Mary Magdalene(1st Century A.D.) |
Perhaps no figure in history is as controversial or mysterious as Mary Magdalene. A devout follower of Jesus, Mary followed him to the very end, and was the first to witness his resurrection. Since then, she has been labeled such things as a prostitute, Jesus' wife, apostle and writer of the Gnostic Gospel of Mary. Although her name has been cleared of the prostitution label, the mysterious life of Mary Magdalene is still heavily studied and strongly debated, especially in recent times.
Mary's appearances are few in the Bible, mostly during the days surrounding Easter weekend, but her actions and the effort to identify her have made her into a major figure in Christianity. Mary is first mentioned in Luke 8:13 as one of the followers of Jesus named Mary, called Magdalene. From this passage it can be implied that she was from the Galilean town of Magdala, about one hundred miles north of Jerusalem, however her name was not Mary. It was Miriam, which is the Hebrew equivalent of Mary. In the same passage it was said that she had seven demons cast from her by Jesus. During the time of Jesus, the demons that were cast would most likely have been a form of mental illness, rather than seven vices that many Christians longly believed and which strengthened the case for her label as a prostitute or actual demons that entered her body. After the exorcism of the "demons" she became a devout follower of Jesus.
As a follower, Mary was one of many women that accompanied Jesus during his travels, most of whom are believed to have been wealthy. During his journey, he was visited by two women, the unnamed sinner in Luke 7 and Mary of Bethany, both of whom anoint his feet and dry them with their hair, similar to the way Magdalene anointed him shortly after his death. In 591, Pope Gregory the Great stated that all three were in fact one woman, Mary Magdalene, and this is how she became labeled as a prostitute, or the unnamed sinner. However the Second Vatican Council removed the prostitute label in 1969 after much debate and Biblical evidence that there was more than one Mary and that Mary of Magdalene and the unnamed sinner were two different figures.
After Jesus' death, the most controversy around Mary Magdalene's life would unfold. In all four Gospels, she is the first to witness Jesus after his resurrection. Believed to be the Jesus' favorite by the apostles, Mary is asked to reveal secret teachings given to her by Jesus while consoling the apostles. After her revelation, which is found in the Gnostic Gospel of Mary, she has a disagreement with Peter about the teachings. This is the beginning of strengthening Peter's role in Christianity while lessening that of Mary's. Gnosticism was not accepted into early Christianity due to its strange views, during the formation of the early church. Gnostics believe that the salvation of the soul comes from internal knowledge of the mysteries of our world, rather than purity of the soul.
Where Mary went and what she did after she left the apostles is debatable. One of the most extreme is that Mary was pregnant with Jesus' child and went to France, where her descendants eventually founded the Merovingian line of kings, made famous recently by the Da Vinci Codes by Dan Brown. Brown's book, a highly fictitious book, depicts Mary as the Holy Grail in Da Vinci's "The Last Supper," rather than the chalice that he drank with. Brown's work was highly influenced by the book, Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln, which was the basis of his writing. Some believed that Mary and Jesus were married since most Jewish men married and Jesus was closest to Mary, although no evidence supports or denies that claim.
Most western Catholics, separated from the East after the Great Schism, believe she fled to France in a boat with Mary, Lazarus and others and lived out her life in a cave for 30 years before dying at the Chapel of Saint-Maximin, located in the Aix En province, about 75 miles northeast of Marseille, in the Southeast of France. In the Eastern traditions, Mary is believed to have left Jerusalem with Mary, mother of Jesus, and traveled to Ephesus, in modern-day Turkey. Both traditions only add to the mystery that surrounds the life of Mary Magdalene.
Although many aspects of Mary's life are debatable, we do know that she was a diligent follower of Jesus and the first to witness his resurrection. Only in the past forty years have we revealed that her identification as a prostitute was false, which means that there is still more to learn about this Biblical mystery. With the amount of research and writing being done, it is likely that the future will yield some answers that either put to rest or raise more questions about the life, death, relationships, and apostle status of Mary Magdalene.
Anonymous. 'Bible Mysteries: The Real Mary Magdalene. BBC. available
from
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/features/biblemysteries/mary.shtml>
(16 December 2005).
This article describes the mysteries surrounding
one of Christianity's most intriguing characters, Mary Magdalene. It examined
why Mary might have been perceived as a prostitute, such as no evidence of being
married or widowed and how her name describes where she came from, a small town
in Galilee. The article goes further by describing the importance of her in the
Bible, being the first to see Jesus after his resurrection and telling the
apostles that he had arisen. Lastly, the article discusses the Gospels of Mary
and Phillip, and how she gave advice and received criticism after Jesus'
resurrection. The article is very easy to read and I recommend to readers who
want to know more about Mary Magdalene.
