Who was Mary Magdalene?

[ElectroPrincess]

I found this Australian article interesting and a potential to begin an exchange regarding St. Mary Magdalene. Since there is so much lore surrounding her, I'm interested in what fellow Christians think of her presence in the Bible and relationship to Jesus?
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Online Catholics
An Independent Australian e Journal

In her own Right
by Ann Ryan
<snip>

In this week of the feast of Mary Magdalene it seems an appropriate time to ask "who was Mary Magdalene?"

If you were to ask this question of many people it's likely the answer would be : a prostitute, a sinner, a fallen woman or even the wife of Jesus.

Having done a fair bit of reading (as one does) for this story of Mary Magdalene I was amazed by the number of myths and legends about her... we have Dan Brown describing her as The Holy Grail, pregnant with Jesus' child and starting a blood line down through the ages. We have stories of Mary Magdalene traveling by boat to the South of France where she died and has a monastery built to house her relics. We even have a 'Gospel of Mary' written in the second or third century where Mary claims that she had conversations with Jesus after the Resurrection which allowed her to have secret knowledge or 'gnosis' revealed only to her. This gospel is part of the Gnostic literature which was declared to be heretical and the adherents of this sect were condemned and burnt.

I decided to start my inquiry with the official "Book of Saints" and found that she is indeed listed as a saint and "mentioned in the four gospels as one of the most devoted followers of Our Lord".

/snip

[Princess Turandot]

1. There is a great deal of confusion over this topic..

Vatican II clarified that Mary Magdalene should never have been considered a prostitute but rather that that description was attached to her by an early Pope for a variety of reasons having nothng to do with religious scholarship. Confusing the matter is the reference to 3 Marys (excluding the Blessed Mother) in the 4 main Gospels, including one who had 7 devils cast out of her and the first person to whom Jesus appeared after His Resurrection.I believe the 4 Evangelists all refer to the later person, who is believed to be the Mary Magdalen.

She was obviously a person of great import to Jesus.

As an aside, and not addressed at all to you, I find it sad that so much of the discussion of this has come in general as a result of a book by a mediocre writer and that Dan Brown's fiction seems to have taken the place of missing information or facts by so many people. I'd read "The DaVinci Code" not long after it came out and remain completely mystified as to why it has been so successful, except that it 'questioned' Catholicism not long after the priest scandals IMO. It was badly written (as in the craft of novels) and had a story line which was bad enough, only to be topped by the stupidest ending I've ever read in a novel, and I've read quite a few. The fact that his prior book did so well in re-release in hardcover was definitely not a testimony to his writing skills.

[Dorian Gray]

2. Princess

I agree with your assessment of Dan Brown's writings. (I stupidly read Angels and Demons on top of The DaVinci Code.) He's a subpar novelist, though an easy read. I think your assessment about the success of the books is correct, as well.

[Princess Turandot]

3. Thanks!

It was a crappy book. I'd read Angels & Demons in paperback when it came out and assumed it was poorly written because it was an early effort. The next book however did not change my impressions of his writing skills.

[hedgehog]

4. Finally, people who noticed that it was a crappy book!

I've developed a hobby of finding crappy books purportedly based upon the secrets of the Catholic Church and/or the last days, speed reading them, and giving a synopsis to my family. They roll on the floor laughing. I'd love an abridgment of the Left behind series. There's no way I'm plowing through umpteen volumes for the good parts. I did peak into the first one and came across the scene where the good people are explaining to the protagonist about the anti-Christ. They sit him down in front of a TV and pop in a video! The next few pages were a blow by blow description of the video! Now that's suspense!

[CBHagman]

5. Books like that have been around for decades.

Thirty years ago I read a novel called "666," which was a depiction of the rapture, the rise of the antichrist, the tribulation, and the Second Coming.

One thing that always concerns me is the tendency for people to take works of fiction entirely too seriously. The same is true of movies. I shudder to think that filmgoers get their understanding of, say, William Wallace or Elizabeth I from the movies. It's not going to get any better, given the upcoming "Brothers Grimm" (Shoot me NOW) and "Da Vinci Code."

[hedgehog]

6. My kids can't wait for the Da Vinci movie

They expect it to be hilarious.

[Dorian Gray]

7. Hah!

Hedgehog, there ARE no good parts!

For some reason, I got suckered into reading the first three of the Left Behind books. After the first book, nothing freaking happens! They're not only poorly written, but they're boring!



Mary Magdalene, however, is not! I just bought Margaret George's book (she does historical fiction) based on her. I've read her books on Mary Queen of Scots and Cleopatra. They're pretty well written and researched, even though she does fictionalize them. It's currently in my very long queue. Anybody else read it?

[regnaD kciN]

8. If you want a good laugh...

...check out The Asti Spumante Code by Toby Clements, a parody that skewers Dan Brown's turgid writing style and tinfoilhattedness to near perfection.

[CBHagman]

9. There's a new book coming out about Mary Magdalene.

I haven't read it yet, but the little I heard about it suggests that it addresses some of the issues raised in The Da Vinci Code. I have no idea which stand the author takes, but I believe he made use of the Gnostic Gospels in research.

As far as I know, there have been some really solid scholarly books on Mary Magdalene in the recent past.

Thoughts, anybody?

On edit: I am one of those people who hasn't read The Da Vinci Code yet (and I may never get around to it). So please don't misunderstand me: my understanding of Mary Magdalene comes from the Gospels and what little I've read on her, not from novels or even popular conceptions of this particular figure.