Mark: Images of an Apostolic Interpreter explores the figure and function of Mark, the apostolic associate to whom Christians traditionally have attributed authorship of the Second Gospel. C. Clifton Black contends that in their justifiable doubt about Mark's writing of the book, biblical scholars have neglected the development and coherence of that ascription, as well as its religious motivations.

In his 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.