When did the tradition that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute start? And from where/whom?

Answer 1

It was started by the football team on Prom night.

Answer 2

At the end of the 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great gave a sermon in which he suggested that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. It was probably a guess from the statement that she had seven devils cast out of her. There is no direct evidence in Scripture or archeology to support this view. The name Mary Magdalene indicated that she was a citizen of the city of Magdala which was excavated in 1971-74. Magdala in biblical times had been in existence for many years and had two names: an Aramaic name - Migdal Nunaiya and a Greek name - Taricheae.

Answer 3

This is such a fascinating story... to sum it up Pope Gregory many many moons ago during a sermon referred to Mary Mag as the prostitute that was going to be stones until Jesus intervened. Pope Gregory figured Mary was this prostitute because The New testament states that Jesus cast out 7 demons from Mary Mag. BUT, there was never a connection between Mary Mag and the prostitute that was to be stoned. Pope Gregory linked them together as one on his own accord. Now the conspiracy theory is that, When the catholics took a closer look at Mary's position amongst the disciples they found that it appears as Mary was one of Jesus most trusted and eager disciples and the catholic church were very displeased with a woman having such a position within Jesus and the message. So, the catholic church threw Mary Mag under the bus and the rest is history. Since then, the catholic church has recanted and apologized but the damage as already been done.

one more thing I'd like to mention. In Mel Gibson's The Passion, did anyone else besides me take offense that Mel casted Mary Mag as the prostitute, after Mel claimed to have done his research and claimed that he filmed the Passion as a bible based movie? if he had truly filmed the Passion as a straight up bible based movie then he would of never pegged Mary in the Passion as the prostitute.

Answer 4

... Many have sought to identify Mary Magdalene with the public sinner (Luke 7) and the sister of Lazarus and Martha ( Luke 10; John 11). Patristic evidence is divided. In general, the Greek Fathers oppose the identity of the three woman, while many Latin Fathers seem to favor their identity. To add to the confusion, some Fathers (Jerome) exegetically deny that the three woman are one, while at the same time homiletically they unite the biblical passages and apply them to one woman. Today the majority of Catholic exegetes accept the separate individuality of these women.
The subsequent events of the life of Mary Magadene are not known with any degree of historicl certitude.
So it boils down to early identifications by some with Mary Magdalene and the Public sinner of Luke. But it is not definite even though it started early.

Answer 5

Because she was with "sinners" and she was a female it was implied.Luke 7:37-38