Contact: Public Relations
(863) 680-4118

Florida Southern holds
annual Bible Symposium

LAKELAND, Fla. (March 22, 2004) - FSC's Department of Religion and Philosophy sponsors its annual Bible Symposium April 1 and 2. The event will be held in the William M. Hollis Seminar Room starting Thursday at 10 a.m. with registration at 9:30 a.m. The day's sessions conclude at 3 p.m. Friday's sessions begin at 8:30 a.m. and the symposium will adjourn at 1 p.m. 

This year's theme is "Mary Magdalene in Contemporary Research." This topic has been the focus of considerable research among New Testament scholars for many years. The discussion of Mary, her relationship to Jesus, and her origin and place in the gospel traditions will be led by four New Testament scholars in the sessions below. 

• Thursday
  10:00 a.m. "Did Mary Magdalene Exist Before Mark Invented Her?" Dr. Dennis R. MacDonald, John Wesley Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, Claremont School of Theology
  
   1:00 p.m. "Mary Magdalene: Venerated Sinner or Denigrated Saint?" Dr. Ann Graham Brock, author and lecturer
  

• Friday
   8:30 a.m. "Mary Magdalene as Gnostic Revealer" Dr. Pheme Perkins, Professor of New Testament, Boston College
  
  10:45 a.m. "Is It Conceivable That Jesus Married Mary Magdalene?" Dr. James H. Charlesworth, George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Princeton Theological Seminary

Registration fee is $25 ($10 for retired persons). Students with appropriate ID are admitted free. Lunch on Thursday will be available in the Hollis Room for $5. For further information and reservations, contact Beverly Johnson in the religion department at 680-4180 or email: bjohnson@flsouthern.edu.  


About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

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