BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:14894-48858a9298bc85667a2b21120e59956e@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260714T103653Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250305T121500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250305T131500 SUMMARY:Society for the Study of Religion: “The ‘Gnostic’ Womb of the Virgin Mar y in Late Antique Egypt” DESCRIPTION:\nThe story of Jesus’ birth from the Virgin Mary took shape in an age of Roman history marked by long-term investments in pronatalis t ideologies\, spurring a deeper interest across political\, medical\, a nd philosophical circles in the hidden nature of the womb. Early Christi ans\, especially so-called “Gnostics” in Egypt\, participated in this ty pe of rumination\, focusing attention on the cosmic and anthropological mysteries arising from the contradictions of Mary’s virginal womb. Befor e long\, the figure of Mary and her womb became embroiled in emergent Ch ristian practices—from initiatory births\, to ascetic exhortations\, to invocations of spiritual and cosmic forces to manage daily existence—as Christians found ways to participate in the singularity of Jesus’ birth. This trajectory of the Virgin’s ritual authority reveals its earliest f oundation not merely among efforts to refute “heresies” or reinvent godd ess traditions\, as usually assumed\; rather\, the history of Mary’s ven eration reflects converging streams among the diverse traditions of earl y Christianity\, including especially contributions from so-called “Gnos tics” in late antique Egypt.\n\nZoom link available upon request (email hcm1@psu.edu)\n\nFor more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/gnost ic-womb-of-virgin-mary-in-late-antique-egypt/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The story of Je sus’ birth from the Virgin Mary took shape in an age of Roman history ma rked by long-term investments in pronatalist ideologies, spurring a deep er interest across political, medical, and philosophical circles in the hidden nature of the womb. Early Christians, especially so-called “Gnost ics” in Egypt, participated in this type of rumination, focusing attenti on on the cosmic and anthropological mysteries arising from the contradi ctions of Mary’s virginal womb. Before long, the figure of Mary and her womb became embroiled in emergent Christian practices—from initiatory bi rths, to ascetic exhortations, to invocations of spiritual and cosmic fo rces to manage daily existence—as Christians found ways to participate i n the singularity of Jesus’ birth. This trajectory of the Virgin’s ritua l authority reveals its earliest foundation not merely among efforts to refute “heresies” or reinvent goddess traditions, as usually assumed; ra ther, the history of Mary’s veneration reflects converging streams among the diverse traditions of early Christianity, including especially cont ributions from so-called “Gnostics” in late antique Egypt.

Zoom li nk available upon request (email hcm1@psu.edu)

For more details: < a href='https://events.la.psu.edu/event/gnostic-womb-of-virgin-mary-in-l ate-antique-egypt/'>https://events.la.psu.edu/event/gnostic-womb-of-virg in-mary-in-late-antique-egypt/

LOCATION:102 Weaver Building END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR