Who is Mary Magdalene?

Question

Some says she's a prostitute. Movies say she carries the child of Jesus. But i'm not going to conclude anything until a reasonable answer comes.

Answer 1

Mary Magdalene was neither, she was a prophet that went around with Jesus Christ and preached the Gospel to the masses just like the other apostles nothing more and nothing less than a follower of Jesus.She wasnt his wife that anyone can prove and she definatly was'nt a prostitute ( that came from the cathloic church )
Three decades ago, the Roman Catholic Church quietly admitted what critics had been saying for centuries: Magdalene's standard image as a reformed prostitute is not supported by the text of the Bible. Freed of this lurid, limiting premise and employing varying ratios of scholarship and whimsy, academics and enthusiasts have posited various other Magdalenes: a rich and honored patron of Jesus, an Apostle in her own right, the mother of the Messiah's child and even his prophetic successor. The wealth of possibilities has inspired a wave of literature, both academic and popular, including Margaret George's 2002 best-selling historical novel Mary, Called Magdalene. And it has gained Magdalene a new following among Catholics who see in her a potent female role model and a possible argument against the all-male priesthood. The woman who three Gospels agree was the first witness to Christ's Resurrection is having her own kind of rebirth. Says Ellen Turner, who played host to an alternative celebration for the saint on her traditional feast day on July 22: "Mary [Magdalene] got worked over by the church, but she is still there for us. If we can bring her story forward, we can get back to what Jesus was really about."

In 1988, the book Mary Magdalene: A Woman Who Showed Her Gratitude, part of a children's biblical-women series and a fairly typical product of its time, explained that its subject "was not famous for the great things she did or said, but she goes down in history as a woman who truly loved Jesus with all her heart and was not embarrassed to show it despite criticism from others." That is certainly part of her traditional resume. Many Christian churches would add her importance as an example of the power of Christ's love to save even the most fallen humanity, and of repentance. (The word maudlin derives from her reputation as a tearful penitent.) Centuries of Catholic teaching also established her colloquial identity as the bad girl who became the hope of all bad girls, the saved siren active not only in the overheated imaginations of parochial-school students but also as the patron of institutions for wayward women such as the grim nun-run laundries featured in the new movie The Magdalene Sisters. In the culture at large, writer Kathy Shaidle has suggested, Magdalene is "the Jessica Rabbit of the Gospels, the gold-hearted town tramp belting out I Don't Know How to Love Him."

Answer 2

Both are inaccurate assumptions. There is no definite pronouncement in the Bible that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute.

About Mary Magdalene and Jesus having been married, it was all a part of the Priory of Sion which was admitted as a hoax. Dan Brown promoted it as fact eventhough the BBC even made documentaries about the faked documents.

Answer 3

It is wrong in my opinion to take an historical person who lived 2000 years ago and make up a fictitious life for them just to make money off of it. Now people have a concept in their heads that is not right. Mary Magdalene was a person in the Bible. We know very Little about her. She had seven demons cast out of her by Jesus, She supported Jesus' ministry out of her personal means, she was at the cross when He died and was at the tomb on the first day of the week and was the first person to see Jesus after He rose from the dead. Anything beyond that is speculation, fantasy, and conjecture. If the writer was going to make up a story he should have made up the name also and not disgraced this woman by using her name.

Answer 4

Mary Magdalene is described, both in the canonical New Testament and in the New Testament apocrypha, as a devoted disciple of Jesus. She is considered by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches to be a saint, with a feast day of July 22. Her name means "Mary of Magdala", after a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The life of the historical Mary is a subject of ongoing debate

more information can be found @

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene

Answer 5

Mary Magdalene is described, both in the canonical New Testament and in the New Testament apocrypha, as a devoted disciple of Jesus. She is considered by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches to be a saint, with a feast day of July 22. Her name means "Mary of Magdala", after a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The life of the historical Mary is a subject of ongoing debate.

