The work of Fernando Belo, Lecture materialiste de L'evangile de Marc (Editions du Cerf, 1974; English translation A Materialist Reading of the Gospel of Mark. Orbis, 1981) was hailed as a major event in the world of Scripture scholarship. In some places it was presented as The book of the year perhaps even of decade because of the renewal it brings to the reading of the Bible. Elsewhere it was said that after Belo no one can read the Bible the same way as in the past. Scores of study and reflection groups were formed around this book in France as well as in Italy and Spain.