Mary Magdalene and the making of a reputation
Mary Magdalene is not identified as a prostitute in the New Testament. That familiar reputation developed through the merging of several women's identities in later Christian interpretation. The canonical gospels instead present her as a follower of Jesus and a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection. Scholars, both secular and religious, accept her as a historical figure, although little is known about her life. She left no known writings of her own, and neither the Pauline epistles nor the general epistles mention her. The gospels therefore carry particular importance for understanding her role among Jesus' followers.
Her name also helps distinguish her within that group. Mary was the most common Jewish female given name during the first century, and several women following Jesus shared it. Magdalene is usually understood to connect her with Magdala, a fishing village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Elizabeth Schrader Polczer and Joan Taylor have offered another interpretation: a nickname associated with a tower. Even the familiar geographical explanation thus has a scholarly alternative. The repeated given name is especially relevant to a later tradition that combined her identity with that of another woman named Mary.
Luke places Mary Magdalene among women who traveled with Jesus and supported his ministry from their own resources. Joanna and Susanna are also named in that group. Luke says that seven demons had gone out of her; the longer ending of Mark repeats that detail, although it is absent from the earliest manuscripts of that gospel. Scholars have interpreted the number in different ways, including as symbolic completeness. Her financial support has led Maurice Casey and Bart Ehrman to infer relative wealth. Those are scholarly interpretations of her circumstances, rather than a gospel identification of an occupation.
Her prominence extends to the final events of Jesus' life. All four canonical gospels describe women witnessing the crucifixion, and three explicitly name her. Mark lists her alongside Mary the mother of James and Salome. Matthew names her, another Mary, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Luke mentions women without giving their names, while John names her among those at the cross. Mark and Matthew also identify her as a witness to the burial. These differing lists place her within a group of women who remained important to the gospel narratives at the crucifixion and tomb.
The later identification with other women became especially influential in 591. Pope Gregory I joined Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the unnamed sinful woman who anoints Jesus' feet in Luke. Mary of Bethany is the sister of Martha and Lazarus, while Luke's anointing woman is not named. The unnamed woman is herself never called a prostitute; sinful could refer to failure to observe the law of Moses. Gregory's homily nevertheless gave the combined figure a specifically sexual past. He interpreted the seven demons as the seven deadly sins, extending the portrait to pride and covetousness as well as lust.
That interpretation shaped Western religious art and literature, where the penitent sinner became almost as significant as the disciple. Medieval theology placed great importance on penitence, helping that image find a lasting role. Legends from Western Europe elaborated stories about her wealth, beauty, and an alleged journey to southern Gaul. Later tradition also mixed her story with Mary of Egypt, a repentant prostitute who became a hermit. Each additional association gave the composite figure another layer. These developments belong to the history of her reputation and devotion, with later legends adding details beyond her gospel identity.
Christian traditions did not all follow the same path. The Eastern Orthodox Church has consistently treated Mary Magdalene as a virtuous Myrrhbearer and Equal to the Apostles, distinct from the other biblical women. Gnostic writings often portray her as spiritually insightful and prominent, with a favored relationship to Jesus. In Western Christianity, identifying her with the other women became controversial before the Reformation, and some Protestant leaders rejected the combination. During the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church emphasized her as a symbol of penance. Her identity therefore moved through several different devotional and interpretive settings rather than one uniform tradition.
A formal Catholic calendar change came in 1969, when Pope Paul VI removed the identification with Mary of Bethany and Luke's unnamed sinner from the General Roman Calendar. Catholic emphasis later highlighted her role as the first witness to the resurrection and honored her as the Apostle to the Apostles. Devotion also has a physical presence in places associated with alleged relics. Catholic sites in France and Orthodox sites on Mount Athos preserve alleged relics attributed to Mary Magdalene, with devotional displays and annual processions.
- Wikipedia, Mary Magdalene — en.wikipedia.org