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How would you begin to make sense
of the image of the Virgin Mary in Christianity?
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How would you compare and contrast
the Mary of Catholicism with the Mary of Protestantism? How would you
embed this comparison within a larger context?
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What role does Mary play in Islam?
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What significance would you attach
to the relatively frequent occurrence of Marian apparitions? (egs. the
Vision of Our Lady of Fatima [1917], Our Lady of Lourdes [1858], Our Lady of
Guadalupe [1531], the Black Madonna of Czestochowa [1382])
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How do you respond to the idea of
Mary as the "feminine face of God?"
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What is most interesting about the
history of the representation of Mary Magdalene? What is at stake in the
debate over the identity and meaning of Mary Magdalene?
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To what extent can the history of
James as man and as symbol be used as a window into exploring the complex
relationship between Christianity and Judaism?
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What are the implications of Jesus
having a brother? How would you compare and contrast debates here over
the centuries with the legend of Mary Magdalene as wife of Jesus? How
are the particulars of these controversies related to broader questions about
the nature of Jesus and the relationship between the human and the divine?
"Mary: A Central Figure,"
BBC Religion And Ethics.
"Mary Magdalene,"
BBC Religion And Ethics.