Papers by Mary Ann L Beavis
S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies, 2024
It has long been recognized that the three striking female figures that punctuate the second hal... more It has long been recognized that the three striking female figures that punctuate the second half of the Book of Revelation, the Woman Clothed with the Sun, the Whore of Babylon, and the Bride of the Lamb, have affinities with Greco-Roman goddesses. Using the ancient method of interpretation known as the Interpretatio Graeca/Latina, where foreign deities are equated or “translated” as Greek or Roman gods, this essay shows that the Woman Clothed with the Sun and the Bride of the Lamb can be related to several goddesses of the underworld, especially Persephone. This link, in turn, enriches our understanding of the portrayal of the Virgin Mary in the Apocalypse of the Virgin as having special concern for the souls of the dead, a characteristic of the chthonic goddess Isis-Persephone.
Biblical Interpretation, 2024
This article uses cultic studies to explicate the development of the earliest churches, using Heb... more This article uses cultic studies to explicate the development of the earliest churches, using Hebrews as a case study. “Cult” is defined as a group that suppresses individuality and critical thinking, demands intense commitment and loyalty to an individual or ideology, and curtails or eliminates personal autonomy to be replaced by the cult’s worldview. The cult-like attributes of the early ecclesia are summarized, followed by a brief introduction to cultic studies, with particular reference to the characteristics of contemporary cults, suggesting that an under-appreciated aspect of cultic appeal is the offer of utopian promises. Finally, the bite (Behavior, Information, Thoughts, Emotions) model of coercive control is applied to the hortatory sections of Hebrews and the utopian hopes held out by the author. The article concludes that the community behind Hebrews shows many characteristics of a high demand cult as defined by cultic studies.
The journal of religion and film, Apr 1, 2024
Since the turn of the millennium, several films (and one popular TV series) featuring Mary Magdal... more Since the turn of the millennium, several films (and one popular TV series) featuring Mary Magdalene as a significant character, or even as the central character, have been produced. A few, specifically Son of God (2104), The Chosen (2017-), and Mary Magdalene (2019), gained a wide audience through some combination of theatrical release, television, and streaming services. Unlike earlier productions that unfailingly portrayed her conventionally as a penitent prostitute, these and other, less well-known films of recent decades have departed from this traditional Magdalene. This is no doubt due, among other things, to the influence of feminist theology and biblical studies, which since the 1980s, have definitively shown that there is no scriptural evidence that Mary Magdalene was either a prostitute, or in special need of repentance. Unfortunately, however, these productions tend to find another way to situate the Magdalene as abject relative to Jesus, and inevitably downplay the role of other women disciples in the Jesus movement. In addition, although most eschew the "penitent whore" stereotype, they tend to reiterate the "martyr/love story" narrative associated with prostitution in film. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/
Feminist Theology, Nov 21, 2023
For three decades, the Canadian artist Lilian Broca has been creating art featuring biblical wome... more For three decades, the Canadian artist Lilian Broca has been creating art featuring biblical women: Lilith/Eve, Esther, Judith and Mary Magdalene. These are not single artworks, but series, presenting these women in the contexts of their narratives. In contrast with traditional artistic representations of these figures, dominated by the male gaze, Broca brings a feminist lens to their stories. Broca's work not only converges with feminist theology and biblical studies, but she also uses this scholarship as part of her research, pointing to a fruitful and significant relationship between feminist art and academic theology.
Journal of Religion and Film, 2024
Since the turn of the millennium, several films (and one popular TV series) featuring Mary Magdal... more Since the turn of the millennium, several films (and one popular TV series) featuring Mary Magdalene as a significant character, or even as the central character, have been produced. A few, specifically Son of God (2104), The Chosen (2017-), and Mary Magdalene (2019), gained a wide audience through some combination of theatrical release, television, and streaming services. Unlike earlier productions that unfailingly portrayed her conventionally as a penitent prostitute, these and other, less well-known films of recent decades have departed from this traditional Magdalene. This is no doubt due, among other things, to the influence of feminist theology and biblical studies, which since the 1980s, have definitively shown that there is no scriptural evidence that Mary Magdalene was either a prostitute, or in special need of repentance. Unfortunately, however, these productions tend to find another way to situate the Magdalene as abject relative to Jesus, and inevitably downplay the role of other women disciples in the Jesus movement. In addition, although most eschew the "penitent whore" stereotype, they tend to reiterate the "martyr/love story" narrative associated with prostitution in film. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/
Feminist Theology, 2004
For three decades, the Canadian artist Lilian Broca has been creating art featuring biblical wome... more For three decades, the Canadian artist Lilian Broca has been creating art featuring biblical women: Lilith/Eve, Esther, Judith and Mary Magdalene. These are not single artworks, but series, presenting these women in the contexts of their narratives. In contrast with traditional artistic representations of these figures, dominated by the male gaze, Broca brings a feminist lens to their stories. Broca's work not only converges with feminist theology and biblical studies, but she also uses this scholarship as part of her research, pointing to a fruitful and significant relationship between feminist art and academic theology.
S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies, 2023
This article interprets four works by the Canadian artist Lilian Broca as expressive of the divin... more This article interprets four works by the Canadian artist Lilian Broca as expressive of the divine feminine, with particular reference to the notion of the divine feminine/goddess as a metaphor for women's empowerment. Each of these works is a series based on female figures in the biblical tradition: Lilith/Eve, Esther, Judith, and Mary Magdalene. Although not all of them overtly refer to the divine feminine, I interpret them on the premise that inherent in each of them is a surplus of meaning that comes to full expression in the Mary Magdalene series, where the Magdalene is explicitly construed by the artist as a "goddess in waiting" and "the sacred feminine in Christianity."