Anonymous. Mary Magdalene: FAQ. Magdalene.org
Available from
<http://www.magdalene.org/faq.php>
(16 December 2005).
The website
provides answers to frequently asked questions about Mary Magdalene, such as who
she was, if Jesus and Mary were married, and where she was born and died. The
answers to these questions and others listed on the site are answered
objectively and will provide the reader with some clarification about frequent
questions commonly asked about Mary Magdalene. The site also provides many
pictures associated with Mary as well as a list of books that are written about
her. The goal of the site is to provide information about Mary Magdalene in
a non-secular way. The site was founded by Lesa Bellevie in July 1998, who has
written a book on Mary called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mary Magdalene
as part of her ongoing research that she started in 1997. She is an amateur
historian, but the information is very well gathered and put
forward.
Anonymous. Saints of July 22 available from <http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0722.htm>
(16 December ).
The website gives a listing of saints that are
remembered on July 22. There is a biography of Mary Magdalene that describes the
common misconception of her as a prostitute that stayed with her for nearly 2000
years. The site also provides two possibilities of where she traveled to after
the Resurrection of Jesus. The site is very helpful and has a vast number of
other saints listed as well, which may be useful. I recommend the site to all
readers.
Brock, Ann Graham. Mary Magdalene, The First
Apostle: The Struggle for Authority. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 2003.
Brock's book looks at the struggle for power between
Mary and Peter after Jesus' death and immediate resurrection. She uses early
Christian writings, such as the Gospels of the New Testament as well as Gnostic
Gospels to show how Peter in his quest for authority subjugated the status of
women that set the standard for the male hierarchy for years to come. The
purpose of her book is to regain Mary's status as the first apostle so that
other Christians can look to her example, regardless of gender, and take a more
active role in the church. The book is extremely well written and I recommend it
to those who are examining Mary's role in the beginning of Christianity as well
as those who are trying to understand how she became better recognized as a
sinner than an apostle. Ann Graham Brock is a professor at Harvard
University.
Ehrman, Bart D. Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci
Code. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
The purpose of
Ehrman's book is to separate fact from fiction in Dan Brown's book, The Da
Vinci Code. He begins the book by listing ten factual errors that are found
in the book, followed by a brief summary of the Brown's work. The rest of the
book analyzes early Christianity and such figures as Jesus, Mary and Constantine
that are included in the Da Vinci Code. In doing so, he uses primary
documents to separate the errors and facts that are contained in the book. The
book is well written and the list of errors that he provides will be helpful to
those examining The Da Vinci Codes authenticity, or lack thereof. Bart
Ehrman is a professor of history at the University of California
Riverside.
Higgs, Liz. Mad Mary. Colorado Springs:
Waterbrook Press, 2001.
Liz Higgs' book can be broken down into two
parts, Mad Mary: The Story and Mad Mary: The Study. In the first part, Higgs
transforms the story of Mary Magdalene into the present day by telling the story
of Mary Margaret Delaney, a fictional equivalent to Mary Magdalene, and Jake
Stauros, a fiction preacher who is to be Jesus' equal. The story unfolds in a
similar manner with Jake dying and resurrecting, although differently on Easter
Sunday and Mary following him devotedly to the very end. In the second part of
her book, she examines the real Mary Magdalene and how Christianity has recorded
her since the death of Jesus. Her intent is to transform Mary Magdalene from the
sinner into devout follower that she was by clearing up common misconceptions
given to her by providing historical fact and avoiding bias and skepticism. She
is an accomplished aouthor with over twenty books in print and has appeared on
major network stations for religious and family programs such as PBS, BBC,
A&E and NPR.
Lampman, Jane. 'Who Was Mary Magdalene? The Buzz Goes
Mainstream.' Christian Science Monitor 14 Nov 2003.
Lampman's article discusses
how Mary Magdalene has become center of attention in the Christian world after
the release of The Da Vinci Code and offers commentary on the book by Ben
Witherington III, a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, who has his own
citation further in the bibliography.. Her article examines the legend that
Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a royal bloodline is due to some
scholars belief that most Jewish men married. Since Jesus was Jewish, they
believe that he was married and to Mary. She also discusses the Gospel of Mary,
a Gnostic book that was seen as heretical in early Christianity. She looks at a
recent book by Karen King of the Harvard Divinity School, The Gospel of Mary
Magdala and discusses how King believes Mary was an important apostle after
the death and resurrection of Jesus. The article is well written and I recommend
to those who are unfamiliar with what the Gnostic books contain and how they are
separate from those found in the Bible. Lampman is a staff writer for the
Christian Science Monitor.
PBS. 'From Jesus to Christ: The Gospel of
Mary.' Available from
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/mary.html>
(16 December 2005).
