The exposition of the faith of Mary, the mother of Jesus; Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus of Bethany; and Mary Magdalene and their lives after the crucifixion.
From the Prefatory: BY "the three Marys" it is not meant that there are not other Marys in the New Testament, only that the three selected — Mary the mother of our Lord, Mary of Bethany, and Mary Magdalene — occupy a specially prominent place.
Three impossible births. Three incredible miracles. One deadly secret. Once again, Harvard Professor of religion and archaeology Cal Donovan has been summoned by Pope Celestine to investigate a seemingly impossible miracle. Three Catholic teenage girls, from different corners of the world, have fallen pregnant. All three girls are named Mary, and all three girls have been proven to be virgins. Are they really all bearing the son of God? Before Cal has a chance to visit all three girls, one of the Marys disappears ... and then another. As he struggles to uncover the truth, Cal realises that much more than his own and others’ lives are at stake: could this apparent miracle really cause the collapse of the Catholic faith? Will appeal to fans of DAN BROWN, STEVE BERRY and LINCOLN CHILD.
Draws on St. Paul's letters and other early sources to reveal the apostles' sharply competing ideas about the significance of Jesus and his teachings while demonstrating how St. Paul independently shaped Christianity as it is known today.
Extraordinary independent scholar of comparative religion and mythology Walker examines a time when the Goddess and her consort/son ruled supreme and forward into the era when the patriarchy usurped Her worship.
This interdisciplinary volume of text and art offers new insights into various unsolved mysteries associated with Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, Mary the Mother of Jesus, and Miriam the sister of Moses. Mariamic traditions are often interconnected, as seen in the portrayal of these women as community leaders, prophets, apostles and priests. These traditions also are often inter-religious, echoing themes back to Miriam in the Hebrew Bible as well as forward to Maryam in the Qur'an. The chapters explore questions such as: which biblical Mary did the author of the Gospel of Mary intend to portray-Magdalene, Mother, or neither? Why did some writers depict Mary of Nazareth as a priest? Were extracanonical scriptures featuring Mary more influential than the canonical gospels on the depiction of Maryam in the Qur'an? Contributors dig deep into literature, iconography, and archaeology to offer cutting edge research under three overarching topics. The first section examines the question of "which Mary?" and illustrates how some ancient authors (and contemporary scholars) may have conflated the biblical Marys. The second section focuses on Mary of Nazareth, and includes research related to the portrayal of Mary the Mother of Jesus as a Eucharistic priest. The final section, “Recovering Receptions of Mary in Art, Archeology, and Literature,” explores how artists and authors have engaged with one or more of the Marys, from the early Christian era through to medieval and modern times.