the reason why people think that mary magdalene was a prostitute is because in the sixth century, gregory the great equated mary magdalene with the sinful woman who anointed jesus s feet. since that day, christians there after have thought that mary magdalene was a prostitute. i think pope saint gregory the great was not trying to be mean to mary magdalene or women. i think it was probably the result of poor scholarship. we not only have a collection of four gospels that circulate together, we have a tradition that says it s okay to blend these stories together. it is from this mistake that the image of mary magdalene as a sinful prostitute emerges. it is a myth that is concealed the reality behind why she became so devoted to jesus and play add central part in his life and resurrection.
successful, independent businesswoman who is maybe in her 60s whos a worked hard and now in the later years of her life is focused on spirituality and spiritual growth. i think that mary magdalene was probably a wealthy woman. i think she was probably elderly or older woman who had the financial means to support jesus and the jesus movement. maybe she doesn t live very long after jesus, and for that reason, we just don t hear about her. it s an extraordinary notion, but whatever the final truth about her age, what we can be sure of is how jesus reached out to this possessed woman, how she became his closest female follower, and an example to all who would come after her. she was the one who had the deep spiritual connection with
men. and at the gospel of mary at the end she goes out and preaches. i saw the lord jesus christ in a vision. the gospel of mary is the only known gospel that depicts mary magdalene as a leader in the early church, but how seriously should we take it as a record of actual events? we know that mary of magdalene did not write in gospel. we can tell from the style of the text, from the language, the vocabulary that s used that it really dates back to the middle of the 2nd century. by that time the historical mary magdalene was long gone. even if this gospel can t be taken as a serious historical record, it points at something else. a possible dispute over the role of women in the early church. well, i think this really speaks to historically a tension between male and female leaders in the church. the gospel of mary shows that early christians were still trying to hash out what really the role of women was in the
close friend of jesus and a follower, but not his wife. what the gospel of philip clearly says is that there is some kind of a favored relationship between mary magdalene and jesus, that jesus does care for her more than the other disciples, and that s all it really tells us. but some scholars believe the texts to reflect a genuine tension between mary and peter. i think the tension that s reflected in some of the texts outside the bible, none canon cal texts reflect a tension between meter and mary. the negative depiction of peter is consistent. and the idea that mary is not properly heard or respected is also consistent across the sources, which leads many of us to suspect that there might be a grain of historical truth there.
i don t think that anyone wants to die alone. and i know that jesus didn t want to die alone because the stories of the crucifixion have him asking god why he s been abandoned. so having mary and the other women there, that has to be a comfort, that has to be reassuring, it has to be good to know that when you ve been abandoned, there s still people there who care. mary magdalene does something that all of us can do when we re faced with suffering, which is she brings her presence. she can t solve jesus s suffering, she can t take him from the cross, but she can be present to him. a lot of times when we re