Myths and mysteries of Mary Magdalene
By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Ann Graham Brock, an author with a Harvard doctorate in her pedigree, gets a little exasperated when she hears people maligning the reputation of Mary Magdalene.
Ann Graham Brock, author of "Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle: the Struggle for Authority," next to "The Deposition of Christ," 1577, by Benedetto Caliari, at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Brock contends that Mary Magdalene was Christ's confidante and a leader in her own right.
"First, we have the prostitute accusation," said the Hawai'i resident whose book, "Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle: The Struggle for Authority" is in its second printing. "Now, thanks to 'The Da Vinci Code,' she's a wife."
How did Mary Magdalene, who has inspired legions of the faithful, gnostics and scholars, and even affected pop culture, come to be so popular — and so misunderstood?
The answer is a complicated one. Mary Magdalene is a symbol of women's changing role in Christianity, and an inspiration to women who see her as a strong and faithful figure. Her story was twisted by the mistake of an early pope; but now, new research done by a largely female contingent of scholars, who are finding biblical support for women's place in the clergy, is bringing her again to the forefront of theological studies.
Many are taking up Mary Magdalene's cause, locally as well as nationally. The saint was identified as an "it girl" on college campuses recently by one national newsweekly, and a Honolulu clergyman has waded into the waters, even muddier than the River Jordan.
Why is she so popular?
Long before Brown's novel, a bulwark of research into women's roles in the early church were inspiring a legion of scholars. Among them was Brock, whose book has been described as "brilliant" by Magdalene.org curator Lesa Bellevie of Redmond, Wash.
Bellevie created a Web site devoted to Mary Magdalene six years ago, before the saint was gracing magazine covers and showing up as a character in best-selling books and as the patron saint of gnostics. Today, she has a mailing list of hundreds, and hears from people all over the globe.
But don't underestimate the power of a best-selling novel, even if it purports that it's Mary Magdalene, not the apostle John, in Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper," and that the holy grail isn't a cup at all, but ... well, you'll have to read the book to learn all the details.
Kailua resident Liza Delin just started reading "The Da Vinci Code," and is fascinated by the changes in her own spirituality. She's helping to organize a retreat, "Awakening the Divine Feminine," to be held tomorrow at the Paewalani Retreat Center in Kane'ohe.
Echoing the largely female Magdalene following, Delin admits she's looked for a sense of women's place in her spiritual path.
"I always felt like something was missing," she said. When she discovered the divine feminine in Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene, she said, "Oh, this was the missing piece."
She adds that Mary Magdalene was "this historical person, so very important for early church."
Misconceptions abound
Ann Graham Brock will discuss and sign her book, "Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle": • 4 p.m. May 29, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 737-3323. • Noon June 26, Borders Books & Music, Ward Centre, 591-8995. • Noon June 27, Borders Books & Music, Waikele (book-signing only), 676-6699.
Awakening the Divine Feminine • All-day spiritual retreat on "balancing the masculine and feminine energies." • 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow • Paewalani Retreat Center, Kane'ohe • $25 (bring bag lunch) • 523-1170
The Rev. Frank White, a Religious Science Church of Honolulu preacher, realized many of his congregants were getting their information from Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," a novel that smiled like the Mona Lisa from atop the best-seller list for 54 consecutive weeks. White held a class last month that was so well-received that he's thinking of making it into a two-class series next time.
Book signings
The 16 participants listened intently for several hours as they sifted the facts from the fallacies,
"For some it was a complete new thing," he said. "(For) some with Catholic backgrounds, a real shock."
White said the problem began in the 6th century, when Pope Gregory the Great gave a sermon conflating Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany and an unnamed sinner mentioned in the Gospel of Luke into one woman. Others before him had done the same, but not with such authority.
Brock agrees, the problem was location, location, location.
"In the seventh chapter of Luke, a sinner of the city gets conflated with Mary Magdalene," said Brock, who co-edited five other books, and has taught New Testament and world religion courses in various universities as well as at Harvard. "In the beginning of Chapter 8, Luke introduced her as a new figure."
The designation "Mary Magdalene the prostitute" seemed to be sealed in stone after that, until an ancient Coptic document was discovered in Egypt in 1893 and published in 1941, bringing a flurry of new research.
The truth revealed
In the 1960s, the mistake was corrected by the Roman Catholic church during the Vatican II conference on modernizing the church, but Mary Magdalene's reputation has yet to be mended elsewhere. Even in "The Passion of the Christ," the Mel Gibson movie, she's depicted by Monica Bellucci as a heavily made-up woman who's about to be stoned for adultery.
Some hold fast to a view of Mary Magdalene as a reviled prostitute saved by Jesus because it helps them see him as a hero who ministered to the poor and those on the margins of society, author Brock says.
"He did defend a prostitute, and touch a leper," she said. "He ate and drank with prostitutes, tax collectors, drunkards. He spent time with them. ... That's not to say Mary Magdalene was one of them. She could have been a leader in her own right."
