Parenting Beyond Boundaries in Mark's Gospel

A paradigm-shifting study of parenting in the New Testament

Challenging popular attempts to mold the Bible into a single fixed model for parenting, New Testament scholars Sung Uk Lim and Amy Lindeman Allen explore the fascinating range of parent-child relationships depicted in the Gospel of Mark. By examining the multifaceted roles of parents in the biblical text while also attending to the agency of children, Lim and Allen illuminate approaches to parenting that have rarely been discussed in biblical studies: collaborative parenting, politicized parenting, borderless parenting, and vulnerable parenting. Their findings reveal biblical parenting to be surprisingly diverse, adaptive, and flexible, with parents in the Markan narrative deftly navigating boundaries of gender, class, ethnicity, and dis/ability. 

While much has already been written about women and children in the New Testament, Lim and Allen’s book fills a significant scholarly gap regarding relationships between mothers and children, fathers and children, and mothers and fathers. The book also stands out for its engagement with childist, feminist, and womanist biblical scholarship, and its in-depth analysis of parenting power dynamics. For biblical scholars, seminarians, and anyone seeking a fresh perspective on family and household dynamics in early Christianity, Parenting Beyond Boundaries in Mark’s Gospel is an innovative study that is sure to generate lively discussion and renewed insights.