The Faith of Mary Magdalene Matters

The Woman's Story is the heart of the Gospel

Until the 12th Century, Christians saw Mary Magdalene as the Theotokos, the Mother of God. She was the first human to realize the goal of the incarnation--the deification of humanity.

The man she was engaged to was going to annul their engagement for committing adultery. But her love and hospitality for humanity and her faith in the incarnation, won her bridegroom's heart (Matthew 1:19; James 2:25).

The Woman with the Alabaster Jar

Until 1969, the Roman Catholic Church saw Mary Magdalene as the Woman who anointed Jesus. Today, feminists and popular theology insist there is no explicit evidence to conflate Mary Magdalene with the other Marys of the Gospel or the Woman with the Alabaster Jar. (Vogt Turner MALS thesis project 2011)

Mary Magdalene and Forgiveness

Christianity and the Gospel is about forgiving sins and acknowledging the tears of those we have wronged or hurt. It's about acknowledging the TRUTH, even when we are afraid to acknowledge the TRUTH and cause our selves and our loved ones to suffer.

Remembering how we hurt others matters. It is time as an Ecumenical body of believers preaching the Gospel to confess our faith and be the Light of the World we are called to be.

Jesus says, "...wherever the gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Mary Magdalene and The Woman with the Alabaster Jar

The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: The Forgiven Sinner

Abstract

This article lifts up the Woman with the Alabaster Jar of Luke’s Gospel, chapter 7. The Pharisee saw her as a sinner because according to Pharisaic laws she was. Jesus, the Teacher at the Pharisee’s house agrees. He says the Woman has sinned much and is forgiven much. This paper explores the importance of forgiveness and the importance of showing hospitality, love, and justice to one’s neighbour. Roman Catholic tradition used to conflate this woman with Mary Magdalene claiming that Mary Magdalene was the sinner forgiven for her great love for the Teacher. In recent years, many people have opposed Roman Catholic tradition because too many Christians were exploiting the image of Mary Magdalene in a negative way to gain power over women and people of other races and faiths. [1] Thus this article opposes both the modern and the old exploited views. It maintains that the Woman of Luke 7 is the bitterly treated woman of the Gospel who overcame and rose with the Teacher as the Christ. She earned the title “Mary” because of the way people bitterly treated her for “breaking” God’s ancient Patriarchal law that scholars and priests were using to chastise and exclude women and their Gentile and Samaritan neighbours from the great banquet of life where God’s Love and eco-justice is for all. She earned the title the “Magdalene” because she is a tower of strength and a great light, a burning torch that the Teacher speaks face to face with in the garden.

Keywords Patriarchal Laws, Forgiveness, God’s Love, Eco-justice

The Woman with the Alabaster Jar (pdf)

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Mary Magdalene: Her image and relationship to Jesus

Who Mary Magdalene was matters especially in the context of how Jesus related to her. Many people want to know: Who was she? Was she merely one of many female disciples accompanying Jesus? Have traditional roles and sexual morality defined her and kept her from being recognized as Jesus’s counterpart, his equal? What is the historical reality within the stories told about her? Can that even be determined? What evidence is there?

Download and read my Master of Arts Liberal Studies (MALS) thesis project.

Vogt Turner MALS Project (pdf)