The last passage is an optional bonus for youth that like digging deeper. Workers deserve their food. In the modern vernacular, a "red light district" is a term that refers to an area of the city known for prostitution, strip clubs, and other immoral establishments. [27][28][29] That seven demons had possessed Mary is repeated in Mark 16:9,[30][31] part of the "longer ending" of that gospel this is not found in the earliest manuscripts and is actually a second-century addition to the original text, possibly based on the Gospel of Luke. The portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute began in 591, when Pope Gregory I conflated Mary Magdalene, who was introduced in Luke 8:2, with Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:39) and the unnamed "sinful woman" who anointed Jesus' feet in Luke 7:3650. [] Hence she came to be called "the apostle of the Apostles". After the Resurrection, He appeared first to her. She turned the mass of her crimes to virtues, in order to serve God entirely in penance. Over time, the Western artistic tradition repeatedly depicted Mary as a prostitute and the mistaken association got stuck in the cultural consciousness. One folk tradition concerning Mary Magdalene says that following the death and resurrection of Jesus, she used her position to gain an invitation to a banquet given by the Roman emperor Tiberius in Rome. After Jesus heals her evil spirit, she resumes calling herself "Mary," her birth name, and refuses to answer to the name associated with her spiritual oppression. [110] The text is badly fragmented, and speculated but unreliable additions are shown in brackets: And the companion of the [saviour was] Mary Magdalene. In the Bible, there is no indication that Mary Magdalene was raped. (he is God). They speak to different audiences & look good on screen), Can you think of characters or stories that the film left out? After sharing that information, you can ask: What stuck out to you about Mary Magdalene's depiction in The Chosen? For every delight, therefore, she had had in herself, she now immolated herself. After Jesus heals her evil spirit, she resumes calling herself "Mary," her birth name . For more details, check out my post focused specifically on Lilith, Demons, and Evil Spirits. (he calls her by name at the end when he heals her). [13][10][98] Sanders summarizes the scholarly consensus that: very, very little in the apocryphal gospels could conceivably go back to the time of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke chapter 8 lists Mary Magdalene as one of the women who traveled with Jesus and helped support his ministry "out of their resources", indicating that she was probably wealthy. I have Bible studies/discussion guides for each episode of The Chosen Seasons 1-3, blogs exploring how The Chosen adapts key biblical figures, and articles exploring the controversial nature of adaptation. When Nicodemus encounters her, we discover that the evil spirit that is possessing her is named Lilith. (Plots & Theme), Episode 2 Guide: Philip, Nathanael, & Matthew, Episode 3 Guide: Life Among the Disciples of Jesus, Episode 4 Guide: Simon the Zealot & the Man at the Bethesda Pool, Episode 5 Guide: Mary's Demons & the Destiny of John the Baptist, Episode 8 Guide: Judas, Matthew, & the Sermon on the Mount, Episode 1 Guide: Mary Magdalene, Lilith, and the Redeemer, Episode 2 Guide: Mary Magdalene, Nicodemus, and Shabbat, Episode 3 Guide: Depicting Jesus in Art, Film, and TV, Episode 4 Guide: When Jesus Met Simon (Peter), Episode 6 Guide: Jesus, Shmuel, & the Pharisees. We turned it into a bit of a game, where one of my youth would constantly ask "Is that Jesus?" [180][181] At first, the existence of the skeleton was merely asserted,[181] but, in 1265, the monks made a spectacular, public show of "discovering" it[181] and, in 1267, the bones were brought before the king of France himself, who venerated them. When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed, "Christ is risen!" [122] Ehrman says that the Essenes, a contemporary Jewish sect who shared many views with Jesus, and the apostle Paul, Jesus' later follower, both lived in unmarried celibacy,[298] so it is not unreasonable to conclude that Jesus did as well. Why was Mary Magdalene called Lilith in The Chosen? [45][41], All four canonical gospels agree that several other women watched Jesus' crucifixion from a distance, with three explicitly naming Mary Magdalene as present. Mary Magdalene is considered to be a saint by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran denominations. [170][171] Gregory states that Mary Magdalene was buried in the city of Ephesus. In chapter 8, when the Pevensie children are speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, they learn that a human must rule Narnia, and while she claims to be human, the White Witch is not at all human. Movies. Acocella, Joan. For these reasons, Mary Magdalene is known in some Christian traditions as the "apostle to the apostles". [145] Origen also preserves a statement from Celsus that some Christians in his day followed the teachings of a woman named "Mariamme", who is almost certainly Mary Magdalene. [5] Other Protestant churches honor her as a heroine of the faith. [112] The Gospel of Philip also contains another passage relating to Jesus' relationship with Mary Magdalene. [10] Instead, it received its title because it is about her. [47] John 19:25 lists Mary, mother of Jesus, her sister, Mary, wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene as