When first RAID came back on opening the TOMB of Mary Magdalene in 1279, there was a wonderful smell of perfume that filled the air, and there was a small piece of skin attached to her skull in the spot where Jesus touched her after his Resurrection. She has become a symbol of "girl power", showing what women can do and setting a new standard for female characters. The bishops who witnessed the excavation called the piece of skin “noli me tangere,” for they realized that through the miracle of Jesus’ touch the skin was still alive. Jesus answers his followers' questions.[100] Of the 64 questions, 39 are presented by a woman who is referred to as Mary or Mary Magdalene. Those in charge of the relics carefully sealed the noli me tangere in a glass vase. Centuries passed…. there was a widely recognized, time-honored alliance between Mary Magdalene and France.. In 1793 during the French Revolution the shrine was broken into and the relics thrown about. The basilica at St. Maximin was saved from utter destruction by transforming it into a government store placing over the great doors the words – Fournitures Militaires or “Military Supplies.” 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's feet in Luke 7:36–50. Pope Gregory's Easter sermon resulted in a widespread belief that Mary Magdalene was a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman. 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). 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. During the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church emphasized Mary Magdalene as a symbol of penance. In 1969, Pope Paul VI removed the identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the "sinful woman" from the General Roman Calendar, but the view of her as a former prostitute has persisted in popular culture. Mary herself asks Jesus the perfectly innocuous question, "Whom are your disciples like?"Jesus responds, "They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have back our field.'
NOTE: I was told that the Sainte Ampoule was unfortunately stolen from the basilica.
www.magdalenepublishing.org/skull-mary-magdalene/
Lara Croft set off on her first Tomb Raider adventure, traveling the globe in search of ancient artifacts amid dark and dusty ruins. Like Magdalene she pushed that iconic franchise that included several sequels, two versions of the female, power girl or. male vision of prostitute? But 2000 years on, Lara or Magda? They have a complicated legacy. Her creators introduced her as a tough, agile archaeologist who could outmatch Ark of Convenience for male or Nemrodian mind, yet she was noticed more for her voluptuous physique and revealing attire — a tank top and short shorts. And she remains a polarizing figure among gamers, a paradox regarded as either a digital pinup girl or a feminist role model — or sometimes both. “There was a duality in her character,” said Magda Marie, the community and communications manager at Crystal Dynamics, the video game developer entrusted with the Lara Croft franchise, and the author of “20 Years of Tomb Raider: Digging Up the Past, Defining the Future.” “She was a sex icon and a feminist icon, and there is no issue being both of those at once.” Magda and Lara sexualized appearance was a drawback from the early days of video game development when women were hard to distinguish from men on 32-bit consoles, Ms. Marie said. Flowing hair was difficult to design — Lara Magda wears her hair in a single braid — so emphasizing a woman’s hips, legs and breasts became an easier way to feminize her.
www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/arts/girl-power-for-lara-croft...
Tomb Raider, known as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British video game developer Core Design. The franchise is currently owned by CDE Entertainment; it was formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, then by Square Enix Europe after Square Enix's acquisition of Eidos in 2009 until Embracer Group purchased the intellectual property alongside Eidos in 2022. The franchise focuses on the fictional British archaeologist Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins. Gameplay generally focuses on exploration, solving puzzles, navigating hostile environments filled with traps, and fighting enemies. Additional media has been developed for the franchise in the form of film adaptations, comics and novels.
