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Study Guide: Who Was Mary Magdalene? — Centre Place

Lecture Title: Who Was Mary Magdalene?

Presenter: John Hamer, Toronto Centre Place

Producer & Chat Moderator: Leandro Palacios

Original Livestream Date: April 26, 2022

Video Reference: YouTube Stream

Transcript Source: Transcript Who Was Mary Magdalene? - Centre Place

Integrated Knowledge Base: Glossary Knowledgebase

Source Tag: 220426

(00:00:00) Introduction: The Most Prominent Female Follower

• Women in the Jesus movement: Jesus was accompanied by male and female disciples, including female apostles (e.g. Junia in Romans 16:7) and prophets (Anna in Luke 2).
• Canonical consensus: Mary Magdalene appears in all four canonical Gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke, John), a consistency exceeding five of the Twelve male Apostles.
• Heading the lists: Just as Simon Peter heads every list of male disciples, Mary Magdalene consistently heads every list of female followers.
• High historical certainty: Established through the independent criteria of multiple attestation (Mark and John) and embarrassment (patriarchal early Christians would not invent female primacy at the empty tomb).

(00:02:40) Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of Mark (c. 70 CE)

• Introduced at the Cross: Mark 15:40–41 introduces Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome, observing the crucifixion from afar.
• Galilean Patronage: Described as having followed Jesus and provided for him (diekonoun) out of their financial resources while in Galilee—supporting an itinerant mendicant movement.
• Witnessing the Burial & Tomb: Watching Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus; arriving at the tomb on Sunday morning to anoint the body; encountering the young man in white.
• The Original Markan Ending (16:8): The women flee in terror and say nothing to anyone, leaving the resurrection unproclaimed.

(00:09:48) The Matthean Enhancement: Meeting the Risen Lord

• Utilizing Mark as a primary narrative source: Matthew retains Mary Magdalene's presence at the cross and burial.
• Matthew 28 additions: Dramatic earthquake, an angel of the Lord with lightning countenance rolling back the stone, and the risen Jesus personally meeting Mary Magdalene and the other Mary as they run to tell the disciples.
• Clasping Jesus's feet: The women worship him and receive the apostolic mandate (Apostola Apostolorum, "Apostle to the Apostles") to instruct the male disciples to go to Galilee.

(00:15:15) The Lukan Perspective: Patroness and Exorcism

• Early introduction: Luke 8:1–3 introduces Mary Magdalene during the Galilean ministry alongside Joanna (wife of Herod's steward Chuza) and Susanna—wealthy women bankrolling Jesus's mission.
• The Seven Demons: Luke notes that "seven demons had gone out of her," indicating a severe cured illness or exorcism.
• The Easter Morning Skepticism: Luke 24:10–11 records Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James reporting the empty tomb to the Eleven Apostles, who dismiss their words as an "idle tale" (leros) and refuse to believe them.

(00:27:37) The Johannine Portrait: The Solitary Witness and Gardener

• Standing near the Cross: (John 19:25) alongside Jesus's mother and the Beloved Disciple.
• The Solitary Visit to the Tomb (John 20:1–18): Mary Magdalene arrives alone while it is still dark; runs to inform Peter and the Beloved Disciple.
• The Garden Encounter: Weeping outside the tomb; two angels in white; mistaking the risen Jesus for the gardener.
• Recognition and Commission: Jesus speaks her name, "Mary"; she turns and cries "Rabbouni" (Teacher); Jesus commands "Do not cling to me" (Noli me tangere), sending her to announce: "I have seen the Lord!"

(00:35:00) The Prostitute Myth: Pope Gregory the Great's Conflation (591 CE)

• Pope Gregory I's pivotal Easter sermon (Homily 33, 591 CE): Conflating three separate New Testament women into one composite figure:
  1. Mary Magdalene (from whom seven demons were cast).
  2. Mary of Bethany (sister of Martha and Lazarus, who anointed Jesus's feet with spikenard in John 12).
  3. The anonymous "sinful woman" in Luke 7:36–50 who wept and wiped Jesus's feet with her hair.
• The Invention of the Penitent Whore: Equating "seven demons" with sexual sin and prostitution; a Latin Western fabrication absent from Eastern Orthodoxy that persisted for 1,400 years until officially corrected by the Roman Catholic Church in 1969.

(00:48:00) Mary Magdalene in the Gnostic & Apocryphal Gospels

• The Gospel of Mary (Berlin Codex): Mary comforting the male disciples, revealing secret visions of the soul's ascent past planetary powers; Peter angrily contesting her leadership ("Did he really speak privately with a woman?"), prompting Levi to defend her.
• The Gospel of Philip (Nag Hammadi): Describing Mary as the companion (koinonos) of the Savior, loved by Jesus more than all disciples, frequently kissed by him as a spiritual transmission of gnosis.
• The Gospel of Thomas (Logion 114): Peter demanding Mary leave because "women are not worthy of life," with Jesus declaring he will make her male so she may become a living spirit.

(01:10:00) Medieval Legends & Modern Mythologies

• The Golden Legend (Provence): Lazarus, Martha, and Mary Magdalene arriving by sea in southern France; Mary spending 30 years in contemplation in the cave of Sainte-Baume.
• Modern pseudo-history: (Holy Blood, Holy Grail, The Da Vinci Code): The romantic myth that Jesus and Mary were married and produced a royal dynastic bloodline. Historical consensus rejects this as modern fiction while affirming her true historical significance as an apostle and financial patron.

(01:30:00) Live Audience Q&A with John Hamer & Leandro Palacios

• Discussion of the town of Magdala (Taricheae) on the Sea of Galilee, the significance of the title "Magdalene" (tower or hometown), and female leadership in the earliest Christian house churches.

Glossary 1: Archaeological Sites & Epigraphy

Glossary 2: Bible Passages

Glossary 3: Books Mentioned

Glossary 4: Chronology & Historical Events

Glossary 5: Geographic Locations

Glossary 6: Graphics, Charts, Maps & Timelines

Glossary 7: Linguistics Terms

Glossary 8: Non-English & Ancient Words

Glossary 9: People Named

Glossary 10: Philosophical Concepts & Theodicy

Glossary 11: Previous Lectures or Episodes

Glossary 12: Religious Studies Terms

Glossary 13: Scientific & Historiographical Terms