chapter one: de unica magdalena, mary magdalen: myth and metaphor
in this chapter, the author explores what is known about mary magdalen including her famous posture as penitent sinner of the flesh. through the use of the four canonical gospels the popular m.m. is fleshed out for us as the combination of the woman with seven devils, the woman who washes Christ's feet with her tears, the sister of lazarus and martha and the adultress held up to Jesus for judgement.
it is this very definition which is brought out for re-examination, especially in the light of Christ's appearing to her first and charging her with the mission to tell his apostles what has transpired.
now, i'm not sure i have such a problem with m.m. as an outrageous sinner or a prostitue, Christ called all and indeed there is no one who is without sin, no one can person judge another. what i do have a problem with is the idea that perhaps all the women referred to as m.m. are not her..and the view of m.m. as a prostitue repented is completely wrong, born only because of male ego frailty and basically used then in a degrading manner. not only degrading to herself, especially seeing where she fits in the affections of Christ, but degrading to women in general since her life story was set as an example for them to realize the limitations of their gender.