Office Hours: An Online Popup Bible Study Hosted by Chris Holmes and Brennan Breed

Mary in the New Testament and Beyond

Syllabus for Advent 2020 Sundays, November 29–December 27 9:30–10:30 a.m. (EST)

1. Course Description This course is intended to support the online educational needs of congregations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This course provides a thematic study of Mary, the mother of Jesus, from biblical, historical, theological, and interfaith perspectives.

2. Course Objectives At the completion of the study, engaged participants will understand the various portraits of Mary in the New Testament and later early Christian writings. In addition, participants will understand the place of Mary in Islamic thought and the Qur’an as well as in Orthodox theology.

3. Learning Resources Suggested: ​ ● An academic study Bible such as The HarperCollins Study Bible (rev. ed.; eds. H. W. ​ ​ Attridge et al.; San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006) or The New Oxford th ​ Annotated Study Bible, 5 ​ edition (eds. M. Coogan et. al.; New York: Oxford University ​ ​ Press, 2018) or The CEB Study Bible with Apocrypha (ed. J. Green et. al.; Common ​ ​ English Bible Committee, 2013), or The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (ed.W. Harrelson ​ ​ et. al.; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003). While many kinds of devotional study Bibles are wonderful tools for your spiritual growth, for the purposes of this class an academic study Bible will enrich your learning by intersecting with the course material. ○ A copy of the Gospel of Mark from the New Oxford Annotated Bible will be ​ ​ provided to those who register for the class. Web-based Resources: ● Several readings for the course will be available on the Bible Odyssey website and other ​ ​ ​ freely available sites. Others can be found on the CTS Sharepoint webpage. Individual ​ ​ links to articles are listed below.

Class Schedule

1. November 29: Mary in the New Testament ​ Guest Host: Dr. Susan Hylen, Associate Professor of New Testament, Candler School of Theology a. Suggested Primary Readings: i. Matthew 1 ii. Luke 1–2 iii. John 2:1–11, 19:25–27 iv. Acts 1:14 v. Revelation 12 b. Suggested Secondary Reading i. Valerie Abrahamsen, “Mary, Mother of Jesus,” Oxford Companion to the ​ Bible. ​ ii. Mary Margaret Pazdan, “Mary, Mother of Jesus,” in The Anchor Bible ​ Dictionary (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992). ​ c. Going Deeper: i. Jaroslav Pelikan, “Miriam of Nazareth in the New Testament,” in Mary through the Centuries: her Place in the History of Culture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996), 7–21. ii. Mary Joan Winn Leith, “Mary, Mother of Jesus,” in Oxford Encyclopedia ​ of the Bible. ​ d. Audio and Visual Resources: i. Mark Miraville, “Mary in the New Testament: Infancy Narrative of St. ​ Mathew” ​ ii. Mark Miraville, “Mary in the New Testament: Infancy Narrative of St. ​ Luke” ​ iii. Mark Miraville, “Mary in the New Testament: The Gospel of John and ​ other New Testament Passages” ​

2. December 6: Mary in Early Christian Literature ​ Guest Host: Dr. Brittany Wilson, Associate Professor of New Testament, Duke Divinity School a. Suggested Primary Reading: i. Protoevangelium of James, especially chapters 1–8 (online version) ​ ​ ​ b. Suggested Secondary Reading: i. Brittany Wilson, “Mary and Her Interpreters,” in The Women’s Bible ​ Commentary, ed. Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, and Jaqueline E. ​ Lapsley, 3rd ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2012), 512–16. ii. Beverly Roberts Gaventa, “A Life of Sacred Purity: Mary in the Protevangelium of James,” in Mary: Glimpses of the Mother of Jesus ​ (Minneapolis: Fortress, 199), 101–25. c. Going Deeper: i. J. K. Elliot, “The Protoevangelium of James,” in The New Testament ​ Apocrypha. ​ ii. Andrew Louth, “Mary in Patristics,” in The Oxford Handbook of Mary, ​ ​ ed. Chris Maunder (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018). iii. Richard Price, “The Virgin as Theotokos at Ephesus (ad 431) and Earlier,” ​ ​ in The Oxford Handbook of Mary, ed. Chris Maunder (New York: Oxford ​ ​ University Press, 2018). d. Audio and Visual Resources: i. Jimmy Akin, “How Did the Church Fathers Explain the Perpetual ​ Virginity of Mary?” ​ ii. W. Robert Godfrey, “Devotion to Mary in the Early Church” ​ ​

3. December 13: Mary in the Qur’an and Islam ​ Guest Host: Dr. Zeyneb Sayilgan, Muslim Scholar, Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies a. Suggested Primary Reading: i. Qur’an, Surah 19 ​ ii. Qur’an, Surah 3 ​ b. Suggested Secondary Reading: i. Michael Pregill, “Mary in the Qur’an,” Bible Odyssey ​ ii. Zeki Saritoprak, “Mary in Islam,” in The Oxford Handbook of Mary, ed. ​ ​ Chris Maunder (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018). c. Going Deeper: i. John Kaltner, “The Muslim Mary,” in New Perspectives on the Nativity, ​ ed. Jeremy Corley (London: Bloomsbury, 2009), 165–79. d. Audio and Visual Resources: i. Gabriel Said Reynolds, “Mary in Islam” ​ ​ ii. Ahlulbayt: Documentaries, “Mary in Islam” ​ ​ iii. Br. Yaser Aslam and Dr. Sabeel Ahmed, “Mother Mary in Islam: Most ​ Honored Woman in the Quran” ​

4. December 20: Mary in Orthodox Christianity and Christian Art ​ Guest Host: Dr. Jennifer Awes Freeman, Assistant Professor and Program Director of Arts and Theology, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities a. Suggested Secondary Reading: i. Andrew Louth, “Mary in Modern Orthodox Theology,” in The Oxford ​ Handbook of Mary, ed. Chris Maunder (New York: Oxford University ​ Press, 2018). ii. Tina Beattie, “Mariology,” in The Cambridge Dictionary of Christian ​ Theology, ed. Ian A. McFarland et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University ​ Press, 2011), 297–99. b. Going Deeper: i. Christine Chaillot, “The Virgin Mary Theotokos in Orthodox Piety,” in The ​ ​ ​ Oxford Handbook of Mary, ed. Chris Maunder (New York: Oxford ​ University Press, 2018). ii. Dmitry Grigorieff, “The Theotokos in the Orthodox Tradition and Russian Thought,” in Mary and Ecumenism, ed. Edward Yarnold (London: The ​ ​ Way, 1982), 22–29. c. Audio and Visual Resources: i. Frederica Mathewes-Green, “The Role of Mary in the Orthodox Church” ​ ​ ii. Fr. Peter Farrinngton, “Discovering Orthodoxy: The Virgin Mary” ​ ​ iii. Frederica Mathewes-Green, “Why Do Orthodox Christians Call Mary the ​ Theotokos?” ​

Additional Resources (not provided online): Collin Kelley and Karen Head, eds., Mother Mary Comes to Me: A Popculture Poetry ​ Anthology. More info here. ​ ​ ​

Jaroslav Pelikan, Mary through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture (New Haven: ​ ​ Yale University Press, 1996).

Beverly Roberts Gaventa and Cynthia L. Rigby, eds., Blessed One: Protestant Perspectives on ​ Mary (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2002). ​