How Much Do You Know About Mary Magdalene

How Much Do You Know?

Mary Magdalene is one of the most significant figures in the Bible. She has been portrayed throughout the centuries in a number of ways, being considered as loose, Christ's wife, wealthy, a chief disciple, adulterer and a feminist icon among other descriptions. Though she has been reinterpreted over and over again, she remains a potent and mysterious figure. There is still a lot about her that many people don't know, but also a lot that is desired to be understood. Here are five things you may not know about Mary Magdalene, based on the book "The Quest for Mary Magdalene" by Michael Haag. His book follows Mary Magdalene through the centuries, how she has been reinterpreted for every age and examines what she herself reveals about woman, man and the divine.

Only Mentioned Fourteen Times in the Bible

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Though Mary Magdalene was a figure who passionately and spiritually understood what following Jesus' command meant by carrying his message to the disciples, his apostle to the apostles and being a witness to the resurrection, she is mentioned by name only fourteen times in the Bible. She appears only in the four gospels, but doesn't appear in Acts or anywhere else in the New Testament. Surprisingly, she is mentioned more times than Mary the mother of Jesus who appears only seven times, including occasions when she is unnamed. The Catholic Encyclopedia even notes when referring to Mary the mother of Jesus, 'is at first surprised to find so little about Mary'.