Why is Mary described differently in the Bible??

Question

In Luke 7:37 they descride her not by her name but as a big sinner. In John 12 they describe her by her name and call her a normal woman.

Answer 1

Maybe John and Luke had different views/opinions of her....if you notice the books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John )are almost alike...just written from each person's own personal account.

Answer 2

Woah .. go back and read your bible again. In Luke 7:37, it only says "a woman in the city" ... it never once indicates Mary of Magdalene.

The catholic church once attributed it to Mary Magdalene, in hopes of showing that even the greatest of sinners could be forgiven. They have since recanted this and admitted that Mary was simply a woman of the village, and this passage was not attributed to her.

From Time Magazine:

"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."

Answer 3

Nowhere in John chapter 12 does it say she was a normal woman. It does call her by name but that is all.
John just did not see the need to point out the fact that she was a prostitute, and Luke did.

Answer 4

How do you know that's Mary ? That's not Mary Magdalene.. There're different Mary that became Jesus folower. (Mary or Maryam are common name during Jesus's time)
and in John 12 Mary that was in the story is Mary the sister of Lazarus that Jesus woke from the dead. She's connected to Martha too.
So these two verses rever to two different occasions.

Answer 5

I think it depends on who gives the accounts. If you read at the beginning of Luke, you see that he is writing to Theopholis and had read the various versions of Jesus' story that were circling around in his day. He read them and then decided to give his own account to Theopholis. Now John, he was usually there personally and would not describe Mary as a 'sinful woman', but as someone he knew personally. You don't go around saying, " I saw that sinful woman driving her car." Only if you were trying to make a point, which Luke was doing in his version of the gospel.

Answer 6

These are two different Mary's. Two different women. To understand who these are, you need more information, and my church has an understanding through Holy Tradition who these ladies were. Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, ended up in Cyprus, they were floated out to a boat in the middle of the meditarranean, and started a church there. They lived until they died, and their relics emitted myrrh.

The first one in Luke 7:37, I am not certain who is depicted here, it possibly is Mary of Magdelene, a completely different person, who had 7 demons cast out of her. But, I am not certain. I will check with my Eastern Orthodox Priest, who would know, or at least, know where to get the answer.

Answer 7

Actually their are 4 Marie's which they confuse them all. If you want the original truth of Christ go to thegospelofthenazirenes. Read the Gospel of the Nazirenes Restored with Historical Documentation By Alan wauters and Rick Van Wyhe It is the original New Testament before King Constantine took out much of Christs teachings and changed things.

Answer 8

We're ALL sinners, Honey! All Marys included.

Answer 9

You might be referring the Mary Magdelan, a sinful woman that became one of Jesus' closest followers and a saint of the Catholic Church.

Answer 10

There are more Marys than one in the Bible.