The Mary Magdalene Tradition: Witness and Counter-Witness in Early Christian Communities

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The Mary Magdalene Tradition: Witness and Counter-Witness in Early Christian Communities - Holly E. Hearon
By examining the rhetorical function of the post-resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene traditions in early Christian communities, Hearon draws connections between these ancient communities and the life of the Church today. Beginning with a reconstruction of the practice of storytelling in the world of antiquity, Hearon situates the Magdalene narratives in this oral, storytelling environment. Focusing on the fluid nature of storytelling, Hearon explores how the traditions were used to further arguments by storytellers with respect to women's leadership in Christian communities. Particular attention is given to the Gospels of Matthew and John, highlighting the relationship of the Gospel narratives to specific historical circumstances facing the early Church.

Chapters are "Storytelling in the World of Antiquity," Origins of the Post-Resurrection Appearance to Mary Magdalene Tradition, The Function of the Mary Magdalene Tradition in Oral Storytelling Circles, Storytelling Strategies in Matthew: The Function of the Mary Magdalene Tradition In Its Literary Context, The Mary Magdalene Tradition and Matthean Communities: The Function of the Tradition in Response to Historical Circumstances, Storytelling Strategies in John: The Function of the Mary Magdalene Tradition In Its Literary Context, The Mary Magdalene Tradition and Johannine Communities: The Function of the Tradition in Response to Historical Circumstances, Epilogue: A Consideration of Storytelling in Relation To Our Understanding of Communities in the Past and the Shaping of Communities for the Future.

Holly E. Hearon, Ph.D., is assistant professor of New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Reviews
"The Mary Magadalene Tradition is a well crafted work which offers its readers a careful analysis not only of the tradition within the first century of the Common Era but also of its rhetorical function in a number of early Christian communities including two gospel communities. This careful analysis is accompanied by very diligent attention to and explication of the methodologies used for each developing stage of the study. I would, therefore, highly recommend this text not only to established scholars but to students who are learning their way in the craft. In it they will find a fine example of good biblical scholarship."
-Pacifica

"I recommend this book as an important resource for the biblical storyteller. Reading it will deepen your understanding of the rhetorical context of a particular story, and will give you useful tools for interpreting and telling."
-The Biblical Storyteller

". . .views the Magdalene stories as an intersection of gender, power, and conflict and suggests how they might continue to offer meaning today."
-Theology Digest

"Opens up a new way for Christians to recover oral tradition and then use it to support increased authority for women and attention to the Spirits leading where communities are devoted to their written traditions and dominated by male teachers and pastors. The academic conversations and ecclesiastical debates will continue, and interested parties should acknowledge His voice."
-The Catholic Biblical Quarterly

"Hearon's exegeses support the point that women, and Mary Magdalene especially, played a significant part in the formation of Christianity and its survival in its early days."
-The Midwest Book Review

"Holly E. Hearon has written an interesting book on the Mary Magdalene Tradition which will be appreciated by those scholars who are seeking to focus on women's experiences in Biblical traditions. . . . This study beckons those who read the Biblical accounts and try to attain meaning from sacred scripture, and to identify with persons who have been ignored or marginalized in any era."
-Catholic Studies

"With methodological precision and literary sensitivity, Hearon uncovers tracings of oral composition behind Matthew 28, John 20 and the Longer Ending of Mark; her study reveals plausible performance contexts, redactional adaptations, and the means by which stories of Mary Magdalene at the tomb addressed questions of gender roles and community authority."
-Amy-Jill Levine, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies, Vanderbilt Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion

"Using folkloric and literary critical theories, Holly Hearon very skilfully reconstructs storytelling in the world of antiquity in order to determine women's engagement in this very significant activity in the shaping of culture. This provides her with a particular lens to examine anew the Mary Magdalene tradition in the oral and early written stages of its development. The Mary Magdalene Tradition will, therefore, not only make a unique contribution to the current exploration of that tradition among leading scholars of early Christianity, but it will provide new insights for the study of gospel traditions generally. An important contribution to the study of early Christianity and a challenge to contemporary Christian communities to reflect on the rhetorical effect of their current storytelling."
-Elaine Wainwright, Brisbane College of Theology, Australia

"This book is a major study of the resurrection appearances to Mary Magdalene in the gospels. It includes a detailed consideration of the passages, their roles in the oral storytelling context and in the narratives of Matthew and John, and an analysis of the tensions they reveal about leadership and gender in Matthean and Johannine communities and in the wider oral Christian context. In the process, Holly Hearon provides the most comprehensive study of oral storytelling in antiquity to date, making the book is an invaluable resource for all scholars of early Christianity. The book makes important new contributions in the areas of storytelling in antiquity and the role of women in Christian origins as well as in the understanding of the Mary Magdalene passages and their significance for early Christianity."
-Joanna Dewey, Ph.D., Academic Dean and Harvey H. Guthrie, Jr. Professor of Biblical Studies, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

"I have learned a tremendous amount from this excellent, well-crafted, imaginative book. Hearon's work, informed by in-depth study of oral transmission and gender analysis, introduces us to different ways and possible reasons the Magdalene stories may have been remembered and performed in the pre-Gospel period and beyond. She analyzes the dynamics that brought stories to life, and the storytellers various strategies. Identifying traces of those tellings in Matthew, John (as well as in the Markan Appendix), she helps us see more clearly how the stories were reinterpreted by and for their communities. She has convinced me that the oral existence of Magdalene stories is as essential as the written texts, and is crucial to discussion of how these stories might function today, as they are shaped and reshaped in our debates about women's authority."
-Jane D. Schaberg, Professor of Religious Studies and Women's Studies, University of Detroit Mercy

". . . substantial resource for the study of women in the Church."
-Magistra

Specifications
Paperback
Pages: 248
Size: 6" x 9"

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Model: 5120

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