Holy Mary Magdalene: Old and New

By Zacharias P Thundy

Who is really the Mary Magdalene of the Gospels? How is it that she is known and proclaimed also as a courtesan? How did she become, in spite of her alleged disrepute, the "apostle of apostles" seemingly in the Fourth Gospel? Remarkably, Mary the Mother of Jesus, is mentioned as leader of the Apostles about Pentecost as the leader of the Apostles in Acts (1:15)? Gospel evidence indicates that Jesus first appeared to a Mary after his resurrection. To which Mary did he appear first? The Eastern tradition, based on Tatian's Diatesseron, Jesus first appeared to his mother. If that claim is reliable, is Magdalene a historical person different from Jesus' mother? Given the way several Marys are mentioned in the Gospels, we wonder whether there is just one Mary or many Marys. If there is only one Mary, who is she? This study suggests that the literary figure of this mysterious Mary appears with several titles like the "mother of Jesus," "sister of Martha and Lazarus," and "Magdalene." Are they all really different historical persons or aren't they just aspects of the eternal feminine? This study explores this literary issue of the biblical persona of Mary by focusing on Mary as Magdalene. Years of study have convinced me that the books of Bible like other religious texts are famously and primarily literary texts and not historical or eyewitness documents in spite of what we had learned in our childhood.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1539893898
• ISBN13: 9781539893899
• Release Date: November 2016
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 124 Pages
• Weight: 0.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"