Save the Date!
Sunday, August 11th at 3:30 p.m.
An Exciting Event at St. Mary’s
“Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of John: A Case of Textual Suppression?”
The women of St. Mary’s are excited to announce a can’t-miss opportunity to hear from Dr. Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, a theological scholar who happens to have been baptized right here at St. Mary’s. On Sunday, August 11, 2024, St. Mary’s will host Dr. Schrader Polczer in the sanctuary at 3:30 PM. Cost will be $20 or a sliding scale fee. She will talk on her research into Mary Magdalene and her findings after researching early Christian copies of the Gospel, especially John chapter 11.
Dr. Schader Polczer is a graduate of Duke University, and her groundbreaking research has uncovered new evidence about Mary Magdalene. Her peer-reviewed articles have been included in the Harvard Theological Review (2017) and other prestigious publications.
Who was Mary Magdalene? In this lecture, Dr. Schrader Polczer introduces audiences to Mary Magdalene and surveys how this important character is presented in the New Testament and ancient apocryphal literature. Dr. Schrader Polczer also presents research from her 2021 Journal of Biblical Literature article (co-authored with Prof. Joan Taylor), which demonstrates that there has never been consensus on the meaning of Mary’s name. The word “Magdalene” may have been a title given to her by Jesus, challenging modern assumptions that Mary hailed from a place called Magdala; rather, the word may indicate her status as one of Jesus’s closest disciples, the “Tower-ess” or “the magnified one.”
Elizabeth has presented her peer-reviewed research at a wide variety of academic institutions including Duke University, Princeton University, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Pepperdine University, Elon University, Wheaton College, Perkins School of Theology, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Regensburg (Germany), the University of Leipzig (Germany), and dozens of churches across the US and Canada.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear about Dr. Schrader Polczer’s work from one of St. Mary’s own.
All Are Welcome! Bring your friends from other churches and from the community. Watch for news this summer about how to register online.