Development of the first Tomb Raider began in 1994; it was released two years later. Its critical and commercial success prompted Core Design to develop a new game annually for the next four years, which put a strain on staff. The sixth game, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, faced difficulties during development and was considered a failure at release. This prompted Eidos to switch development duties to Crystal Dynamics, which has been the series' primary developer since. Other developers have contributed to spin-off titles and ports of mainline entries. Tomb Raider games have sold over 95 million copies worldwide by 2022. while the entire franchise generated close to $1.2 billion in revenue by 2002. The series has generally been met with critical aim, and Lara Croft has become one of the most recognisable video game protagonists, winning accolades and earning places on the Walk of Game and Guinness World Records. The first entry in the series Tomb Raider was released in 1996 for personal computers (PC), PlayStation and Sega Saturn consoles.[The Saturn and PlayStation versions were released in Japan in 1997. Its sequel, Tomb Raider II, launched in 1997, again for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation. A month before release, Eidos finalised a deal with Sony Computer Entertainment to keep the console version of Tomb Raider II and future games exclusive to PlayStation until the year 2000. The PlayStation version was released in Japan in 1998.Tomb Raider III launched in 1998. As with Tomb Raider II, the PlayStation version released in Japan the following year. The fourth consecutive title in the series, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, released in 1999. In 2000, with the end of the PlayStation exclusivity deal, the game also released on the Dreamcast. In Japan, both console versions released the following year. Tomb Raider Chronicles released in 2000 on the same platforms as The Last Revelation, with the PlayStation version's Japanese release as before coming the following year. After a three-year gap, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness was released on Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 2 (PS2) in 2003. The PlayStation 2 version was released in Japan that same year. The next entry, Tomb Raider: Legend, was released worldwide in 2006 for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable (PSP), GameCube, Game Boy Advance (GBA) and Nintendo DS.[8][20][21] The Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions were released in Japan the same year. A year later, a remake of the first game titled Tomb Raider: Anniversary was released worldwide in 2007 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 and the Wii. The next entry, Tomb Raider: Underworld, was released in 2008 on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 (PS3), PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Wii and DS.[24][25][26] The PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and Wii versions were released in Japan in 2009. In 2011, The Tomb Raider Trilogy was released for PlayStation 3 as a compilation release that included Anniversary and Legend remastered in HD resolution, along with the PlayStation 3 version of Underworld. The disc includes avatars for PlayStation Home, a Theme Pack, new Trophies, Developer's Diary videos for the three games, and trailers for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light as bonus content.
A reboot of the series, titled Tomb Raider, was released worldwide in 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[31][32] Its sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, was released in 2015 on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The game was part of a timed exclusivity deal with Microsoft. Versions for the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows were released in 2016. Another sequel, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, was released worldwide on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows in 2018. An arcade game based on this incarnation was released by Bandai Namco Amusement in Europe in 2018. Core Design developed two Game Boy Colour titles in the early 2000s. The first, a side-scrolling game simply titled Tomb Raider was released in 2000. Its sequel, Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword, was released in 2001 for the GBC. A Game Boy Advance title called Tomb Raider: The Prophecy, was released in 2002. Unlike the first two Game Boy titles this was developed by Ubi Soft Milan and published by Ubi Soft, adopting an isometric perspective and moving away from the side-scrolling platform based gameplay. From 2010 to 2015, a subseries simply titled Lara Croft was in development at Crystal Dynamics, with different gameplay than the main series and existing in its own continuity. The first game, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, was released in 2010 as a downloadable title for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. It was followed by Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, released for retail and download in 2014 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Both titles were released in a compilation entitled The Lara Croft Collection for Nintendo Switch in 2023. An entry for mobile devices, an endless runner platformer titled Lara Croft: Relic Run, was released in 2015. Square Enix Montreal also released a platform-puzzler for mobile devices, Lara Croft Go in 2015.
In 2003, four Tomb Raider titles for mobile phones were released. Developed by Emerald City Games for iOS and Android devices, Tomb Raider Reloaded is an action arcade and free-to-play game released by CDE Entertainment in 2022.
