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  • The Many Faces of Martha of Bethany
  • David H. Pereyra
Diane E. Peters . The Many Faces of Martha of Bethany. Toronto: Novalis, 2008. Pp. 286. Paper, $26.95. ISBN 978-2-89646-002-1.

Diane E. Peters, in her book The Many Faces of Martha of Bethany, has rediscovered, for the life of the Church, one of the three most important female figures in the New Testament: Martha of Bethany (the other two being Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene). This compelling research will give readers a panorama of this paradigmatic character. In creating it, Peters explores her leadership starting at the New Testament, throughout the whole Christian, history including apocryphal and Gnostic literature, up to the present. Peters tries to argue that Martha of Bethany was a woman ahead of her times, a biblical figure, a role model who has been rescued from the shadows of her sister Mary, bringing us a new point of view that challenges today's Church. The premise is that Martha was a role model, whether or not she is called one. In claiming so, Peters uses a creative imagination and an involved appreciation of contemporary religious leadership of women. She uses biblical references that exhibit some of the essential leadership characteristics for this era. This serious study recruits the work of theologians of different backgrounds and denominations, together with legends and historical sources.

The Many Faces of Martha of Bethany is organized into seven aspects of her life, where Peters not only reconstructs the personality of this gospel witness but also brings awareness, with a particular hermeneutical approach, to the role of a female leader in the Early Church and its consequences today. Peters, with good arguments, moves from chapter to chapter helping the reader to identify distinctive characteristics of Martha's figure that were never taken into account or were simply overlooked. Just by looking at her "confession of faith" in the Gospel of John, which occupies a key place in John's narrative, Peters observes that only in recent times has this passage been explored. This [End Page 295] neglect raises many questions, such as why this historical woman was hidden for such a long time and not taken into consideration by the Church? Was it a way to diminish the role of women in the institutional Church? These and other questions are answered throughout the book extensively based on previous works by Raymond Brown, Elizabeth Molmant-Wendel, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, and others.

Even though Peters alleges that the purpose of her study was not to reopen the arguments in favour or against women's leadership in Christian institutions, she finds much historical evidence to advance this cause. Two of the most interesting aspects of Martha in this book are "Martha the Witness" and "Martha Today." Peters did an excellent job of searching for the original meaning of diakonia, together with the interpretation and uses of this term in the Early Church and its possible connection with the role of Martha. Peters builds on the references of theologians who have worked on this topic, such as John N. Collins, Barbara E. Reid, Warren Carter, and Mary Rose D'Angelo.

This book attempts to retell Martha's life in a fresh new way, from biblical, patristic, and medieval studies, in conjunction with images, poetry, and contemporary theology. Sometimes the idea of Martha identified as an ordained leader in the Johanine Church and the role of women in Early Church is repetitive. (This idea was taken from Raymond Brown and developed in different aspects by other women theologians).

The present study has the appearance of being the only serious scholarly work in which Martha of Bethany is the full subject of research. It brings light to all possible aspects of this disciple of Christ, illuminating the present and going beyond the role of women in the Church to inspire "those who are filled with the Spirit of Christ" to go out in loving service as Martha. Peters's sincere and loving claim is that we need Martha: she knew how to "create the conditions under which others may be brought to Christ."

Also in this book, Peters has...

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