Martha from the Margins

This book offers a comprehensive collection and analysis of early Christian traditions about Martha. It shows that the significance of Martha has been seriously underestimated and recovers a widespread tradition of Martha as apostle and authority figure for early Christians.

Review:

'Martha from the Margins is a very illuminating text, and Ernst should be commended for making an excellent contribution to the study of women in religion and to early Christianity in general. She presents strong arguments that are based on a thoughtful analysis of the many sources that she surveyed. Although there are several instances in which Ernst is clearly presenting theoretical ideas [...] these hypotheses are all grounded, as much as possible, in rational arguments. Ernst presents an unbiased survey of the evidence discussed in this book. Such an approach is admirable and appreciated, since it provides the reader with a more balanced perspective of the issues. Furthermore, Ernst's methodology,which featured a dynamic reading of church orders and a balanced weighing of literary/historical texts with other types of sources [...], allow her to present a more expansive perspective of Martha within early Christianity. Hopefully, this approach will be used by others in the future.' Joseph Oryshak, RBL 03/2011