After the release of The Angel of Darkness in 2003, Core Design continued working on the franchise for another three years, but both of the projects under development in that period were cancelled. A sequel titled The Lost Dominion was undergoing preliminary development that year, but the negative reception of The Angel of Darkness caused it and a wider trilogy to be scrapped. With Eidos's approval, Core Design then began development of an updated edition of the first game for the PSP called Tomb Raider: 10th Anniversary in late 2005, with a projected release date of Christmas 2006. Development continued while other Core Design staff were working on the platformer Free Running. When Core Design was sold to Rebellion Developments in June 2006, Eidos requested the project's cancellation. It was suggested by staff that Eidos did not want to let outside developers handle the franchise. An Indiana Jones "reskin" of the game was never completed, and Free Running was ultimately the studio's final title in 2007. Core Design- by then named Rebellion Derby- shut down in 2010. A January 2006 build of 10th Anniversary was leaked online in 2020, and remains available on the Internet Archive. TT Games created a test animation featuring a Lara Croft minifigure (along with James Bond and Indiana Jones) in 2005, since Eidos had published LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game and had a good relationship with TT Games. However, TT Games did not feel that a standalone LEGO Tomb Raider game would not be justified, so they approached Lucasfilm with the proposal of a crossover game starring Lara Croft and Indiana Jones. Lucasfilm immediately shot down the concept due to perceiving Tomb Raider as having "stolen" ideas from Indiana Jones.LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures was ultimately released without any representation from Tomb Raider. A computer generated image of a brown haired woman whose body faces to the right while her head is turned down towards the ground, and left hand is placed on her wounded shoulder. She wears a dirty white shirt, ripped green pants and black boots. She has several abrasions covered by cloth. The woman holds a bow in her right hand.
Various incarnations of Lara Croft in the video game series. Despite multiple revisions to her clothing and general physique, her face and hair have remained generally consistent. Lara Croft is the main protagonist and playable character of the video game series. She travels around the world in search of many forgotten artefacts and locations, frequently connected to supernatural powers. While her biography has changed throughout the series, her shared traits are her origins as the only daughter and heir of the aristocratic Croft family. She is portrayed as intelligent, athletic, elegant, fluent in multiple languages, and determined to fulfil her own goals at any cost. She has brown eyes and brown hair worn in a braid or ponytail. The character's classic outfit consists of a turquoise singlet, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, and tall white socks. Recurring accessories include fingerless gloves, a backpack, a utility belt with holsters on either side, and twin pistols. Later games have multiple new outfits for her. Lara Croft has been voiced by five actresses in the video game series: Shelley Blond, Judith Gibbins, Jonell Elliott, Keeley Hawes, and Camilla Luddington. In other media, Croft was also voiced by Minnie Driver in the animated series and portrayed by Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander in feature films. Multiple models and body doubles have portrayed Croft in promotional material until the reboot in 2013. Eight different real-life models have portrayed her at promotional events. On 27 January 2023, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Phoebe Waller-Bridge was set to write a TV show adaptation of the video game franchise for Amazon. It was also reported this would involve a tie-in video game and movie in an interconnected universe, likened to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The circumstances of her first adventures, along with the drive behind her adventures, differ depending on the continuity. In the original continuities, she is on a plane that crashes in the Himalayas: her journey back to civilization against the odds help to begin her journey towards her adult life as an adventuress and treasure hunter. In the original continuity, after her ordeal in the Himalayas, she left behind her privileged life and made a living writing about her exploits as an adventurer, mercenary, and cat burglar. Shortly after these books she was disowned by her family. In The Last Revelation, Lara was caught in a collapsing pyramid at the game's end, leaving her fate unknown: this was because the staff, exhausted from four years of non-stop development, wanted to move on from the character. Chronicles was told through a series of flashbacks at a wake for Lara, while The Angel of Darkness was set an unspecified time after The Last Revelation, with Lara revealed to have survived. The circumstances of her survival were originally