Mary Magdalene was NOT a prostitute (Part One)

     Prostitute, sinner, or devout follower of Jesus Christ? 

For well over a thousand years, the majority of Christians have viewed Mary Magdalene as a repentant prostitute. This was not, however, how early Christians viewed her. This depiction of Mary is also simply not historical. While many of us grew up hearing stories about Mary's sinful nature prior to Jesus' forgiveness of her sins, the Bible itself shows us a much more positive side of Mary.

Anyone who wants to claim that this follower of Jesus from the fishing town of Magdala was a prostitute or even a major sinner needs to cite convincing evidence. As it turns out, the Bible and history both present compelling counter-evidence.

The famous story in Chapter 7 of Luke's Gospel of the sinful woman has been cited as evidence by proponents of the view that Mary was a prostitute. In this story, an unnamed sinful woman "began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment" (Luke 7:38).

The Pharisee present, Simon, was quick to judge the woman. In Luke 7:39, Simon criticized Jesus, and claimed that if Jesus were a prophet, "he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner."

Jesus goes on to tell Simon that while the woman is a sinner, her compassionate actions toward him were much greater than Simon's. He tells the woman that her sins are forgiven and "Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (Luke 7:48-50).

In the following chapter, Mary Magdalene is INTRODUCED to Luke's readers for the first time, along with some other women. The twelve (apostles) were with Jesus as were women, including Mary, Joanna, Susanna and many others. These women provided for Jesus (and presumably the apostles) out of their means.

Luke tells us that "seven demons had gone out"of Mary, though he didn't specify what he meant by that. Perhaps she had some sort of anxiety disorder that was referred to as a "demon." Many scholars today have argued a demon simply meant some sort of illness or ailment.

It seems very strange to think  Luke would introduce Mary to his readers in chapter 8 if the sinful woman in the previous chapter was the same woman. Why not introduce her in the previous chapter, which is far more detailed?

Since the sinful woman in the previous chapter is unnamed and therefore could have been any of the many women Jesus met during his ministry, it appears to be grasping at straws to suggest that Mary and the sinful woman are the same.

See my next post for the rest of the story.