Elizabeth Schrader Polczer
Assistant Professor of New Testament Villanova University
- Villanova PA
Dr. Schrader Polczer is a scholar of New Testament and Early Christianity who focuses on the Gospels, Mary Magdalene and textual criticism.
Media
Areas of Expertise
Biography
Dr. Schrader Polczer's interest in the text of John's Gospel culminated in the publication of her master's thesis in the Harvard Theological Review. She has published additional peer-reviewed papers in the Journal of Biblical Literature, TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism and the Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin.
Education
Duke University
PhD
Early Christianity and New Testament
Affiliations
- Member, Society of Biblical Literature (2015–Present)
- Member, American Society of Papyrologists (2018–Present)
Select Media Appearances
Who Was Mary Magdalene? Historians Are Still Trying to Figure That Out.
National Geographic
2025-07-23
Mary Magdalene may be one of the most recognized figures in the Bible, yet so much about her remains shrouded in mystery. "Mary Magdalene resonates deeply with many people who feel that their voices and stories have not been heard or valued," says Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, assistant professor of New Testament at Villanova University. "By bringing Mary to light, we may be recovering crucial and overlooked aspects of Jesus' vision for humanity."
Mistaking Mary Magdalene
The New Yorker
2025-04-19
After publishing part of her master's thesis in the Harvard Theological Review, a relatively new Magdalene scholar, Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, has garnered significant attention. Based on her reading of Papyrus 66, thought to be the world's oldest complete copy of the Gospel of John, and other crucial manuscripts, Schrader Polczer, an assistant professor of New Testament at Villanova University, argues that a second-century scribe deliberately suppressed the role of Mary Magdalene.
In Consideration of a Female Diaconate, Look to Mary Magdalene
National Catholic Reporter
2024-07-20
"This week the church celebrates the feast of Mary Magdalene, at a time when Catholicism finds itself in a definitive moment concerning the roles of women. In May, the first-ever deaconess was ordained in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Less than two weeks ago, the Vatican held a press conference announcing that the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith is creating a document about women's leadership roles."
Signs of Mary Magdalene in John 11
The Christian Century
2023-11-01
"If John's Christological confessor is also the first person the risen Jesus appears to," says biblical scholar Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, "that could make her a competitor to Peter's authority."
Was Mary Magdalene Really From Magdala? Two Scholars Examine the Evidence
National Catholic Reporter
2022-01-11
In a paper published in December, Elizabeth Schrader... and Joan Taylor, a professor at King's College, London, argue that the assumption Magdala refers to Mary's place of origin is entirely speculative.
One Biblical Scholar's Attempt to Uncover the Real Mary Magdalene
Relevant Magazine
2019-09-27
For several years, Elizabeth Schrader was a singer-songwriter who had an interest in Mary Magdalene, the Jewish woman who traveled with Jesus and was a witness to both his crucifixion and resurrection. But after years of study at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, she's on her way to becoming an expert of biblical history and, along the way, has made some big discoveries about Mary Magdalene—some of which could reshape our understanding of her prominence in the Early Church.
Scribes Tried to Blot Her Out. Now a Scholar Is Trying to Recover the Real Mary Magdalene.
Religion News Service
2019-07-19
On Monday (July 22), the feast day of Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth Schrader will hike up a mountain in the south of France to the cave where, legend has it, the saint lived out her remaining days after the crucifixion of Jesus... Schrader's academic work, like that of others, attempts to liberate Magdalene from the patriarchal overlays of ancient Christian scribes who recorded the New Testament's four Gospels.
A Conspiracy to Suppress Mary Magdalene? No Longer Just a Dan Brown Plotline
The Daily Beast
2018-07-21
In a peer-reviewed article published in the journal Harvard Theological Review, Duke doctoral student and text critic Elizabeth Schrader argues that Mary Magdalene's role in the Jesus story was deliberately obscured by those who copied out the Bible in order to dilute the importance of Mary Magdalene.
Select Academic Articles
Was Salome at the Markan Tomb? Another Ending to Mark's Gospel
Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin2022
Although the NA28 text of Mark 16:1 states that three women (Mary Magdalene, Mary of James and Salome) visited the empty tomb, there is significant variation on this detail in the earliest textual transmission. Salome is absent from the empty tomb in oldest Latin copy of Mark (Codex Bobiensis, dated 380–420 C.E.), as well as Codex Bezae (dated circa 400 C.E.) and two other important Old Latin witnesses (Codex Colbertinus, VL 6 and Fragmenta Sangallensia, VL 16). Obviously, Salome is not a participant in a minority textual strand of Mark 16. This paper explores potential editorial motives behind these variants and suggests that ancient controversies about Salome and the perpetual virginity of Mary may have inspired some of the textual instability, to the point where a confident recovery of Mark's initial text is impossible in these verses. It will also raise the question of whether the varying names and number of women in 15:40–16:1 is connected to the broader problem of the endings of Mark.
The Meaning of "Magdalene": A Review of Literary Evidence
Journal of Biblical Literature2021
While it is common today to refer to Jesus' disciple Μαρία[μ] ἡ Μαγδαληνή as Mary "of Magdala," with Magdala identified as a Galilean city named Tarichaea, what do our earliest Christian sources actually indicate about the meaning of this woman's name? Examination of the Gospel of Luke, Origen, Eusebius, Macarius Magnes and Jerome, as well as evidence in hagiography, pilgrimage and diverse literature, reveals multiple ways that the epithet ἡ Μαγδαληνή can be understood. While Mary sometimes was believed to come from a place called "Magdala" or "Magdalene," the assumption was that it was a small and obscure village, its location unspecified or unknown. Given the widespread understanding that Mary Magdalene was the sister of Martha, it could even be equated with Bethany. However, Jerome thought that the epithet was a reward for Mary's faith and actions, not something indicative of provenance: Mary "of the Tower." No early Christian author identifies a city (Tarichaea) called "Magdala" by the Sea of Galilee, even when they knew the area well. A pilgrim site on ancient ruins, established as "Magdala" by the mid-6th century, was visited by Christians at least into the 14th century, and thus the name is remembered today. In view of the earlier evidence of Origen and Jerome, however, the term ἡ Μαγδαληνή may be based on an underlying Aramaic word meaning "the magnified one" or "tower-ess," and is therefore best left untranslated.
"Rabbouni," Which Means Lord: Narrative Variants in John 20:16
TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism2021
In the received text of John 20:16, Mary Magdalene responds to Jesus with the Aramaic word ῥαββουνί, translated into Greek as διδάσκαλε ("teacher"). However, in some early manuscripts, ῥαββουνί is instead or also translated as κύριε/domine ("Lord"). Moreover, many other witnesses include the additional phrase καὶ προσέδραμεν ἅψασθαι αὐτοῦ ("and she ran to touch him"). Where did these variants originate, and how were they interpreted in the history of the church? This study broadly surveys the philological, text-critical, exegetical and patristic evidence, and demonstrates that a 1st-century Aramaic context supports the translation of ῥαββουνί as "Lord"; meanwhile, the variant "and she ran to touch him" may have originated in a Valentinian setting where Mary Magdalene was being connected with Achamoth/the "lower Sophia." Deliberate editorial activity was likely at play in these various presentations of Mary Magdalene at John 20:16, since the stakes around her were particularly high in the early centuries of Christianity. Thus, Johannine exegetes should begin to look beyond our received text of John 20:16 and discover the narrative variants preserved in this important verse, which have enlivened its interpretation throughout the history of the church.