part of the game but were cut due to time constraints and the pushing of the publisher Eidos. In the Legend continuity, her mother Amelia was involved in the crash, and she is partially driven by the need to discover the truth behind her mother's disappearance and vindicate her father's theories about Amelia's disappearance. This obsession with the truth is present in Anniversary, and ends up bringing the world to the brink of destruction during the events of Underworld. Her father is referred to as Lord Henshingly Croft in the original games and Lord Richard Croft in the Legend continuity. The Lara Croft subseries take place within their own separate continuity, devoting itself to adventures similar to earlier games while the main series goes in a different stylistic direction. In the 2013 reboot continuity, Lara's mother vanished at an early age, and her father became obsessed with finding the secrets of immortality, eventually resulting in an apparent suicide. Lara distanced herself from her father's memory, believing like many others that his obsession had caused him to go mad. After studying at university, Lara gets an opportunity to work on an archaeology program, in the search for the mythic kingdom of Yamatai. The voyage to find the kingdom results in a shipwreck on an island, which is later discovered to be Yamatai, but the island is also home to savage bandits, who were victims of previous wrecks. Lara's attempts to find a way off the island lead her to discover that the island itself is stopping them from leaving, which she discovered is linked to the still-living soul of the Sun Queen Himiko. Lara tries to find a way to banish the spirit of the sun queen in order to get home. The aftermath of the events of the game causes Lara to see that her father was right, and that she had needlessly distanced herself from him. She decides to finish his work, and uncover the mysteries of the world. The game's sequels portray Lara Croft in conflict with an ancient organization Trinity, in their quest to obtain supernatural items for their world domination. A gameplay screenshot from Tomb Raider: Anniversary, showing Lara jumping for a ledge below a door switch. While many mechanics within the Tomb Raider series have undergone changes, platforming and puzzle solving linked to this are recurring, standard elements within the series. The gameplay of Tomb Raider is primarily based around an action-adventure framework, with Lara navigating environments and solving mechanical and environmental puzzles, in addition to fighting enemies and avoiding traps. These puzzles, primarily set within ancient tombs and temples, can extend across multiple rooms and areas within a level. Lara can swim through water, a rarity in games at the time that has continued through the series. According to original software engineer and later studio manager Gavin Rummery, the original set-up of interlinking rooms was inspired by Egyptian multi-roomed tombs, particularly the tomb of Tutankhamun. The feel of the gameplay was intended to evoke that of the 1989 video game Prince of Persia.[80] In the original games, Lara utilised a "bulldozer" steering set-up, with two buttons pushing her forward and back and two buttons steering her left and right, and in combat Lara automatically locked onto enemies when they came within range. The camera automatically adjusts depending on Lara's action, but defaults to a third-person perspective in most instances. This basic formula remained unchanged through the first series of games. Angel of Darkness added stealth elements. For Legend, the control scheme and character movement was redesigned to provide a smooth and fluid experience. One of the key elements present was how buttons for different actions cleanly transitioned into different actions, along with these moves being incorporated into combat to create effects such as stunning or knocking down enemies. Quick-time events were added into certain segments within each level, and many of the puzzles were based around sophisticated in-game physics. Anniversary, while going through the same locales of the original game, was rebuilt using the gameplay and environmental puzzles of Legend. For Underworld, the gameplay was redesigned around a phrase the staff had put to themselves: "What Could Lara Do?". Using this set-up, they created a greater variety of moves and greater interaction with the environment, along with expanding and improving combat. The gameplay underwent another major change for the 2013 reboot. Gameplay altered from progression through linear levels to navigating an open world, with hunting for supplies and upgrading equipment and weapons becoming a key part of gameplay, yet tombs were mostly optional and platforming was less present in comparison to combat. The combat was redesigned to be similar to the Uncharted series: the previous reticle-based lock-on mechanics were replaced by a free-roaming aim.[87] Rise of the Tomb Raider built on the 2013 reboot's foundation, adding dynamic weather systems, reintroducing swimming, and increasing the prevalence of non-optional tombs with more platforming elements.
