""In a splendid presentation, Eric R. Stewart guides the reader through the intricacies of critical social theory of spatiality and argues that Mark eschews the space of the synagogue, house, and city in which to locate the movement of Jesus, and instead founds Jesus's movement in the borderland territories of the wilderness/desert, the sea, and the mountain. There Jesus creates the new space of the kingdom of God in gathering people around himself. This is an important book."" --Dietmar Neufeld Associate Professor of Christian Origins Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies University of British Columbia ""For the first time in the long scholarly discussion of Mark's problematic geography, Stewart uses both modern spatial theory and an exhaustive review of ancient evidence to demonstrate how Mark's spatial perceptions reflect Greek, Roman, and Jewish understandings of human geography. Moving well beyond the anachronistic studies that have dominated the discussion to date, he has provided a significant advance in the study of the Gospel of Mark."" --Richard Rohrbaugh Professor Emeritus of New Testament Lewis and Clark College ""With its combination of modern spatial theory and sources from Antiquity, the book is an invaluable introduction to how spatial thinking has informed and shaped our experiences and understanding of ourselves and the world around us from antiquity to the present."" - Halvor Moxnes, from Biblical Theology Bulletin, Volume 40