Answer 6

The Magdalene was Jesus' number one apostle (Judas was #2). Her place was on one side of Jesus, and his on the other. She was the lord's consort and they were spiritually married, they were one. She was not a whore, and she was not demon-possessed. Personally I don't think they had children because there is nothing written about it, though it is possible. Jesus left his church to his wife and to "James the Just."

The reason why Mary was made a demon possessed prostitute is this:

“My Lord, my mind is understanding at all times that I should come forward at any time and give the interpretation of the words which she [Sophia] spoke, but I am afraid of Peter, for he threatens me and he hates our race.” [Pistis Sophia]

So Peter snatched the church from them, and his disciples demonised her and Judas. But the Magdalene will get back everything the thieves took from her.

Answer 7

you sort of answered it yourself, basically this...if the scriptures do not tell us we do not know and thus cannot guess as it says they are of no private interpretation. What I know of her she was a prostitute before becoming a devout follower of Christ and a woman who loved him. Intimately I doubt as Christ never sinned however I do not know for certain that being intimate with a woman who is past her flower as King james put it is a sin. Given that there is no record of marriage and such I just doubt it but don't know because the scriptures do not tell us. bottom line is if we needed to know more than is written God would have written more so no guessing. She was his his friend, a disciplined follower it seems and believer . Everything else is guess work which we are told not to do.

Answer 8

Mary Magdalene is a woman who Jesus healed who followed Him and his disciples. She cared for them and is revered as a saint in my church. She was called the Apostle to the Apostles as she was the first to see him risen. She also is called the Woman of the Alabaster Jar as it is believed that she was the one who anointed Jesus with oil and washed his feet with her tears drying it them with her hair.That she was a prostitute is a fallacy and even if she had been she was forgiven.

Answer 9

Mary Magdalene. Her name (meaning “Of (Belonging to) Magdala”) likely stems from the town of Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee about halfway between Capernaum and Tiberias. There is no record of Jesus’ ever visiting this town, though he spent a great deal of time in the surrounding area. Nor is it certain that it was Mary’s hometown or place of residence. Since Luke refers to her as “Mary the so-called Magdalene,” some think he implies something special or peculiar.—Lu 8:2.

Jesus expelled seven demons from Mary Magdalene, reason enough for her to put faith in him as the Messiah and for her to back up such faith with outstanding works of devotion and service. She is first mentioned in the account of Jesus’ second year of preaching, when he and his apostles were “journeying from city to city and from village to village, preaching and declaring the good news of the kingdom of God.” Together with Joanna the wife of Herod’s man in charge, Susanna, and other women, Mary Magdalene continued ministering to the needs of Jesus and his apostles out of her own belongings.—Lu 8:1-3.

The most prominent notice of Mary Magdalene is in connection with the death and resurrection of Jesus. When Jesus, as the Lamb of God, was led to the slaughter, she was among the women “who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee to minister to him” and were “viewing from a distance” as Jesus hung on the torture stake.

After Jesus’ burial, Mary Magdalene and other women went to prepare spices and perfumed oil before the Sabbath began at sundown. Then following the Sabbath, at the break of dawn, on the first day of the week, Mary and the other women brought the perfumed oil to the tomb. When Mary saw the tomb was open and apparently empty, she rushed off to tell the startling news to Peter and John, who ran to the tomb. By the time Mary got back to the tomb, Peter and John had left, and it was now that she checked inside and was stunned at seeing two angels in white. Then she turned back and saw Jesus standing. Thinking him to be the gardener, she asked where the body was, that she might care for it. When he replied “Mary!” his identity was immediately revealed to her and she impulsively embraced him, exclaiming, “Rab·bo′ni!” But there was no time now for expressions of earthly affection. Jesus would be with them only a short time. Mary must inform the other disciples of his resurrection and that Jesus was ascending, as he said, “to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.”—Joh 20:11-18.

Answer 10

Completing Mike's answer as the best biblical one, I'd say the mother-of-Jesus's-child is a Dan Brown's version, which he himself admits to be just a fiction to catch the eye.

Why do you people believe that he's telling the truth if he says he's not?!