History
Toby Gard, a key creative figure for the series, at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo. The concept for Tomb Raider originated in 1994 at Core Design, a British game development studio. One of the people involved in its creation was Toby Gard, who was mostly responsible for creating the character of Lara Croft. Gard originally envisioned the character as a man: company co-founder Jeremy Heath-Smith was worried the character would be seen as derivative of Indiana Jones, so Gard changed the character's gender. Her design underwent multiple revisions and redrafts during early development. The game proved an unexpected commercial success, reversing Eidos' then-bleak financial situation. After the success of Tomb Raider, work began on a sequel. Gard was no longer given full creative control, and it was stated by development staff that he was both saddened and disappointed by the use of Lara Croft's sex appeal in marketing. Gard left Core Design in 1997 to found his own gaming company Confounding Factor, and was replaced by Stuart Atkinson.[10][68][90] Tomb Raider II proved a larger commercial success than the original. Over the next three years, Core Design was committed to delivering a Tomb Raider game annually, putting considerable strain on staff. For this reason, and the feeling that they had exhausted the series' potential, the developers tried to kill the character off. This did not work, and while a fifth game was created, the team stated that they were not fully invested in its development. During development on the fifth game, the team split into two divisions, with one division working on the next-generation sequel The Angel of Darkness. During this period, multiple handheld titles were developed by both Core Design and third-party developers. The production of The Angel of Darkness was beset by problems from an early stage, with the team wanting to create a grander game to compete with contemporary action-adventure games. Under pressure from Eidos, key sections of the game needed to be cut, and it was released before the team felt it was ready. The game received negative reactions from critics, and was cited by Paramount as the reason for the second Tomb Raider film underperforming. While development of the next title Legend moved to Crystal Dynamics, Core Design continued to work on the franchise until 2006, when their remake of the original game entitled 10th Anniversary was cancelled. Crystal Dynamics would later release a similar title simply titled Anniversary. Crystal Dynamics and Legend trilogy (2003–2008). After the critical backlash of The Angel of Darkness, Eidos decided to take production of the Tomb Raider series out of Core Design's hands and give it to another subsidiary studio. Production of the next game was given to Crystal Dynamics in 2003, a studio that had made its name with the Legacy of Kain series. Eidos CEO Ian Livingstone stated that while the critical failure of The Angel of Darkness was a major reason for taking the series away from Core Design, the decision was motivated by their inordinate struggles with developing for the PlayStation 2, and by how many members of the Core team had complained that they were "burnt out" on Tomb Raider. He added that "for a UK company, moving the development of its prized asset from Derby to California was a big decision to make but, as it turned out, absolutely the right one to make". One of the main priorities for both Eidos and Crystal Dynamics was to regain the fanbase's trust in the brand, along with helping the series reclaim the status and selling power it had before The Angel of Darkness' release. Their main goal was to put Lara back inside tombs, with their physics-based engine enabling more intricate puzzles. Legend was well received, and was the first game in a rebooted trilogy. After Legend was finished, the team decided to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the series by remaking the original game, rebuilding the environments and redesigning the story to fit in with the events and gameplay of Legend. Alongside the development of Anniversary, an entry for seventh-generation hardware was in development, although it used established gaming architecture from Legend and this caused problems for the development team.[100] The reboot, simply entitled Tomb Raider, was met with critical acclaim at launch in 2013, and became the start of the "Survivor Trilogy". A sequel, eventually revealed as Rise of the Tomb Raider, was in development a few months after the reboot's release. In response to criticisms about a lack of classic tombs, more optional and story-based tombs were incorporated into the game. It continued the team's new portrayal of Lara, showing more sides to her character and her growing obsession with discovering the truth. In 2018, Shadow of the Tomb Raider was released to coincide with a new film starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, simply titled Tomb Raider, taking heavy inspiration from the 2013 game of the same name. Shadow was developed by Eidos-Montréal as Crystal Dynamics completed Marvel's Avengers, though Crystal would provide secondary support. The game concluded Lara's origin story. A "Definitive Edition", featuring all 7 DLCs for Shadow was released in November 2019.
