Scholars seek to correct Christian tradition on Mary Magdalene

Catholic News Service ^ | May 1, 2006 | Jerry Filteau

[ClearCase_guy]

Sounds like Sister Elizabeth wants the Catholic Church to ordain women. It isn't nice to put your own personal political agenda ahead of the Church's teachings and traditions.

[nmh]

Mary was just another sinner in need of Jesus.

If she was so "sinless" then she wouldn't have need Jesus too. As best I know, Jesus is the ONLY sinless person that ever walked the earth.

[Pyro7480]

Uh, this is about Mary Magdalene, not Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

[nmh]

"When asked for her own view of what that should mean for the church today, she said, "I would draw the implication that if the risen Christ saw fit to ask a woman to go and preach the good news of his resurrection, the church should do no less nowadays."


No, no, no, no! Women are NOT to be popes, ministers, pastors, rabbis etc.. This is the role of a MALE. They can be missionaries but NOT head ANY church - that is if God's Word matters. He is clear that it is a MALE role to head a church.

[Salvation]

Even our left-leaning newspaper debunked the Da Vinci Code!

BTTT!

[af_vet_rr]

The biggest problem, and it's not just the question concering Mary (or all two or three or however you want to look at it), is that we are reading a translation of a translation of a translation that's been heavily edited, and much of which was written from second, third, fourth, etc. hand accounts.

It would be great to read and speak Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, but unfortunately, most of us don't have the time and energy to expend on that.

[Ptaz]

I think what worries me about articles like this and books like the DaVinci Code is that people who are too lazy to study and learn the truth for themselves are tempted to believe such bunk. Mary Magdalene was just another sinner who needed Jesus, just like the rest of us. It is historical fact that her view was twisted by one of the Popes in the middle ages, but it's a beautiful story if you look at it in the context of the gospels. She was the first to see the risen Christ and Josephus has records of her being a strong leader in the early church. If you look at her in the context of types and shadows, she's a picture of what the Church should be--seeing the risen Christ for who he is.

[TBP]

According to Bart Ehrman in Misquoting Jesus, that's an error, inserted to fulfill an ideological religious agenda. If you look at Paul's letters, it is clear that at least some of the early Christian groups were led or co-led by women.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Sounds like Sister Elizabeth wants the Catholic Church to ordain women. It isn't nice to put your own personal political agenda ahead of the Church's teachings and traditions."

You guys are reading something into her remarks that just isn't there. You don't have to be a priest to "go and preach the good news of the resurrection...". What exactly do you think that non-cloistered nuns have been doing for centuries? And in fact what is required of ALL Catholics--ordained and laity alike.

[Jaded]

Wrong Mary.

[Dumb_Ox]

"Sounds like Sister Elizabeth wants the Catholic Church to ordain women."

Probably not. There are good arguments here to review the traditional biography of St. MM.

However, the first time I heard about this was when the smarmy parish council got our priests to give a homily cribbed from some FutureChurch or WomanChurch website. MM's "misrepresentation" is a talking point for them, though they stupidly attribute errors in her biography to the evil patriarchy's demonization of women, rather than to mistakes arising out of genuine devotion to explaining an admirable woman.

[RightWhale]

Tradition is more important than scholarship. No scholar is going to 'correct' anything in this area.

[bornacatholic]

I once receied a free CD in the mail trying to get me to sign-up for Famous College Courses or something like that. The Free CD I got was a lecture by Bart Ehrmann. I detected two glaring errors in the first 5 minutes of listening to him. I chucked the CD and I chuckle at the idea his personal opinion about Scripture is normative or orthodox

[bornacatholic]

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09761a.htm

[Aquinasfan]

But all four Gospel writers place her as a witness to Jesus' death on the cross, a witness to his burial and the chief witness to his resurrection, making her one of the most significant female figures in the Gospels apart from Jesus' own mother, Mary.

Doesn't Dan Brown claim in his novel that the Church has tried to suppress the historical role of Mary Magdalene? Well, the Church somehow overlooked her prominent role in the Gospels. Someone alert Dan!

[Aquinasfan]

we are reading a translation of a translation of a translation that's been heavily edited, and much of which was written from second, third, fourth, etc. hand accounts.

My understanding is that there are about 500 copies of the New Testament dating from around the fifth century, all of which are in substantial agreement.

[RobbyS]

Mother Theresa and Mother Angelica are two examples of women who spread the Gospel far more effectively than 99.99 % of the bishops and priests who were contemporary with them.

[Carolina]

The Free CD I got was a lecture by Bart Ehrmann.

Ugh! Bart Ehrmann and Elaine Pagels are sure getting a lot of air time.