Jennifer Pietz, assistant professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary, is the author of “Mary Magdalene, La Malinche, and the Ethics of Interpretation,” published by Lexington Books/Fortress Academic in November 2022.

By comparing the intersecting histories of interpretation of Mary Magdalene, a first-century disciple of Jesus, and La Malinche, a sixteenth-century Mesoamerican woman enslaved by the Spanish conquistadores, Pietz critically evaluates the use of past lives to address contemporaneous concerns.

“Displaying careful and critically honest scholarship, Jennifer Vija Pietz introduces readers to a comparative study of Mary Magdalene and La Malinche—two literary (historical) representations of women who have received conflicting (harlot and heroine) interpretations throughout history. This original and creative study is a must read for it is an excellent example of the new interdisciplinary turn in New Testament studies—combining the study of early Christianity with Latinx studies,” writes Francisco Lozada Jr., Charles Fischer Catholic Associate Professor of New Testament and Latinx Studies at Brite Divinity School.