Diversification and Embracer Group acquisition (2021–present)
Following the conclusion of the Survivor trilogy, both Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montréal were busy with Marvel properties, and so there were no further Tomb Raider games for several years. In Crystal Dynamics' case, continued support for Marvel's Avengers lasted until 2023.[114] In 2021, Legendary Television and DJ2 Entertainment announced an anime series set after the events of Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Cultural impact
Both the character of Lara Croft and the concepts behind the Tomb Raider franchise have evolved thematically and in popularity since the first game's release in 1996. The success of the game series led to several commercial tie-ins that further catapulted to cultural icon status,including feature spin-off games, feature films, and comics. The character of Lara Croft has similarly enjoyed popularity, standing out during her initial appearance in the male-dominated video game market, and continuing to stand out throughout the series' history. After her debut in 1996, Lara Croft was featured on the front cover of British culture magazine The Face, a position previously held by real-life celebrities. She similarly was featured in Irish rock band U2's PopMart Tour. The character was inducted onto the Walk of Game in 2006, and earned multiple mentions in the Guinness World Records: she was recognised as the "most successful human video game heroine" in 2006, and earned six awards in 2010. As part of the latter honours, Guinness World Records editor Gaz Deaves said that the character "epitomises all that's great about video gaming". In an article for 1UP.com, Jeremy Parish said that Lara's sex appeal was the main draw for early fans, a facet Eidos exploited for marketing and attempted to emulate in other products. He cited other writers' statements that her popularity stemmed from player empathy with her ability to survive tough situations, alongside contrasting against weaker female characters such as Princess Peach. However, alongside this praise, she has divided opinion as to her character design and consequent sexuality: she is both hailed as an empowering figure for women and a negative role model due to her hyper-sexualized and unrealistic appearance.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider
Mary Magdalene
Order of Preachers perfumeries people ridiculed for their piety pharmacists Pililla, Rizal Provence penitent sinners. tanners sexual temptation women. Mary Magdalene[a] (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene, Magdalena or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection.[1] She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other woman in the gospels, other than Jesus's family. Mary's epithet Magdalene may be a toponymic surname, meaning that she came from the town of Magdala, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Roman Judea. 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. The same passage also states that seven demons had been driven out of her, a statement which is repeated from Mark 16. In all the four canonical gospels, Mary Magdalene was a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus and, in the Synoptic Gospels, she was also present at his burial. All the four gospels identified her, either alone or as a member of a larger group of women which includes Jesus's mother, as the first to witness the empty tomb,[1] and, either alone or as a member of a group, as the first to witness Jesus's resurrection. Mary Magdalene is considered to be a saint by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran denominations. In 2016, Pope Francis raised the level of liturgical memory on July 22 from memorial to feast, and for her to be referred to as the "Apostle of the apostles". Other Protestant churches honor her as a heroine of the faith. The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers, the Orthodox equivalent of one of the Western Three Marys traditions.
Erroneous portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute
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's feet in Luke 7:36–50. Pope Gregory's Easter sermon resulted in a widespread belief that Mary Magdalene was a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman. 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). 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. During the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church emphasized Mary Magdalene as a symbol of penance. In 1969, Pope Paul VI removed the identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the "sinful woman" from the General Roman Calendar, but the view of her as a former prostitute has persisted in popular culture.
Mary Magdalene's portrayal in Gnostic writings
Because she was the first to witness Jesus's resurrection, Mary Magdalene is known in some Christian traditions as the "apostle to the apostles". She is a central figure in later Gnostic Christian writings, including the Dialogue of the Savior, the Pistis Sophia, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Mary. These texts portray her as an apostle, as Jesus's closest and most beloved disciple and the only one who truly understood his teachings. In the Gnostic texts, or Gnostic gospels, Mary's closeness to Jesus results in tension with another disciple, Peter, due to her sex and Peter's envy of the special teachings given to her. In the Gospel of Philip's text she is described as Jesus's companion, as the disciple Jesus loved the most and the one Jesus kissed on the mouth, which has led some people to conclude that she and Jesus were in a relationship. Some fiction portrays her as the wife of Jesus.
