Emeritus Faculty
About
Dr. Wendy Cotter, CSJ is a Sister of Saint Joseph from London, Ontario Canada, and a tenured Professor of Scripture in the Theology Department of Loyola who has been teaching at Loyola since 1991. Dr. Cotter received her doctorate from the University of Saint Michael's College in Toronto, Ontario, with a specialization in Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), in particular the Gospel of Mark, and also in First Generation Christianity. The contextualization of earliest Christian communities within the world of Greco-Roman antiquity is a constant special scholarly endeavor. A particular focus is the manner in which early Christians understood the Jesus Miracle stories. In her book, The Miracles of Greco-Roman Antiquity: A Sourcebook (London, England: Routledge Press, 1999), Dr. Cotter presents a selection of the major miracles attributed to the gods and heroes of the first century Mediterranean world in order to better study the claims made by early Christians about Jesus and His miracles. In her most recent book, The Christ of the Miracle Stories: Portrait Through Encounter (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic Press, 2010), she illustrates how Jesus' virtues are modeled for would be followers as he respectfully receives the bold and brash petitioners in the miracle stories.
Program Areas
Synoptic Gospels; Hellenistic and Jewish Culture
Research Interests
Synoptic Gospel: Mark; First generation Christianity; Greco-Roman culture; Miracle narratives; "Q" Studies