My intent with these short essays has been to trace parallel female figures to the two Johns depicted in the Introduction course – Mary Theotokos parallels John the Baptist, Mary of Bethany parallels John the Beloved. In the course of those explorations, we discover that the parallels aren’t direct – both Mary images deepen as well…
Just as Mary, Jesus’ mother, parallels the role of John the Baptist, so Mary of Bethany parallels the role of John the Beloved. As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat…
It has been said that to be a Johannite is to be a Marian – a devotee of Mary. I think this is true in several interesting ways. There is an old tradition, grounded in Patristic sources, that St John the Evangelist and Mary, the mother of Jesus, led the community at Ephesus together. Among…