It is widely accepted among secular historians that, like Jesus, Mary Magdalene was a real historical figure.Nonetheless, very little is known about her life. Unlike Paul the Apostle, Mary Magdalene left behind no known writings of her own. She was never mentioned in any of the Pauline epistles or in any of the general epistles. 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.
During Jesus's ministry
Mary Magdalene's epithet Magdalene (ἡ Μαγδαληνή; literally "the Magdalene") most likely means that she came from Magdala, a village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee that was primarily known in antiquity as a fishing town.Mary was, by far, the most common Jewish given name for girls and women during the first century, so it was necessary for the authors of the gospels to call her Magdalene in order to distinguish her from the other women named Mary who followed Jesus. Although the Gospel of Mark, reputed by scholars to be the earliest surviving gospel, does not mention Mary Magdalene until Jesus's crucifixion, the Gospel of Luke 8:2–3 provides a brief summary of her role during his ministry: Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. 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.
— Luke 8:1–3 ...According to the Gospel of Luke,Jesus exorcised "seven demons" from Mary Magdalene. That seven demons had possessed Mary is repeated in Mark 16:9, part of the "longer ending" of that gospel – 7 or 8 LOGISMOI?? JESUS ALCHEMIST? doctor of PRAKTIKE?????
As Pearson notes, there’s no substantial evidence to either of these theories. As for her being named in the New Testament, none of the Gospels hints of her as being Mary Magdalene, wife of Jesus. Three Gospels name her only as a witness of his crucifixion and/or burial. All four Gospels place her at the scene of Jesus’ resurrection (though Luke does not list her as a witness). Only in the Gospel according to Luke is there even the slightest implication that she might have had a past life that could raise eyebrows and the question: Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute? Luke 8 names her among other female followers and financial supporters and says that she had been released from the power of 7 or 8 demons???
www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-...
This is not found in the earliest manuscripts and is possibly a second-century addition to the original text, possibly based on the Gospel of Luke. In the first century, demons were believed widely to cause physical and psychological illness. Bruce Chilton, a scholar of early Christianity, states that the reference to the number of demons being "seven" may mean that Mary had to undergo seven exorcisms, probably over a long period of time, due to the first six being partially or wholly unsuccessful. Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity, contends that the number seven may be merely symbolic, since, in Jewish tradition, seven was the number of completion, so that Mary was possessed by 7 or 8????? demons may simply mean she was completely overwhelmed by their power. 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. Consequently, her devotion to Jesus resulting from this healing must have been very strong. The Gospels' writers normally relish giving dramatic descriptions of Jesus's public exorcisms, with the possessed person wailing, thrashing, and tearing his or her clothes in front of a crowd. By contrast, that Mary's exorcism receives little attention may indicate that either Jesus performed it privately or that the recorders did not perceive it as particularly dramatic. Since Mary is listed as one of the women who supported Jesus's ministry financially, she must have been relatively wealthy. The places where she and the other women are mentioned throughout the gospels indicate strongly that they were vital to Jesus's ministry and that Mary Magdalene always appears first, whenever she is listed in the Synoptic Gospels as a member of a group of women, indicates that she was seen as the most important out of all of them.Carla Ricci notes that, in lists of the disciples, Mary Magdalene occupies a similar position among Jesus's female followers as Simon Peter does among the male apostles.