The Institute of Urban Studies is an independent research arm of the University of Winnipeg. Sinc... more The Institute of Urban Studies is an independent research arm of the University of Winnipeg. Since 1969, the IUS has been both an academic and an applied research centre, committed to examining urban development issues in a broad, non-partisan manner. The Institute examines inner city, environmental, Aboriginal and community development issues. In addition to its ongoing involvement in research, IUS brings in visiting scholars, hosts workshops, seminars and conferences, and acts in partnership with other organizations in the community to effect positive change.
Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture, 2021
Review of Mary Ann Beavis, The First Christian Slave: Onesimus in Context (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2... more Review of Mary Ann Beavis, The First Christian Slave: Onesimus in Context (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2021).
Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion and Culture, 2022
Theology, The Bible Today, 2021
Reviews by Robin Gill and Donald Senior
Irish Theological Quarterly, 2020
This article interprets St Patrick’s Confessio, supplemented by his Letter to the Soldiers of Cor... more This article interprets St Patrick’s Confessio, supplemented by his Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus, in the light of North American slave narratives, arguing that Patrick’s account of his enslavement in Ireland shares many of the characteristics of North American slave narratives identified by James Olney. In addition, Patrick’s account of his conversion shares all of the characteristics of North American slave conversions discussed by Albert J. Raboteau. As such, although not intended as such, Patrick’s confession can be described as the only extant example of an early Christian slave narrative, which makes it of great significance for the study of slavery in early Christianity.
Urban Affairs Review, 1998
The author argues that the apparent ineffectuality of efforts to control urban sprawl is in some ... more The author argues that the apparent ineffectuality of efforts to control urban sprawl is in some part a result of a failure to distinguish between growth controls, which have a well-earned reputation as a thinly veiled form of NIMBYism and regional growth management (RGM), which involves the attempt to set out rules for development that are designed to preserve the livability, viability, and attractiveness of an urban area as a whole. This study surveys emerging political forces favoring RGM and notes signs that a new constellation of forces is emerging. It assesses the significance of this shift.
Review & Expositor, 2012
This article introduces feminist approaches to parable interpretation by summarizing three books ... more This article introduces feminist approaches to parable interpretation by summarizing three books published in the first decade of the twenty-first century: Mary Ann Beavis, ed., The Lost Coin: Parables of Women, Work and Wisdom (2002); Luise Schottroff, The Parables of Jesus (2005); and Elizabeth Dowling, Taking Away the Pound: Women, Theology and the Parable of the Pounds in the Gospel of Luke (2007). Beavis' multi-authored anthology identifies fourteen parables of “women, work and wisdom” that have received little attention in “mainstream” parable interpretation. Schottroff's approach is not limited to “women parables,” but applies a feminist-liberationist approach to the parables of Jesus. Dowling uses Luke's parable of the Pounds (19:11–28) as a lens through which she critiques the evangelist's portrayal of women. The article is offered not as the last word on feminist parable interpretation, but as an invitation for preachers and teachers to discover the parable...
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2010
Interpretation, Oct 1, 1994
In the ears of his Greco-Roman audience, Luke's social teaching would have been heard wit... more In the ears of his Greco-Roman audience, Luke's social teaching would have been heard with shock. In their world, the neh and the powerful despised the poor and the disadvantaged and took pains to preserve the gulf between them. Inspired by the prophetic denunciation of injustice, Luke cnticized the rich and thus transgressed against Greco-Roman values. Still, Luke's enduring contribution to Christian social ethics is greater than this: Instead of merely condemning the rich, Luke forged a vision of community in which both rich and poor are spiritual equah and the social and economic inequities between them can be vigorously and conscientiously addressed.
Religion, 2013
ABSTRACT This essay delineates the history, scope and mandate of the Journal of Religion and Popu... more ABSTRACT This essay delineates the history, scope and mandate of the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (JRPC) in the larger context of Religious Studies. The JRPC produces scholarship on the myriad ways in which religion is presented, produced, studied, interpreted, rationalised, manufactured and disseminated in popular culture. This article explains the journal's distinctive genesis in a Canadian context and provides a succinct analysis of its salient themes over the last two decades, including important trajectories today. It is shown that the JRPC offers more than ‘old wine in new bottles’ both in terms of content (themes) and products (analysis). Popular culture is an indicator of the type of activities that have gained prominence in mass media for conveying religious meaning, purpose and communal experience. The ubiquity of religious themes and experiences in popular culture necessitates their continued academic study.
Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 2012
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Papers by Mary Ann L Beavis
Editors Mary Ann Beavis and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang
(Forthcoming August 7, 2018)
Description This book fills the very real need for an affordable, accessible, academic textbook featuring Goddesses from a wide range of world religious, cultural and mythological traditions. As a textbook, its primary audience is professors and students in university and college courses in Goddess Studies, Religious Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies. It will also be of interest to students and instructors in the many Goddess-themed courses outside the academy. The contributors to the textbook were selected for their scholarly expertise and qualifications in their respective areas of study, both established and emerging scholars from Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Scandinavia, and Australia. The Goddess traditions surveyed in the 22 chapters include the Female Divine in the major world religions—not only Hinduism and Buddhism, but also in the “Western Religions” of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, popularly regarded as impervious to the Goddess. The coverage ranges from ancient to contemporary, Mago to Mary Magdalene. As such, it is a unique and much-needed resource for students and faculty, as well as a treasury of Goddess scholarship.