Anthropology and the Bible

Anthropology and the Bible

(over beer)

with

Adam and Tyler

(2003)

* * * * *

Discussing Mark and Matthew

O'Malley's

← Two aspiring young

Bible students!

The discussion begins friendly . . . →

← . . . but quickly becomes heated !

The Mary Magdalene Reliquary (above left) is located in a crypt beneath the Basilica to Mary Magdalene in Saint Maximin de Provence, France (above center) where Mary Magdalene is purportedly buried. The reliquary contains what many believe is Mary Magdalene's skull (see above right). According to local beliefs, Mary Magdalene left Palestine with Mary (the mother of Jesus) and Mary (the aunt of Jesus) and landed at what is today known as Sts. Marie de la Mer, a small village on the Mediterranean south of St. Maximin. According to local tradition, Jesus' mother and aunt remained in Sts. Marie de la Mer, while Mary Magdalene left the village to live naked (with just her long hair covering her body) as a hermit for 33 years in a cave at Baume (southeast of St. Maximin). Each year in late May, Gypsies converge on Sts. Marie de la Mer to celebrate the landing of the three Maries in southern France.

Chapel in the Cave at St. Baume where Mary Magdalene is believed to have lived for 33 years as a hermit following the death of Jesus.

St. Maries de la Mer Church where the remains of the two Mary's are believed to reside.

Chapel on the cliff above the Cave at St. Baume where Mary Magdalene is believed to have been carried to heaven by angels.

St. Simeon the Stylite

The Stylite saints, or "pillar hermits" as they were known, lived austere lives on top of tall towers, some over 20 feet high. St. Simeon lived on his column for 30 years, before he died in AD 459. In order to demonstrate his piety, Simeon stood on one leg for a year. He also tied a rope around his waist so tightly that his lower body became putrified and infested with maggots. According to Butler's Lives of the Saints, Simeon ate the maggots, proclaiming, "Eat what God has given you."

Acts and Paul

Ringer's Roost

← Ringer's is always a good place to teach a

course. It should be

designated an official

Muhlenberg classroom!

A friendly salute

before we begin →

Both Adam and Tyler scrutinize the Bible VERY closely!

Adam

Tyler

To the King George . . .

to discuss

Jesus

Jean-Paul Audet

(Adam's uncle)

Trying to add a little class

to the course →

(which it desperately needs!)

← Is Adam grinning because he is

enjoying the discussion, or because his glass is already half empty?

It looks as though both of us are getting a little plastered!

St. Agatha

St. Agatha, a native of Sicily, lived during the third century. She is the patron saint of Malta, bell-makers, diseases of the breast, earthquakes, fire and sterility. She defended her virginity against Quintinian, a Roman consul, who wanted her for his wife. She refused him because she had already dedicated herself to God as a virgin. He had her racked, scourged and branded and had her breasts cut off. (These were later restored by divine intervention.) She was then put in a brothel where her virginity remained intact; burned at the stake but failed to ignite; and finally beheaded. Sicilians honor her feast day every year by carrying an image of her breasts through the streets.