Mary's identity as a prostitute stems from Homily 33 of Pope Gregory I, delivered in the year 591... Only in 1969 did the Catholic Church officially repeal Gregory's labeling of Mary Magdalene as a whore, thereby admitting their error - though the image of Magdalene as the penitent whore has remained in the public teachings of all Christian denominations. Like a small erratum buried in the back pages of a newspaper, the Church's correction goes unnoticed, while the initial and incorrect article continues to influence readers." [1.]
2007-01-15 13:10:20 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Her mistreatment and disempowerment was only committed by the dominant church. Pope Gregory pushed two ideas of great lament. First, he combated the belief in Christian reincarnation by starting the concept of purgatory. Second, he pronounced the sacred Mary Magdalene a prostitute.
Now, fifteen hundred years later, the same dominant church has apologized for the error and published the statement, “There is no basis in scripture for having made Mary Magdalene a prostitute.” But the damage was done and patriarchy was insured.
The western world is only left to wonder what riches would have been developed in the church if all founders had been held up in their rightful light. It is also sad that the dominant church has not made a greater effort of informing its parishioner of its grave mistake. The phrase, “Mary Magdalene, the prostitute” is still heard in their churches.
2007-01-15 13:18:06 · answer #1 · answered by MyPreshus 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
In my Church the subject has never come up for discussion,I would say that The Lord God will use people of all walks of life and prostitute being one of them. It would be far fetched though to think that Jesus would be born of an unclean woman, although we obviously don't think the same way that he does.When Jesus said that one sin isn't any worse than the other, then a whore would be the same as a liar, and I don't know about you but I have told a lie or two, maybe keep from hurting someones feelings or just for my own advantage.
2007-01-15 13:23:10 · answer #2 · answered by music man 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
She was not by any means a prostitute. The woman in the story isn't even named as a prostitute, just a sinful woman. Not only that but most biblical scholars don't even think that it was Mary Magdalene. I don't know if she was or wasn't Jesus' wife, but it would make sense to me that if he was married, which I believe he was, his wife would be the most prevalent woman in his life, aside from his mother.
2007-01-15 13:19:53 · answer #3 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Correct. She was not likely a prostitute, and only tradition kept her in that role. There has been no evidence of such a history for her. On the other hand, there isn't really any evidence for her existence either...
2007-01-15 13:16:20 · answer #4 · answered by Scott M 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Nope--as you say, she was never a prostitute. Whether anyone believes the whole DaVinci Code scandal or not, at least it made *that* fact--that she was an apostle, not a prostitute--more widely known!
2007-01-15 13:16:43 · answer #5 · answered by Vaughn 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute?" - No. You stated what I was going to say, (is that fair?)
2007-01-15 13:32:59 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I dont think so. The pope finally announced it many years back. I dont understand why he would just lie about that.. I understand that it was hidden for all those years (Weird huh? Why hide things??)
2007-01-15 13:17:02 · answer #7 · answered by Crazyfred02 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Early church has sought to vilify Mary because of her closeness to Jesus. They wanted to stress Jesus' divinity and do away with his humanness.
2007-01-15 13:15:45 · answer #8 · answered by Turnhog 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
no, she just liked to fool around a little sometimes, and rightly so
2007-01-15 13:18:12 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, i don't think she was a prostitute.
2007-01-15 14:08:25 · answer #10 · answered by twoleft9008 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