Overview

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND license. This book reveals exciting early Christian evidence that Mary was remembered as a powerful role model for women leaders—women apostles, baptizers, and presiders at the ritual meal.  Early Christian art portrays Mary and other women clergy serving as deacon, presbyter/priest, and bishop. In addition, the two oldest surviving artifacts to depict people at an altar table inside a real church depict women and men in a gender-parallel liturgy inside two of the most important churches in Christendom—Old Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the second Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Dr. Kateusz’s research brings to light centuries of censorship, both ancient and modern, and debunks the modern imagination that from the beginning only men were apostles and clergy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Ally Kateusz
Publisher:   Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Imprint:   Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Edition:   1st ed. 2019
Weight:   0.663kg
ISBN:  

9783030111106

ISBN 10:   3030111105
Pages:   295
Publication Date:   06 March 2019
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

1.            Background and Perspective on Mary                 Why the Mother of Jesus?                 Mary, a Jew                 Mary Remembered in the Extracanonical Gospels                 Methodology                 The Power of Bio-Power                 Breaking the Box of Our False Imagination of the Past   2.            More Collyridian Déjà vu                 The Old Rule of Thumb: lectio brevior potior                 Redaction Analysis of Mary’s Religious Authority                 A Scene of Mary Exorcising Demons                 Women Using Censers and Incense Kernels of Historicity: Women Using Censers Liturgically                 Redaction Analysis of the Markers of Women’s Authority   3.            Women Apostles: Preachers and Baptizers                 Assembling a Jigsaw Puzzle—The Apostle Mariamne in the Acts of Philip                 Sexual Slander as Evidence of Women in the Clergy                 Irene, Apostle of Jesus                 The Long Narrative about Irene’s Life                 Male Re-Baptizers and the Apostle Nino                 Irene Baptizes and Seals                 The “Apostle” Thecla Baptizes and Seals                 Dating Controversy: When Was the Life of Thecla Composed?                 The Thecla Tertullian Knew                 Cultural Context   4.            Mary, High Priest and Bishop                 Jesus’s Mother Versus 1 Timothy                 Mary in Art: High Priest and Bishop                 Mary with the Episcopal Pallium                 Mary with the Cloth of the Eucharistic Officiant                 Women with the Cloth of the Eucharistic Officiant   5.            Mother and Son, Paired                 Mother and Son Paired on Objects Used in the Liturgy                 Dividing the Mother-Son Dyad: The Maria Maggiore Mosaics                 The Mother-Son Dyad in Art Prior to the Council of Ephesus                 Mother and Son Paired in Third- and Fourth-Century Funereal Art   6.            The Life of the Virgin and Its Antecedents                 The Oldest Text of the Life of the Virgin                 The Annunciation to Mary in the Temple                 Mary at the Baptism of Her Son                 The Women at the Lord’s Supper                 Partaking at the Temple Altar in the Gospel of Bartholomew                 Gender Parallelism in the Liturgy in the Didascalia apostolorum                 The Ritual of Body and Blood according to the Apostolic Church Order   7.            Women and Men at the Last Supper: Reception                 Female and Male Co-Officiants from the Second Century Onwards                 Writings that Paired Male and Female Clerical Titles                 Women Overseers or Bishops                 Cerula and Bitalia, Ordained Bishops                 Historicity of Pulcheria inside the Holy of Holies of the Second Hagia Sophia                 Female and Male Clergy at the Altar in Old Saint Peter’s Basilica                 The Ciborium in Old Saint Peter’s Basilica                 The Altar in Old Saint Peter’s Basilica                 Possible Identification of the Male and Female Officiants at the Altar Table                 Theodora and Justinian in San Vitale: Modeling Mary and Jesus at the Last Supper                 Third-Century Evidence of Gender Parity at the Offering Table   8. Modes of Silencing Modes of Silencing the Past Breaking the Box of Our False Imagination of the Past

Reviews

“Ally Kateusz has written an engaging and extensively researched book examining the evidence for liturgical roles for women in the early Church. … Mary and Early Christian Women will certainly be encouraging to those girls and women who have only seen examples of male leadership in the Church, and for whom the example of Mary has been misused and abused, by providing an alternative image of an empowered, active Mary as a type for female leadership in the early Church.” (Nell Whiscombe, Modern Believing, Vol. 64 (4), 2023) “This book will inspire Christian scholars, ministers, and congregations to rethink their perspectives on gender roles in Christianity. … this book will assist in breaking the prevalent misperception that early church women leaders were rare. It will challenge readers to fully acknowledge that women have been integrally present throughout Christian history.” (JungJa Joy Yu, Reading Religion, readingreligion.org, April 27, 2021) “Ally Kateusz presents a multidisciplinary analysis of literary texts, church art, and church … . She supports her literary and iconographic claims with official church commissions, directives, and commentaries, sometimes made by popes. …. For scholars, the book is a treasure trove, with thirty-nine pages of references and fifty pages of notes. … Mary and Early Christian Women: Hidden Leadership is a stimulating read and the author’s perspective on imagination and Christian history will make you think. Highly recommended.” (Elizabeth Ursic, Cross-Currents, Vol. 71 (1), March, 2021) “Mary and Early Christian Women would certainly interest readers who are invested in women’s roles in churches and especially readers invested in Catholicism. … The artwork included in this book is stunning, and the images portray Mary and other women in significant liturgical roles. Overall, Mary and Early Christian Women is a significant contribution to the field for its attention to extracanonical texts, artistic analysis, and its accessibility.” (Christy Cobb, RBL, Review of Biblical Literature, Issue 12, 2020)

This book will inspire Christian scholars, ministers, and congregations to rethink their perspectives on gender roles in Christianity. ... this book will assist in breaking the prevalent misperception that early church women leaders were rare. It will challenge readers to fully acknowledge that women have been integrally present throughout Christian history. (JungJa Joy Yu, Reading Religion, readingreligion.org, April 27, 2021)

Author Information

Dr. Ally Kateusz is Research Associate at the Wijngaards Institute of Catholic Research in London. She is a cultural historian whose work focuses on religion and gender. Her research has been published in the Journal of Early Christian Studies, the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, as well as other venues, and has won prestigious awards.

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