Mary, Founder of Christianity

Who was Mary? A radical rediscovery of the historical mother of Jesus

A radical reassessment of the role of Mary the mother of Jesus and other women in the early Church

Despite the commonly held assumption that the Bible says little about the mother of Jesus, there are many indications that Mary preceded and inspired her son in fostering the emergence of a new faith community. In the Gospel of John, Mary instigates Jesus’ first miracle, and in all four gospels she is present at the crucifixion, suggesting hers was a place of unparalleled importance in the Christian story.

Setting aside presuppositions based on doctrine, Chris Maunder returns to the New Testament to answer the question ’Who was Mary?’ He re-examines the virgin conception of Jesus, Mary’s contribution to Jesus’ ministry, and her central role in the events of the crucifixion and the resurrection. In so doing, Maunder casts a thought-provoking new light on Mary and the women, including Mary Magdalene, who stood alongside her.

Chris Maunder is a visiting fellow in Theology and Religious Studies at York St John University. He is the author of Our Lady of the Nations: Apparitions of Mary in 20th-Century Catholic Europe, and the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Mary, Origins of the Cult of the Virgin Mary and Documents of the Christian Church, third and fourth editions. He lives in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, with his wife, Natalie.