The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity

This is a fascinating book. Cynthia Bourgeault is an author, pastor, mystic and Episcopal priest. Her purpose here is to elucidate the role of Mary Magdalene in the life of Jesus and in the life of the church. Following on the heels of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, she is fully aware of the interest in the subject and the landmines that jeopardize any serious consideration of it.The bottom line is that she sees Mary as the apostle to the apostles (notifying them of Jesus’ resurrection) but also as a female figure who offers a different view of both Holy Week and Christianity itself. Ultimately, she and Jesus represent a form of kenotic love that is essential to His message and it is possible, she argues, that she helped chart his way toward that message. She believes that He came under the influence of the Essenes early in His life and then transcended their asceticism, culminating in the message of two great commandments, both involving love. His relationship with Mary represents that love, the ‘singleness’ of two people becoming one and hence achieving the spiritual self which is the true self. Love and the pouring out of love (kenosis) are the path to salvation and they exist in the here and now, a hair’s breadth away from the ego-centered love that is to be transcended. Whether or not Jesus and Mary’s love was physical as well is not really important (though it was possible and would have given no scandal); the essential point is that Jesus’ encounter with Mary serves as an emblem of the love that returns us to our ultimate spiritual selves and makes us most fully human.Needless to say, this would represent a different story than the one told by the institutional church, a story that is decidedly male, distressingly human (involving politics, self-interest and a focus on celibacy—the ‘way’ of the male institutional church [at least in theory]). Hence, restoring Mary to her rightful place as an essential disciple and Jesus’ (at least) spiritual beloved would change the way that we look at everything. Since the church is desperately in need of a fresh and more profoundly human look this is a wonderful place to start.To get to this point the author makes several moves that are questionable in varying degrees (and she openly acknowledges the solidity of the ground beneath her scholarly feet). She gives voice to the ‘gnostic’ gospels which the institutional church has labeled noncanonical, perhaps because they serve as too great a threat to their official account. She also draws on the insights of eastern religions and the insights of mystics and contemporary commentators. These are generally not ‘traditional’ theological voices, but individuals who many would consider to be more ‘new age’ or at least nontraditional. That is the whole point, of course; her purpose is not to reinforce the traditional, though she tries hard to give it respect and a clear voice. Her argument also involves literary criticism. Since the synoptic gospels cannot be considered literal biographies (something which only comes in the 18thc, actually the 17th, but she says 18th), they have to be read in terms of imagery, analogy, allegory, structure, etc. For example, John’s gospel is organized A-B-C-B-A and the organization of the stories is more important than the specific details of the stories. Here we are on very loose ground, I think. As a 60+ year practitioner of literary criticism I am well aware of its pitfalls and as a critic of postmodernism I am very wary of any claims that “individuals’ truths” trump “the truth.” In short, I am not yet prepared to see Mary of Bethany as, in effect, Mary Magdalene and Martha and Lazarus as Jesus’ in-laws.Regardless of the pitfalls and questionable leaps of intuition, the book is endlessly suggestive and repays close attention. The voice that I heard throughout the book (in the background; she does not mention him) is that of Blake. Had he written the book, with access to all of her materials, we might have had something very interesting indeed, for Blake profoundly sees the humanity of Jesus and would be fully prepared to see His human experience as encompassing all aspects of human experience—a point which she touches on via several mystics but doesn’t follow as far as I would have liked.All in all, this is a book that deserves the attention of all Christians and all historians of Christianity.

