Dr. Ann Graham Brock. Ph.D. to speak-
Mary Magdalene, The First Apostle: The Struggle for Authority

Who: Dr. Ann Graham Brock (Ph.D., Harvard University) is an author and lecturer whose special interests include New Testament and early Christian traditions, archaeology, and gender issues in religion. Her most recent publication Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle: The Struggle for Authority was her doctoral thesis and is among Harvard Divinity School's bestselling dissertations. She has also coedited five other books, and had scores of encyclopedia and journal articles published in German, French, and English. She taught New Testament and World Religion courses at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Iliff School of Theology, and Harvard Divinity School and Harvard University. She has appeared on the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, as well as several documentaries on British television.

What Dr. Brock will address: Why did some Christian texts portray Mary Magdalene as the "apostle to the apostles," while others exclude or replace her in their resurrection accounts? Ann Graham Brock explains how the withholding of apostolic status operated as a tool of persuasion in the politics of early Christian literature. She discusses some intriguing correlations between the prominence of Peter in canonical and non-canonical texts and a corresponding diminishment of women's leadership and apostolicity. This historical study of early Christian tensions has serious implications for current discourse because authority, apostolic status, and the ordination of women continue to be highly disputed topics within Church circles today.
(adapted from a Harvard University Press book review)

Where: John Carroll University, St. Francis Chapel

When: Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. Free Will Offering

For more information, contact Emily Holtel-Hoag at FutureChurch 216-228-0869

FutureChurch,headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is a coalition of 5,000 parish-based Catholics striving to educate fellow Catholics about the seriousness of the priest shortage, the centrality of the Eucharist (the Mass), and the systemic inequality of women in the Catholic Church. FutureChurch makes presentations throughout the country, distributes educational and informational packets and encourages widespread discussion of the need to open ordination to all baptized persons who are called to priestly ministry by God and the people of God.