By Colter Hettich, Features Editor
Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code infuriated evangelical conservatives when a character suggested that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and subsequently intended for women to lead and continue his church, not men. Feminism continues to affect protocol for acceptable behavior and interaction between sexes. Regardless of society’s opinion on the matter, the Bible leaves no room for sexism, featuring many influential women and the stories of their faith.
Dr.Susan Ashbrook Harvey, professor of religious studies at Brown University, will discuss about some women of the Bible during the 22nd annual Carmichael-Walling lecture series. Harvey hopes to remind her listeners of the roles women play in Biblical scripture.
“The reason that I want to look at the women of the Bible is because people don’t always remember they were important,” Harvey said.
Harvey will speak Nov. 6 in Room of the Biblical Studies Building. Her lectures at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. will examine how early Christians in the Middle East remembered Biblical stories of women through worship.
“I want to look at the way performance affects interpretation,” Harvey said. “I’m also going to look particularly at the way poetry was used.”
Early Christians used a style of worship that has taken the form of liturgy in Catholic and Orthodox churches today, Harvey said. Thursday’s lectures aim to both educate listeners in early Christian history and demonstrate classic methods of learning and retaining the Scriptures.
“I hope that thinking about how Christians of other time periods learned their Bible might give people a way to think about how we use and learn our Bible,” Harvey said.
ACU’s Graduate School of Theology sponsors the Carmichael-Walling Lectures to present current scholarship in New Testament and early Christian studies. The lectures also provide an opportunity for scholarly conversation.
“The great thing about this series is that it gives us the chance to bring world-class scholars to campus,” said Dr. Jeff Childers, associate professor of Bible, ministry and missions, in a press release. “We get to hear about their work, and they get to see what we’re doing.”