witnesses to the crucifixion. Mary answered and said, "What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you". [82][75] According to John 20:1118, Mary, now alone in the garden outside the tomb, saw two angels sitting where Jesus' body had been. [126] Peter approaches Mary and asks her: "Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of woman. She is believed to have . [82][75] The Gospel of John therefore portrays Mary Magdalene as the first apostle, the apostle sent to the apostles. [68][69][78] They went inside and saw two young men dressed in white who told them that Jesus had risen from the dead. [185] The wife dies in childbirth and the governor leaves her on an island with the still-living infant at her breast. [281] The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America honors Mary Magdalene on July 22 as an Apostle, albeit as a Lesser Festival. [318], Ehrman states that the historical sources reveal absolutely nothing about Jesus' sexuality[319] and that there is no evidence whatsoever to support the idea that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married or that they had any kind of sexual or romantic relationship. [28] In either case, Mary must have suffered from severe emotional or psychological trauma for an exorcism of this kind to have been perceived as necessary. [122] In addition to this Coptic translation, two brief third-century fragments of the gospel in the original Greek (P. Rylands 463 and P. Oxyrhynchus 3525) have also been discovered, which were published in 1938 and 1983 respectively.[121][119]. [197] In 1449, King Ren d'Anjou gave to Angers Cathedral the amphora from Cana in which Jesus changed water to wine, acquiring it from the nuns of Marseilles, who told him that Mary Magdalene had brought it with her from Judea, relating to the legend where she was the jilted bride at the wedding after which John the Evangelist received his calling from Jesus. In these myths, Lilith was banished by . Your contributions mean so much. [292], The Bah writings also expand upon the scarce references to her life in the canonical Gospels, with a wide array of extra-canonical stories about her and sayings which are not recorded in any other extant historical sources. The equivalent of the phrase apostolorum apostola may have appeared already in the 9th century. [231][226] Ki Longfellow's novel The Secret Magdalene (2005) draws on the Gnostic gospels and other sources to portray Mary as a brilliant and dynamic woman who studies at the fabled library of Alexandria, and shares her knowledge with Jesus. [79][80], Mary Magdalene's role in the resurrection narrative is greatly increased in the account from the Gospel of John. If you're like me, watching The Chosen is about more than entertainment. Deathcore band Chelsea Grin released a song called "Lilith" on their 2012 EP, Evolve. She may be shown either as very extravagantly and fashionably dressed, unlike other female figures wearing contemporary styles of clothes, or alternatively as completely naked but covered by very long blonde or reddish-blonde hair. [167] Not only John Chrysostom in the East (Matthew, Homily 88), but also Ambrose (De virginitate 3,14; 4,15) in the West, when speaking of Mary Magdalene after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, far from calling her a harlot, suggest she was a virgin. "[132][130], The Borborites, also known as the Phibionites, were an early Christian Gnostic sect during the late fourth century who had numerous scriptures involving Mary Magdalene,[133][134][135] including The Questions of Mary, The Greater Questions of Mary, The Lesser Questions of Mary, and The Birth of Mary. In particular, Mary is often shown naked in the legendary scene of her "Elevation", where she is sustained in the desert by angels who raise her up and feed her heavenly manna, as recounted in the Golden Legend. [254] Mary Magdalene's image did not become conflated with other women mentioned in Biblical texts until Pope Gregory the Great's sermon in the sixth century, and even then this only occurred in Western traditions. Dan Ben-Amos explains that although this is the first extant text that records the legend of Lilith, her story probably existed earlier: [Lilith's] story seems to hover at the edges of literacy with sporadic references. [236] The film, which described as having a "strongly feminist bent",[235] was praised for its music score and cinematography,[237] its surprising faithfulness to the Biblical narrative,[235] and its acting,[235][234] but was criticized as slow-moving,[234][235][237] overwritten,[237] and too solemn to be believable. woman was called Lilith. (the Lord), Who is it that says these words in the show? [296], Her left hand relic is kept in the Simonopetra Monastery on Mount Athos. [31] The dialogue consists of a conversation between Jesus, Mary and two apostles - Thomas the Apostle and Matthew the Apostle. Not she with trait'rous kiss her Saviour stung,Not she denied Him with unholy tongue;She, while apostles shrank, could danger brave,Last at His cross, and earliest at His grave. [98], Nonetheless, the texts have been frequently promoted in modern works as though they were reliable. The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers, the Orthodox equivalent of one of the Western Three Marys traditions. Until Jesus shows up, some youth may find the show a little slow. The Gospel of Philip, dating from the second or third century, survives in part among the texts found in Nag Hammadi in 1945. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources. [183], The most famous account of Mary Magdalene's legendary life comes from The Golden Legend, a collection of medieval saints stories compiled in around the year 1260 by the Italian writer and Dominican friar Jacobus de Voragine (c. 1230 1298). The identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the unnamed "sinful woman" was still a major controversy in the years leading up to the Reformation, and some Protestant leaders rejected it. Lilith is the name of Mary Magdalene when she first appears in episode one. [195] They were sometimes thought to be the couple at the Wedding at Cana, though the Gospel accounts say nothing of the ceremony being abandoned. [178], In western Europe, elaborate and conflicting legends began to develop, which said that Mary Magdalene had travelled to southern France and died there. Mary Magdalene was Jesus's wife. As the swooning Virgin Mary became more common, generally occupying the attention of John, the unrestrained gestures of Magdalene increasingly represented the main display of the grief of the spectators. [138][134] Ehrman casts doubt on the accuracy of Epiphanius's summary, commenting that "the details of Epiphanius's description sound very much like what you can find in the ancient rumor mill about secret societies in the ancient world". FYI: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have back our field.' [1][148][150] As early as the third century, the Church Father Tertullian (c. 160 225) references the touch of "the woman which was a sinner" in effort to prove that Jesus "was not a phantom, but really a solid body. Mary then proceeds to describe the Gnostic cosmology in depth, revealing that she is the only one who has understood Jesus' true teachings. They are the first to hear 'He is not here. The emperor laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it. That's why I'm excited to share with you a new resource that I've created to help you study biblical adaptations & reflect on how they apply to everyday life. [225], Nonetheless, despite the Vatican's rejection of it, the view of Mary as a repentant prostitute only grew more prevalent in popular culture. [211][212][213] Her medieval role as a patron and advocate became minimized[211] and her penitence became regarded as her most important aspect, especially in France and in the Catholic portions of southern Germany. She is clearly sleeping with a man out of wedlock when the episode begins and they are sleeping together in "the Red Quarter" - a sleazy part of town. [185][186] Miraculously, however, the boat washes ashore at Marseille in southern France. In The Chosen, when we first meet Mary Magdalene, most of the characters refer to her as Lili. [d] In a manner very similar to John 19:2526, the Gospel of Philip presents Mary Magdalene among Jesus' female entourage, adding that she was his koinnos,[110] a Greek word variously translated in contemporary versions as partner, associate, comrade, companion:[111][110]. [4][1] Elaborate medieval legends from Western Europe then emerged, which told exaggerated tales of Mary Magdalene's wealth and beauty, as well as of her alleged journey to southern Gaul (modern-day France). "Rethinking the Gnostic Mary: Mary of Nazareth and Mary of Magdala in Early Christian Tradition". [297], In 1998, Ramon K. Jusino proposed an unprecedented argument that the "Beloved Disciple" of the Gospel of John is Mary Magdalene. At one point, Jesus says, "Mary, thou blessed one, whom I will perfect in all mysteries of those of the height, discourse in openness, thou, whose heart is raised to the kingdom of heaven more than all thy brethren". One of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, most of what is known about Mary Magdalene comes primarily from the New Testament Gospels. [264] The same chapter says she did not delay in exercising the office of apostolate with which he had been honored (apostolatus officio quo honorata fuerat fungi non distulit). "[109] Jesus responds, "They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. [110] Ehrman explains that, in the context of the Gospel of Philip, the kiss of peace is used as a symbol for the passage of truth from one person to another[116] and that it is not in any way an act of "divine foreplay". [293] Bahs have noted parallels between Mary Magdalene and the Bab heroine-poet Thirih. Click here for my affiliation policy. The 1552 edition omitted the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, which was restored to the Book of Common Prayer only after some 400 years. [131][130] Matthew the Apostle comes to Mary's defense, giving a sharp rebuke to Peter:[129][130] "Peter, you are always angry. [240], In medieval depictions Mary's long hair entirely covers her body and preserves her modesty (supplemented in some German versions such as one by Tilman Riemenschneider by thick body hair),[243][244] but, from the sixteenth century, some depictions, like those by Titian, show part of her naked body, the amount of nudity tending to increase in successive periods. [56], All four canonical gospels, as well as the apocryphal Gospel of Peter, agree that Jesus' body was taken down from the cross and buried by a man named Joseph of Arimathea. These teachings are strange ideas. [11][12] The earliest and most reliable sources about her life are the three Synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, which were all written during the first century AD. [11] The whole family returns to Marseille, where they meet Mary again in person.