This account of the Last Supper traces the emotions and personalities of this event through the perspective eyes and hearts of both Martha and Mary. Told from the perspective of these two contrasting personalities, we gain a radical insight into the life of Jesus and His followers. This book challenges and invites us to renew our own faith as each stage of the Last Supper is related.

In the popular imagination Martha has become synonymous with the harried housewife, fretting over excessive preparations. The Martha known to early Christians is far removed from this stereotype. Martha was better known for her role in the story of the raising of Lazarus and as apostle and witness of the resurrection. This book gathers and assesses the early traditions about Martha in text, liturgy and iconography. It shows that the significance of Martha has been seriously underestimated and recovers an important and widespread tradition of Martha as apostle and authority figure for early Christians. The analysis of Martha traditions with attention to issues of gender and authority render this book an important contribution to studies on women in early Christianity.

'Mary and Martha: Women in the World of Jesus' focuses on women as portrayed in the Johannine Gospel--the nature of their lives and their relationship to Jesus.

Since its founding in 1943, Medievalia et Humanistica has won worldwide recognition as the first scholarly publication in America to devote itself entirely to medieval and Renaissance studies. Since 1970, a new series, sponsored by the Modern Language Association of America and edited by an international board of distinguished scholars and critics, has published interdisciplinary articles. In yearly hardcover volumes, the new series publishes significant scholarship, criticism, and reviews treating all facets of medieval and Renaissance culture: history, art, literature, music, science, law, economics, and philosophy. Volume 39 showcases the interdisciplinary nature of the series with five articles on topics ranging from Christian-Jewish controversies, the Muses, and medieval comedy. It features a final essay from Medievalia et Humanistica's longtime editor Paul Maurice Clogan. Volume 39 also includes seven review notices.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MONTY PYTHON Who was the real Brian? Who was the real Jesus? Did the Romans build the Jerusalem Aqueduct? Were the Magi really wise? And were the Peoples Front of Judea, splitters? All the crucial issues this book dares to confront. 'Life of Brian' editor Julian Doyle, not only reveals some telling information about the filming process but also compares each and every hysterical scene of the film with the actual Biblical events and comes to some extraordinary conclusions, including the well held belief that 'Life of Brian' is the most accurate Biblical film ever made. A must not only for Python fans but film students wishing to understand the process of comedy editing.

Lazarus, Martha, and Mary: reframing the discussion -- Social identity and prototypes: a social-scientific model for historical and theological application -- Johannine processing of the past in relation to Lazarus, Martha, and Mary -- Lazarus, Martha, and Mary as prototypes -- The raising of Lazarus from the dead as prototypical -- The resurrection of Lazarus in early Christian art -- A theological conclusion: the raising of Lazarus and Christian identity.

Reading for the food -- Rome -- Fooding the Bible -- The debate over dinner -- Mimesis, metaphor, embodiment.

This study of Italian women and Catholicism from the fourth through the twentieth century reflects this conflict and the tension between the masculine character of divinity in the Catholic church and the potential for equality in the gospels and early writings ("neither male nor female, but one in Jesus")."--BOOK JACKET.

For more than two centuries, "Butler's" has been one of the best known, most widely consulted hagiographies. In its brief and authoritative entries, readers can find a wealth of knowledge on the lives and deeds of the saints, as well as their ecclesiastical and historical importance since canonization.

In this book, Wendy E. S. North investigates whether or not the author of John could have crafted his Gospel with knowledge of the Synoptics. Unlike previous approaches, which have usually treated the Gospel according to John purely as a piece of literature, this book undertakes a fresh approach by examining how John’s author reworks material that can be identified within his own text and also in the Jewish Scriptures. An assessment of these techniques allows North then to compare the Gospel of John with its Synoptic equivalents, and to conclude at last that John indeed worked with the knowledge of the Synoptic texts at certain points.