I don't care to review this work in scholarly terms. But if that's more your interest, you won't be disappointed. I'm not a credentialed scholar, but have read much; she is absolutely respectable on that count.She is sensitive to orthodoxy, but to me the new-age notions like "vibrational energy" unnecessarily narrow her appeal. For me they don't add value that's beyond the mystical wisdom traditions she is writing about. Don't let it distract you, though; blow past them and take in the whole of the book.I found that reading it piecemeal, when I had time, was far less efficient than blowing through it in long sittings. So I don't recommend trying to digest its scholarship as much as breezing through it.In the end, I would say Reverend and sister-in-Christ Cynthia is completely orthodox. If you think of orthodoxy as dogmatic, then I don't like your understanding of orthodoxy. Same with nostalgic sentimentality for old traditions, and tribal righteousness, too often confused with the full meaning of orthodoxy. Cynthia's concluding recommendations for liturgical reform are not at all incompatible with orthodoxy. She has a realistic sense of the breadth of those hurdles.====More personal ramblings====I came to appreciate and reread this work because I've been grappling with "borderline splitting" tendencies to pedestalize black and white absolutes ("Vacillator Love Style") in my own broken self. Can I be both tender and cold, compassionate and manipulative--in sum, both bad and good? How can that be? And how can I carry both realities about myself, since at middle age they're undeniable--how can I carry both for the second half of my life in any self-reconcilable comfort?This work helps with that quandary.I inherited (i.e. was indoctrinated into) the hypermoralized Christianity of institution--institution that distorted the example of Yeshua beyond not only recognition, but beyond accessibility. And isn't beyond accessibility beyond useful practicality? And, is broad inaccessibility really what we might think the Second Person of the Trinity suffered and died for? Instead of today's prevailing substitutionary atonement to satiate the punitive First Person's wrath and hatred of His children's sinfulness, I'd rather embrace the gospel of a radically passionate and erotic love for the Godhead's Own Creation of which all are an indispensable part! (Google Brendan Manning's Raggamuffin Gospel free YouTube videos).ALL..INDISPENSABLE!For if the Creator created ALL, doesn't that Creator love ALL that Creator created?Doesn't that Creator weep when each one does not perceive and conceive her/his/its Source, by virtue of which she/he/it is indispensable? Sister… Brother… You, and your dog, cat, hydrangea, and the coffee mug you made in ceramics class… ALL exist.I think for a moment… Is not existence itself an infinite power? There is a sense in which we can choose to recognize either: limitations, or infinite power. When we choose vision that sees limitations, we are betraying our vision that can see infinite grandeur. Abundance. Singleness of Source. Unity of infinity.My own badness is infinite; this is the truth. But alongside that truth, is the truth of my goodness. And that goodness is infinite. Both are true.Infinite goodness... Isn't that in fact a free choice? A free way to think? I am both bound, and unbound. Each of us is both. Let's not let our bondage diminish the truth of our unbound, infinite freedom. You are neither entirely bound, nor entirely free. No, you are not entirely free, but you are also not entirely bound. You are both. I am both.What it would be like if we had only one eye, to see only goodness, or only badness. But we were created with two eyes. That's very interesting to me. There is this sense by which we all appreciate that goodness is "moderation in all things." Without moderation, we are a cyclops, with only one eye. But with two eyes, we can see badness with goodness.No one of us can be awake our whole life without sleeping. We must sleep. We must have both, wakefulness and sleep. We simply are not creatures who can have one or the other and still live life. We must have both. But both are one. Both are life. For us. Here. Now. If I don't feel that is OK, I need to change how I feel. Because whether I feel it or not, that is how it is. "Male and female" is how God created them in that story, but the story does not say that that is their end. And that is the message of this book which posits that that was the message of Yeshua. Full stop. We may begin the journey of erotic, romantic love in need of another. But the end is a place where we do not need another; instead, we can empty ourselves in service of another. Love in the divine image.

As others have said, this is a radical review of Mary Magdalene that asks why she has become so compelling a Christian saint given the few lines about her in the Bible. What made it so compelling a read was the strength with which Cynthia’s own Christian faith and personal experiences leap off the page and grab the reader’s imagination and speak to the soul, yet her strong reason and intellect keep the reader grounded in a sense of truth to shine an invigorating light on all things Magdalenic, as the book examines ancient Christian and church traditions, orthodox scriptures, art & recently discovered ancient texts in the search for the answers.This book reaches out to the soul and her thesis resonates on so any levels, reminding me of truths silently acknowledged in my own life experiences and studies of the Ancient World at university in ancient philosophies and historical analysis, though I would never claim to share her scholarship or strength of faith. I nonetheless applaud the bravery and honesty that shines from every page of this book. Reading this book has left me spiritually enlightened, intellectually enriched and curious to learn more.

If you seek to know more about the link between divine and human love, read this.Especially if, like me, you think women as depicted in the orthodox biblical tradition got a raw deal.

For those who are seeking a more balanced account of the writings which influenced the early followers of Jesus and those who would understand the way in which the New Testament canon was established, this book is a must read. The male-dominated view of the Jesus message expressed in the pages of the New Testament canon was won by those who chose to exclude the Gospel of Mary (and others). As a result, we have a view of Jesus's 'Way' which is characterised by striving for victories, overcoming enemies and heroism. This is not the character of Jesus we meet in the Gospel of Mary. He is the wisdom teacher who leads us to the life worth living. Cynthia Bourgeault is a scholarly writer but the style is highly accessible. Change your perspective on the Jesus story.

Fascinating story f Mary Magdalen brushed out of history although perhaps stretches story in Middle ages but what did happen. Saw a programme on Hidden History on simillar lines

A book I need to read many times to really get into what the author is saying. Requires an open mind, and being prepared to be challenged. If one takes this book seriously, then what it says will require a change in the reader.