Ep. 158 Elizabeth Schrader Polczer and Craig Evans: Who was Mary Magdalene?

Steve chats with two historians about the importance of ancient Christianity today. Elizabeth Schrader Polczer discusses how an answered prayer developed her interest in Mary Magdalene and led to a new career in biblical scholarship. Dr. Schrader Polczer is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Villanova University, having recently defended her PhD in Early Christianity and New Testament at Duke University. Her studies focus on textual criticism, Mary Magdalene, and the Gospel of John. Craig Evans maps out the ideas in his book "From Jesus to Church." Craig A. Evans is the John Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins at Houston Baptist University in Texas. A graduate of Claremont McKenna College, he received his M.Div. from Western Baptist Seminary in Portland, Oregon, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Claremont Graduate University in southern California. A well-known evangelical scholar, Evans is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. He also serves as the Director of the Christian Thinkers Society Fellows Program and Strategic Studies.