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BEVERLY ROBERTS GAVENTA, Mary: Glimpses of the Mother of Jesus (Studies on Personalities of the New Testament; Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995). Pp. xvi + 164. $34.95.
No, this is not a study of the "historical Mary." Professor Beverly Roberts Gaventa of Princeton Theological Seminary carefully distinguishes between three quests for Mary: historical, theological, and literary. Here she undertakes a literary quest and is interested in how the authors of the canonical writings Matthew, LukeActs, and John, and of the noncanonical Protevangelium of James "portray Mary as a literary character" and in "the roles she plays in their narratives" (p. 19). "I make no effort to assess the historicity of these narratives or to construct a life of Mary," she writes; "neither do I propose a theological interpretation of Mary's place in the church" (p. 20). She identifies herself as one of the "few Protestant women to write on Mary." G.'s work is another example of the adoption of the techniques of literary criticism by Bible scholars today, and her approach is easily accessible. She explains...