Brock's book, which started as her Harvard dissertation, delves into the question of why some early Christians considered Mary Magdalene to be an apostle though others do not.
Brock suspects that a struggle between Mary Magdalene and the apostle Peter may have been the heart of the matter. Only in the gospel of Luke, who was one of Peter's chief supporters, is it written that Mary Magdalene is not given a commissioning to "go and tell the others" about the resurrection of Jesus. In Luke, she also is described as being possessed by seven demons.
What do other scholars say?
Scholars now accept that Christ not only confided in Mary Magdalene but counted on her for much of his ministry's financing.
Speaking to the Orange County (Calif.) Register, Benjamin Hubbard, professor and chairman of comparative religion at California State University-Fullerton, explained the shift: "To whom did Jesus appear when he first conquered death? It was to Mary Magdalene. That is not considered unimportant anymore," he said. "What if she was not just a convenient messenger or someone to go tell the important men the big news? Then she is the chosen First Witness."
Karen King, Brock's professor at Harvard Divinity School and author of "The Gospel of Mary of Magdala," was quoted in a Newsweek cover story as seeing the saint as the target of jealousy because she threatened Peter's status.
"By transforming her into a reformed whore, King believes, the church fathers 'killed the argument for women's leadership' — and for recognizing women as fit recipients of divine revelation," according to the article.
That transformation also created a powerful symbol of Mary Magdalene, the prostitute as a redeemed sinner, or, as Newsweek put it, "the female version of the Prodigal Son."
Mary Magdalene inspires
What started Brock on her own path toward the Mary Magdalene story is her own struggle for authority. As a young college graduate, she took her date (now her husband, David) to church with her. She was a lifelong Lutheran; he was a Presbyterian who became Lutheran. When the two considered going off to a seminary, David was happily welcomed, but she was only offered a two-year program.
She still puzzles over it, though she remains a Lutheran, albeit in a different branch that does ordain women.
"Gender issues were not high on my scope of issues at the time, but the injustice of it: They wanted Dave, and at the time, I was much more Lutheran, quote and unquote, than he was," Brock said. "That was the birthing of my first gender issues. David, to his credit, said, 'We're just not going there. No way.' "
They switched to a different seminary. Brock eventually went on to Harvard, where her eyes were opened to not only her faith, but to studies of early nonbiblical texts that supported the idea that women held an important place in spreading Jesus' message.
Women's changing roles
Putting women in their place came from outside sources, not from Jesus, Brock said.
"Jesus empowered women and found ways in which they, too, were involved in the story," she said. "It's not coincidence there was a group of women at the tomb. I think that's divine purposefulness."
And as for "The Da Vinci Code," the fiction that has brought Mary Magdalene an even higher profile, "I thought the book was a fascinating read, but troubling, because to lay people, it's hard to know where fiction starts and historical evidence leaves off. ...
"Women's leadership has been suppressed over the years, (but the book) goes too far to say wholesale conspiracy."
History, she notes, is written by the winners — and the pro-Peter faction, called Petrine, "are winners."
"That's part of why women's leadership diminished," she said. "Peter is the spokesman for women's silence, for women to take a second seat."
Benjamin Hubbard's comments on Mary Magdalene were quoted in a story by the Orange County (Calif.) Register. Karen King's comments were quoted in Newsweek. Reach Mary Kaye Ritz at 525-8035 or mritz@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Mary Magdalene has taken on many faces
Misconceptions
Her name, for one. She was probably named Miriam, Mariam or Maria.
Advertiser library photo
For many centuries, she has been confused with an unnamed sinner (in Luke) or another Mary in the Bible, identified as a prostitute whom Jesus forgave, then told to "go and sin no more."
Yvonne Elliman of Honolulu played Mary Magdalene (Ted Neeley was Jesus) in "Jesus Christ Superstar."
She married Jesus and carried his blood line to France, an idea that novelist Dan Brown furthers in "The Da Vinci Code." Though some gnostics took this spark of an idea and a fair amount of Internet speculation fans the flame, most religious scholars say early nonbiblical text shows it's a highly improbable theory.
In pop culture
As the "bride of Christ": In Dan Brown's best-selling novel, "The Da Vinci Code."
As a fallen woman: In Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" and in Martin Scorcese's "The Last Temptation of Christ." While one mention in a gospel remarks that she had "seven demons cast out," nowhere does it specify that she is a prostitute. She also "had so many men before, in very many ways" in "Jesus Christ Superstar."
Is that her in Da Vinci's PAINTING, "The Last Supper"? Art scholars say no; more likely, it's the clean-shaven apostle John.
Is she a saint? Yes, as far as the Roman Catholic Church is concerned. Her feast day is July 22.
