Mary Magdalene is one of those women almost everyone has heard of, and yet so many people were taught a version of her story that the earliest Christian texts do not actually tell.
The Bible never calls her a prostitute.
What it does say is that she followed Jesus, supported his ministry, remained present at the crucifixion and was among the first witnesses to the empty tomb.
In the Gospel of John, she is the one who goes back to the other disciples and tells them she has seen the risen Jesus.
That is an extraordinary role and yet, centuries later, Mary’s identity became tangled with those of other women in the Gospels, including an unnamed “sinful woman”.
In 591, Pope Gregory I helped cement that interpretation in Western Christianity by treating those women as the same person.
Over time, Mary Magdalene became famous not primarily as a disciple and messenger, but as the repentant prostitute.
That image became so powerful that it shaped sermons, paintings, books and popular culture for centuries.
Which is what is fascinating about her story.
Mary Magdalene was not forgotten. Her name survived. Her importance survived.
But the woman people imagined when they heard that name changed.
A woman associated in the earliest texts with loyalty, leadership and carrying one of Christianity’s most important messages became remembered through an invented sexual past.
Her story was retold through a man’s interpretation, and that version became more famous than the one the earliest sources actually gave us.
Sometimes women disappear from history.
We remember their names perfectly. We just remember the wrong story.
#herstory #feminism #WomenInHistory #feministIMary Magdalene is one of those women almost everyone has heard of, and yet so many people were taught a version of her story that the earliest Christian texts do not actually tell.
The Bible never calls her a prostitute.
What it does say is that she followed Jesus, supported his ministry, remained present at the crucifixion and was among the first witnesses to the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene is one of those women almost everyone has heard of, and yet so many people were taught a version of her story that the earliest Christian texts do not actually tell.
The Bible never calls her a prostitute.
What it does say is that she followed Jesus, supported his ministry, remained present at the crucifixion and was among the first witnesses to the empty tomb.
In the Gospel of John, she is the one who goes back to the other disciples and tells them she has seen the risen Jesus.
That is an extraordinary role and yet, centuries later, Mary’s identity became tangled with those of other women in the Gospels, including an unnamed “sinful woman”.
In 591, Pope Gregory I helped cement that interpretation in Western Christianity by treating those women as the same person.
Over time, Mary Magdalene became famous not primarily as a disciple and messenger, but as the repentant prostitute.
That image became so powerful that it shaped sermons, paintings, books and popular culture for centuries.
Which is what is fascinating about her story.
Mary Magdalene was not forgotten. Her name survived. Her importance survived.
But the woman people imagined when they heard that name changed.
A woman associated in the earliest texts with loyalty, leadership and carrying one of Christianity’s most important messages became remembered through an invented sexual past.
Her story was retold through a man’s interpretation, and that version became more famous than the one the earliest sources actually gave us.
Sometimes women disappear from history.
We remember their names perfectly. We just remember the wrong story.
#herstory #feminism #WomenInHistory #feministIn the Gospel of John, she is the one who goes back to the other disciples and tells them she has seen the risen Jesus.
That is an extraordinary role and yet, centuries later, Mary’s identity became tangled with those of other women in the Gospels, including an unnamed “sinful woman”.
In 591, Pope Gregory I helped cement that interpretation in Western Christianity by treating those women as the same person.
Over time, Mary Magdalene became famous not primarily as a disciple and messenger, but as the repentant prostitute.
That image became so powerful that it shaped sermons, paintings, books and popular culture for centuries.
Which is what is fascinating about her story.
Mary Magdalene was not forgotten. Her name survived. Her importance survived.
But the woman people imagined when they heard that name changed.
A woman associated in the earliest texts with loyalty, leadership and carrying one of Christianity’s most important messages became remembered through an invented sexual past.
Her story was retold through a man’s interpretation, and that version became more famous than the one the earliest sources actually gave us.
Sometimes women disappear from history.
We remember their names perfectly. We just remember the wrong story.
#herstory #feminism #WomenInHistory #feministMary Magdalene is one of those women almost everyone has heard of, and yet so many people were taught a version of her story that the earliest Christian texts do not actually tell.
The Bible never calls her a prostitute.
What it does say is that she followed Jesus, supported his ministry, remained present at the crucifixion and was among the first witnesses to the empty tomb.
In the Gospel of John, she is the one who goes back to the other disciples and tells them she has seen the risen Jesus.
That is an extraordinary role and yet, centuries later, Mary’s identity became tangled with those of other women in the Gospels, including an unnamed “sinful woman”.
In 591, Pope Gregory I helped cement that interpretation in Western Christianity by treating those women as the same person.
Over time, Mary Magdalene became famous not primarily as a disciple and messenger, but as the repentant prostitute.
That image became so powerful that it shaped sermons, paintings, books and popular culture for centuries.
Which is what is fascinating about her story.
Mary Magdalene was not forgotten. Her name survived. Her importance survived.
But the woman people imagined when they heard that name changed.
A woman associated in the earliest texts with loyalty, leadership and carrying one of Christianity’s most important messages became remembered through an invented sexual past.
Her story was retold through a man’s interpretation, and that version became more famous than the one the earliest sources actually gave us.
Sometimes women disappear from history.
We remember their names perfectly. We just remember the wrong story.
#herstory #feminism #WomenInHistory #feminist
