Mary Misunderstood: A Closer Look at the Marys in the Bible


Book Description

There is undoubtedly no other woman's name mentioned more in the Bible than the name of Mary. Whether it is Mary Magdalene, Mary the sister of Martha, the Virgin Mother Mary, or any of several other Marys. Yet, so many Marys in Scripture have left even the most famous of Bible scholars confused. Was Mary Magdalene really a prostitute or the secret wife of Jesus? Was she the same Mary that washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and dried them with her hair? How many Marys stood at the foot of the cross when Jesus died? And what do we really know about the Virgin Mary? Was Jesus her only child? There are so many questions, but no misunderstanding about how each Mary did her part in serving the Lord. Learn from these remarkable women how to put your faith into action as you gain a clearer understanding and vision about your role in God's plan for humanity. We pray that you are inspired as you read along with Pamela Rose through Mary Misunderstood.




Walking with Mary


Book Description

Mary appears only a few times in the Bible, but those few passages come at crucial moments. Catholics believe that Mary is the ever-virgin Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven and Earth. But she also was a human being--a woman who made a journey of faith through various trials and uncertainties and endured her share of suffering. Even with her unique graces and vocation, Mary remains a woman we can relate to and from whom we have much to learn. In Walking with Mary, Edward Sri looks at the crucial passages in the Bible concerning Mary and offers insight about the Blessed Mother's faith and devotion that we can apply in our daily lives. We follow her step-by-step through the New Testament account of her life, reflecting on what the Scriptures tell us about how she responded to the dramatic events unfolding around her. “This book is the fruit of my personal journey of studying Mary through the Scriptures, from her initial calling in Nazareth to her painful experience at the cross,” writes Edward Sri “It is intended to be a highly readable, accessible work that draws on wisdom from the Catholic tradition, recent popes, and biblical scholars of a variety of perspectives and traditions. With the riches of these insights, we will ponder what her journey of faith may have been like in order to draw out spiritual lessons for our own walk with God.” He add, “It is my hope, therefore, that whether you are of a Catholic, Protestant, or other faith background, this book may help you to know, understand, and love Mary more, and that it may inspire you to walk in her footsteps as a faithful disciple of the Lord in your own pilgrimage of faith.”




Mary's Voice in the Gospel According to John


Book Description

A New Light on John’s Gospel The Gospel according to John has always been recognized as different from the “synoptic” accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But what explains the difference? In this new translation and verse-byverse commentary, Michael Pakaluk suggests an answer and unlocks a twothousand-year-old mystery. Mary’s Voice in the Gospel according to John reveals the subtle but powerful influence of the Mother of Jesus on the fourth Gospel. In his dying words, Jesus committed his Mother to the care of John, the beloved disciple, who “from that hour . . . took her into his own home.” Pakaluk draws out the implications of that detail, which have been overlooked for centuries. In Mary’s remaining years on earth, what would she and John have talked about? Surely no subject was as close to their hearts as the words and deeds of Jesus. Mary’s unique perspective and intimate knowledge of her Son must have shaped the account of Jesus’ life that John would eventually compose. With the same scholarship, imagination, and fidelity that he applied to Mark’s Gospel in The Memoirs of St. Peter, Pakaluk brings out the voice of Mary in John’s, from the famous prologue about the Incarnation of the Word to the Evangelist’s closing avowal of the reliability of his account. This remarkably fresh translation and commentary will deepen your understanding of the most sublime book of the New Testament.




Cold-Case Christianity


Book Description

Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.




The Quest For Mary Magdalene


Book Description

Mary Magdalene is a larger figure than any text, larger than the Bible or the Church; she has taken on a life of her own. She has been portrayed as a penitent whore, a wealthy woman, Christ's wife, an adulteress, a symbol of the frailty of women and an object of veneration. And, to this day, she remains a potent and mysterious figure. In the manner of a quest, this book follows Mary Magdalene through the centuries, explores how she has been reinterpreted for every age, and examines what she herself reveals about woman and man and the divine. It seeks the real Mary Magdalene in the New Testament and in the Gnostic gospels where she is extolled as the chief disciple of Christ. It investigates how and why the Church recast her as a fallen woman, it traces her story through the Renaissance when she became a goddess of beauty and love, and it looks at Mary Magdalene as the feminist icon she has become today.