The PBS website provides an excerpt from the
Gnostic Gospel of Mary where she speaks to the apostles following Jesus' death.
In the Gospel of Mary, she tells the apostles about teachings that Jesus
privately gave to her in a vision. Following her statements, two apostles, Peter
and Andrew, don't believe that what she said came from Jesus and that the
teachings are strange. Levi defends Mary and states that Jesus loved her more
than the fellow apostles and calls Peter 'hot-tempered.' The excerpt is a
valuable primary source that the reader can look at and see how it differs from
the accepted books that are in the Bible. The intent of the site is to
authenticate Biblical writings with historical evidence and
data.
Ricci, Carla. Mary Magdalene and Many Others: Women who
Followed Jesus. Trans. from Italian by Paul Burns. Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1994.
Ricci begins her book by hypothesizing on why women were not
heard in the time of Jesus due to a number of social and religious factors that
ultimately lead to the establishment of male-dominated texts. She then discusses
how Mary became labeled as a prostitute and the further described the conditions
that women faced in Galilee during the time of Jesus. The book then examines
many of the women who followed Jesus, with prime concentration on Mary
Magdalene. This is the best source I found concerning women and the social
conditions in Galilee at the time of Jesus and will aid those studying not only
Mary Magdalene, but other women followers of Jesus and women in Galilee at that
time. Ricci received her doctorate from the University of
Bologna.
Schaberg, Jane. The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene. New York: Continuum Publishing, 2002.
Jane Schaberg's book takes an
in-depth look at the life of Mary Magdalene by analyzing and evaluating her
presence in early Christian texts and legends. She then looks at Gnostic texts
and other sources that were termed heretical and believes that the Gnostic
writings were seen this way due to the power struggle between Mary and Peter.
She tries to restore Magdalene's image as a women who was faithful to her
teacher to the end and that her labeling over time was due to the threat that a
women was too close to Jesus and knew to much. She ends her book with excerpts
from John 20 that link Mary as the possible successor to Jesus and the movement
that he started. She received her Ph. D. in Biblical studies from Union
Theological Seminary.
Schlumpf, Heidi. 'Who Framed Mary
Magdalene?' U.S. Catholic Apr 2000. available from Academic Search Premier
(accessed 8 Nov 2005).
Heidi Schlumpf's article looks at how women today
are trying to examine Mary Magdalene's role in the early church, the one that
saw her as a prostitute and now as an advisor to the apostles, as a way of
strengthening women's role in the church today. The breadth of the article
examines the 4 Gospel accounts of Mary seeing Jesus after the Resurrection as
well as how Pope Gregory the Great labeled her as a prostitute. It then
discusses how Mary and Peter were at the center of the early church and Peter,
being a male, became the leader and Mary's role became limited. I recommend the
article to all readers who are doing research on Mary due to the quality of the
work and the way the author breaks the article down into sections focusing on
certain topics.
Van Biema, David. 'Mary Magdalene: Saint or
Sinner?' originally in Time 11 Aug 2003. available from <http://www.danbrown.com/media/morenews/time.html>
(16 December 2005).
This article examines the way Magdalene was wrongfully
depicted as a prostitute by Pope Gregory the Great when he combined three
Biblical Mary's into one person and the seven demons that were exorcised out of Mary
were the seven vices. It then goes on to examine some of the thinking that Mary
was pregnant with Jesus' child and started the Merovingian line of kings in
France. Lastly, the article discusses the jealousy that Peter had in the Gnostic
Gospel of Mary when Peter became enraged when Mary states that she has received
private instruction from Jesus without the knowing of the Apostles. I recommend
the article to all readers seeking to see how Mary was transformed from witness
to prostitute and back again. David Van Biema is a writer for Time. The
article is located at Dan Brown's website to provide background material on Mary
Magdalene, who is a focal point of his book, The Da Vinci
Code.
Witherington, Ben. 'Mary, Mary, Extraordinary.' Beliefnet.
Available
from
<http://www.beliefnet.com/story/135/story_13503.html>
(16 December 2005).
The purpose of Witherington's article is prove
that there is no historical evidence that Mary Magdalene's relationship was
nothing more than student to teacher. He provides a background on who Mary
Magdalene was, gives examples of where she appears in the New Testament, and
defends that she was a devout follower of Jesus after he cast seven demons from
her. He defends that Mary Magdalene was not a sinner, it was an assumption that
occurred in the early Middle Ages. The article is well written and I recommend
it to others who wish to know more about Mary and her appearances in the Bible.
Witherington is a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary. Witherington is also
mentioned in an earlier citation focusing on an article by Jane Lampman.
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URL: http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/marymagda.html |