• • •
More concerning mores in Biblical times
Ann Graham Brock, author of "Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle," often fields questions such as these, which she answers here:
Q. Wouldn't Jesus, along with other Jewish men at the time, be expected to have been married?
A. "Some scholars argue that since Jesus was a devout Jew, commanded "to be fruitful and multiply," he had to have been married. This is an overgeneralization. We find exceptions, including his own kinsmen, John the Baptist as well as Paul of Tarsus. Moreover Jesus, even though devout, also challenged rules and conventions whenever he saw the need (such as healing on the sabbath or cleansing the temple)."
Q. Don't certain ancient books not in the Bible indicate that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a physical relationship, such as the Gospel of Philip that tells us Jesus kissed Mary Magdalene often on her mouth?
A. "People often misquote this fragmentary third-century text, which actually says, 'Jesus used to kiss her often on the ...' and then, unfortunately, breaks off. The word 'mouth' was simply one of the words scholars suggested to fill in the gap. But it could have been 'cheek' or 'forehead' or whatever."
Q. Do you believe the kissing to be true? If so, what is its meaning?
A. "Kissing could mean any number of things in those days.
In gnostic circles, it was a symbolic way to transfer spiritual knowledge. So before making too much of the kissing, remember even the New Testament says to 'Greet one another with a kiss of love' (1 Pet 5:14). Paul puts it into proper context by calling it a 'holy kiss' (Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; and 1 Thess 5:26). So kissing does not have to be sexual, but simply Christian love or greeting."
A questions and answer session with Ann Graham Brock, author of “Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle.”
Were Jesus’ apostles married?
According to the New Testament, we know, at least, that Peter was married, because the text tells us Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Matt 8:14). Interestingly, despite this reference in the New Testament, most Christians don’t imagine Peter as a married man, especially that portion of the church that emphasizes Peter as its ‘rock’ and yet requires celibacy for its priests.
Many people also have the mistaken idea that it was only a band of 12 men who followed Jesus as disciples. The New Testament itself corrects this notion (Mark 15:40–41; Matt 27:55–56) and tells us that there were also women who followed him from Galilee. Luke not only mentions them but also gives us their names (8:1–3).
Unfortunately, for the rest, we no longer know the marital status of the majority of those who followed Jesus. Apparently, the apostle Paul was not married, and probably many like him chose celibacy in their missionary journeys. On the other hand, some of the early Christian missionaries paired up to go out two by two. In some cases, these were missionary couples such Prisca and Aquila (Acts 18:2, 18:18, 18:26). There is no single model that fits all early Christian leaders.?
What did you think of "The Da Vinci Code"?
I have what I would call a love-hate relationship with this book, because it was simultaneously both a fascinating book and a disturbing one. I enjoyed reading it immensely and acknowledge that Dan Brown has offered us a thought-provoking, entertaining piece of literature. I thoroughly appreciate his writing style, his ability to create suspense, and his skillful incorporation of interesting tidbits of knowledge into the narrative so that you felt that you were learning something while enjoying a good read. In fact, once I got started on the book, it was hard for me to put it down. But the incorporated tidbits of knowledge also act as a two-edged sword. While they give the reader insights into this long-ago world and lend an air of credibility to the author’s perspective, they, nevertheless, remain highly dependent upon the context in which they are placed. It’s a lot like placing two biblical quotes side-by-side: ‘Then Judas went out and hung himself.’ ‘Go ye therefore and do likewise.’ The results can be misleading, even dangerous.
I think this book was meant more as entertainment (which it does brilliantly) than as documentary. Even the title page clearly undergirds this distinction as it articulates this message with the words: ‘A Novel’ boldly printed just below the title. Readers, therefore, need to remember, that even though this book offers up a good dose of historical elements, it is nevertheless a fictional text. At the center of the controversy that this book has stirred is the crucial question: How does the average reader separate fact from fiction? History is always a reconstruction, and with respect to Mary Magdalene, clearly, this book skates on some thin ice. It raises abundant possibilities that simply cannot be supported by the little evidence we have.
I nevertheless appreciate that the book has raised so much good discussion about Mary Magdalene, helps people see the competition between various theologies in the first centuries, and how the ones that celebrated women’s higher status often lost out. It just goes too far.
Do you think that Jesus and Mary Magdalene could have been married? Why do you think so many people find the idea so compelling?
What I find most problematic about the pairing of Mary Magdalene with Jesus in this way is that their relationship is so often sexualized. Why it is so hard for people to imagine that Mary Magdalene was simply an outstanding and important early figure in her own right alongside Peter, and James, and the other early disciples? Popular culture has not only misrepresented Mary Magdalene as a repentant whore, but now, even though it at least makes an ‘honest woman’ of her, it still portrays her primarily as a sexual being rather than as a spiritual leader. Let us instead be more open to the idea that Mary Magdalene was an outstanding leader as many noncanonical texts portray. She did not necessarily have to have had an actual physical union with him.
So you don’t think that Jesus and Mary had offspring and that it is possible their lineage might have continued into the present day?
We do not even know that Jesus was married, so I wouldn’t even begin to speculate upon whether or not he had children.