Mary


Book Description

Chosen to be the mother of Jesus, Mary played a singular role in God's plan of redemption. And her life, relationships, and faith continue to hold significance for believers today. By responding faithfully to God's call, Mary began an extraordinary journey of transformation from Jesus' loving mother to one of His devoted followers. In this 8-week study, authors Miles Custis, Michael R. Grigoni, Douglas Mangum, Matthew M. Whitehead, Rebecca Brant, John D. Barry, and Elizabeth Vince help you discover new meaning in the life of Mary. Each chapter of Mary: Devoted to God's Plan is structured to maximize your study by exploring the themes, context, and background of events Mary's life, as well as offering biblical parallels, extra-biblical references, and insights into how Mary's experiences are relevant to your journey of faith. Walk through life with Mary, learning along the way how her story is like your story. Contents Each chapter of Mary: Devoted to God's Plan is structured to maximize your study: Theme: Introduces the meaning and relevance of an event in Mary's life Literary Context: Illustrates the conditions surrounding that event Historical and Cultural Background: Presents relevant data about the ancient world A Closer Look: Gives a walk-through of the event while exploring issues of interpretation, original language, and theology Throughout the Bible: Examines discussion of the event elsewhere in the Bible Beyond the Bible: Treats references to the event in ancient documents and extracanonical texts and references and by theologians, the church fathers, and contemporary thinkers Application: Concludes the chapter by exploring the event's relevance to your journey of faith You'll also find Quick Tips offering insight into difficult passages, historical information, original language wording, and ancient thought. Praise for Mary: Devoted to God's Plan "Mary's story is familiar to most Christians and can inadvertently be limited to a manger scene at Christmas. Yet there is so much more to ponder and learn from her life, as you will see in this study."-Arlene Pellicane, speaker, author, and blogger "The study of Mary: Devoted to God's Plan is not for the faint of heart. Take this study seriously-embrace the young teenager Mary as your role model-and you will have embarked on a journey that requires courage and self-sacrifice and may mean standing alone."- Carolyn Custis James, author of "Half the Church"




The Real Mary


Book Description

'The Real Mary' explores the Mary of the Bible and compares her with the Mary of the Roman Catholic Church in language anyone can read and understand. 'The Real Mary' brings to light the many Marian doctrines of Catholicism and compares them to the infallible Word of God in the Bible. Such topics as Marian apparitions, Mary as Mother of God and queen of Heaven, Mary as ever-virgin, and the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and Assumption are discussed and compared to the Biblical Mary of Nazareth, mother of Jesus.




Things to Think On: Every Day Bible Devotions and Meditations Volume 1


Book Description

Every day you wake up and choose what you are going to "think on". As you spend time in God's Word daily you have the greatest chance of choosing the right things to "think on". This little book, a collaboration of husband and wife team Dr. Michael L. Williams and Pamela Rose Williams, contains just thirty-one Bible devotions and meditations that are built around key Bible passages. As you sift through these thoughtful words you will find that it is good to have "Things to Think On" as part of your Every Day time with the Lord.




The Two Marys


Book Description

The #1 New York Times bestselling author addresses the controversial questions about the life of Jesus Christ and the women in his life. An extraordinary message from ?possibly the most famous psychic in the world,?(Mystic Living Today)Sylvia Browne: ?In writing this book, I was amazed to find out that I actually had visions of what was happening...a manifestation of the infusion that I was getting from God. God does work in mysterious ways.? Many controversies have gone unanswered in Christianity for centuries. Now, told from the unique perspective only Sylvia Browne could bring, The Two Marys focuses on the greatest of those extraordinary unknowns: the two most important women in Jesus?s life?his mother and his wife?whose profound influence on him has been marginalized by Christian churches and reinvented out of contradictions, misrepresentations, and fabrications. Finally, Sylvia Browne uncovers the hidden history of these two remarkable women in a story that will challenge the very basis of traditional Christian faith.




Rediscovering the Marys


Book Description

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.