen D. Moore, Mark & Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies
* Journal Article: Pieter J. Botha, The Historical Setting of Mark's Gospel: Problems and Possibilities
* Textual Resource: Robert A. Guelich / Craig A. Evans, "Mark" Word Biblical Commentary (A & B)
* Video: Max McLean, Mark's Gospel: Told By Max McLean
* Devotional: David L. Miller, Friendship With Jesus: A Way to Pray the Gospel of Mark
* Commentary: Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus *Note: I must qualify my ranking here by saying that I think Myers often goes too far with his political readings and that he even has the identity of "the strong man" wrong. However, when it comes to commentaries, this one is different than all of the rest and as such, yields the greatest amount of unique insights and fresh contributions to the genre of Markan commentaries!
* Homiletical Resource: Richard Swanson, Provoking the Gospel of Mark: A Storyteller's Commentary (Year B)
* Monograph: David A. Fiensy, Jesus the Galilean: Soundings in a First Century Life
* Book: Whitney Shiner, Proclaiming the Gospel: First-Century Performance of Mark
* Layperson's Guide: N.T. Wright, Mark For Everyone
* Historiography: Sean P. Kealy, Mark's Gospel: A History of its Interpretation
* Collected Essays: Janice Capel Anderson, Stephen D. Moore, Mark & Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies
* Journal Article: Pieter J. Botha, The Historical Setting of Mark's Gospel: Problems and Possibilities
* Textual Resource: Robert A. Guelich / Craig A. Evans, "Mark" Word Biblical Commentary (A & B)
* Video: Max McLean, Mark's Gospel: Told By Max McLean
* Devotional: David L. Miller, Friendship With Jesus: A Way to Pray the Gospel of Mark
