Chapter 12, Women of the Early Church Summary and Analysis

The author writes about the women named Mary of The Bible. She clarifies that Miriam is the old form of the name Mary, which means "love and faithfulness", (p. 210). Miriam is the only Mary of the Old Testament. She then presents the Marys of the New Testament and their main functions in society. The first of these is Mother Mary, who gave birth to Jesus during the Roman census at Bethlehem. In a case of irony, once they were counted, they fled to Egypt to avoid being slaughtered because they were pesky and prominent Jews. This Mary is revered to this day as the one woman who lived without sin her entire life as well as having conceived her son by the Judaic God while visiting her cousin who was pregnant...