| Acknowledgments | p. xi |
| Introduction: Discipleship and Suffering | p. 1 |
| The View through a Womanist Cultural Lens | p. 11 |
| Womanist Theology | p. 12 |
| Rethinking Traditional African American Piety | p. 18 |
| Jesus Christ | p. 18 |
| The Cross | p. 23 |
| Suffering | p. 27 |
| Discipleship | p. 31 |
| Conclusion | p. 33 |
| Perspectives on Discipleship and Suffering in Mark | p. 39 |
| Suffering as Requirement for and Consequence of Discipleship | p. 40 |
| Suffering as Necessary for Discipleship | p. 43 |
| Dei in Mark 8:31 as Divine Necessity | p. 45 |
| Joanna Dewey | p. 45 |
| Ernest Best | p. 46 |
| Augustine Stock | p. 48 |
| Morna Hooker | p. 49 |
| Jack Kingsbury | p. 51 |
| A Womanist Perspective on Dei as Divine Necessity | p. 52 |
| The Interpretive Priority of Mark 8:31-10:52 | p. 53 |
| Robert Tannehill | p. 53 |
| Werner Kelber | p. 55 |
| A Womanist Perspective on the Interpretive Priority of Mark 8:31-10:52 | p. 56 |
| Old Testament Allusions as Explanations of Suffering | p. 56 |
| Sean Freyne | p. 56 |
| Norman Perrin | p. 58 |
| Joel Marcus | p. 60 |
| A Womanist Perspective on Old Testament Allusions as Explanations of Suffering | p. 61 |
| Suffering as a Consequence of Discipleship | p. 62 |
| Ched Myers | p. 62 |
| Mary Ann Tolbert | p. 63 |
| Donald H. Juel | p. 65 |
| Brian K. Blount | p. 66 |
| A Womanist Perspective on Suffering as a Consequence of Discipleship | p. 67 |
| Conclusion | p. 68 |
| A Model for Womanist Reading | p. 71 |
| A Sociolinguistic Model | p. 72 |
| Using a Sociolinguistic Model for Womanist Biblical Interpretation | p. 76 |
| The Macrointerpersonal Component | p. 78 |
| The Microinterpersonal Component | p. 81 |
| Conclusion | p. 83 |
| Establishing Mark's Social Context | p. 85 |
| The Provenance of Mark | p. 87 |
| Latinisms | p. 87 |
| Use of Hebrew and Aramaic | p. 87 |
| Explanation of Jewish Traditions | p. 88 |
| Familiarity with the Old Testament | p. 89 |
| Ministry to the Gentiles | p. 89 |
| Mark's Social Location | p. 91 |
| Honor and Shame: A Symbolic Order | p. 95 |
| A Cultural Context for Reading Mark's Gospel | p. 100 |
| Conclusion | p. 107 |
| Discipleship and the Cross in Mark | p. 109 |
| The Field of Discourse | p. 111 |
| Mark 8:31-33 | p. 111 |
| Mark 8:34-37 | p. 127 |
| Discipleship | p. 130 |
| Relationship between Discipleship and Ministry | p. 131 |
| Is There Agony in This Ministry? | p. 132 |
| Self-Denial in Mark | p. 133 |
| Taking Up the Cross in Mark | p. 137 |
| The Relationship between Denying Oneself and Taking Up the Cross | p. 138 |
| Mark 8:38 | p. 139 |
| Conclusion | p. 143 |
| The Tenor of Discourse | p. 144 |
| Conclusion | p. 158 |
| The Mode of Discourse | p. 159 |
| Cross as Consequence | p. 162 |
| Discerning the Call | p. 165 |
| Abbreviations | p. 169 |
| Notes | p. 171 |
| Bibliography | p. 197 |
| Index | p. 209 |
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