THAT WOMEN played such an active and important role in Jesus's ministry was not entirely radical or even unique; inscriptions from a synagogue in Aphrodisias in Asia Minor from around the same time period reveal that many of the major donors to the synagogue were women. Jesus's ministry did bring women greater liberation than they would typically have held in mainstream Jewish society. Mary’s central role in the Gospels has historically been used by some as evidence that the Church should introduce female priests — and since 1969, when the Catholic Church admitted that it had mistakenly identified Mary Magdalene as a sex worker, the calls for women in church leadership positions have only grown louder. All four canonical gospels agree that several other women watched Jesus's crucifixion from a distance, with three explicitly naming Mary Magdalene as present. Mark 15:40 lists the names of these women as Mary Magdalene; Mary, mother of James; and Salome.Matthew 27:55–56 lists Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Joseph, and the unnamed mother of the sons of Zebedee (who may be the same person Mark calls Salome). Luke 23:49 mentioned a group of women watching the crucifixion, but did not give any of their names.
time.com/5210705/mary-magdalene-controversial/
LONDON: An ancient manuscript in the vaults of the British Library. Jesus was married Mary Magdalene and had children,
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/45099168.cms?utm_...
Redeemed by the grace of the Risen Christ, and who became the Apostle of the Apostles.
From the first centuries of Christianity, penitents, saints, kings, popes, came to carry out their pilgrimage to Saint Mary Magdalene in the cave of Sainte-Baume.
This woman is one whose Christ has cast out seven devils. Once purified, she became with the Twelve and some other women, disciple of Jesus Christ, our Lord. She was one of the few disciples to stand at the foot of the cross, shedding all her tears to the one who offered himself on the wood of the cross. On the morning of Easter, Saint Mary Magdalene recognized in the gardener the risen Christ. He asked her to announce to his apostles that he is risen, that is why St. Mary Magdalene is called « Apostle of the Apostles ».
According to legend, shortly afterwards, Mary Magdalene embarked with her brother Lazarus and her sister Martha. She arrived in the place now called Saintes Maries de la Mer. She accompanied Lazarus to Marseille. She continued her journey along the river Huveaune and settled in the cave of Sainte-Baume to spend the last thirty years of her life there. She offered all her life in penance for the conversion of sinners.
The pilgrims who still come today to the cave are surprised by the inestimable presence of this saint who leads all those who are ready to Christ our Lord.
www.saintebaume.org/saint-mary-magdalene/
Virtually all reputable historians agree that Jesus was crucified by the Romans under the orders of Pontius Pilate. James Dunn states of baptism and crucifixion that these "two facts in the life of Jesus command almost universal assent". Nonetheless, the gospels' accounts of Jesus's crucifixion differ considerably and most secular historians agree that some of the details in the accounts have been altered to fit their authors' theological agendas. Ehrman states that the presence of Mary Magdalene and the other women at the cross is probably historical because Christians would have been unlikely to make up that the main witnesses to the crucifixion were women and also because their presence is attested in both the Synoptic Gospels and in the Gospel of John independently. Maurice Casey concurs that the presence of Mary Magdalene and the other women at the crucifixion of Jesus may be recorded as an historical fact. According to E. P. Sanders, the reason why the women watched the crucifixion even after the male disciples had fled may have been because they were less likely to be arrested, they were braver than the men, or some combination thereof.
Resurrection of Jesus
In his book published in 2006, Ehrman states that "it appears virtually certain" that the stories of the empty tomb, regardless of whether or not they are accurate, can definitely be traced back to the historical Mary Magdalene, saying that, in Jewish society, women were regarded as unreliable witnesses and were forbidden from giving testimony in court,[84] so early Christians would have had no motive to make up a story about a woman being the first to discover the empty tomb.[84] In fact, if they had made the story up, they would have had strong motivation to make Peter, Jesus's closest disciple while he was alive, the discoverer of the tomb instead. He also says that the story of Mary Magdalene discovering the empty tomb is independently attested in the Synoptics, the Gospel of John, and in the Gospel of Peter.[85] N. T. Wright states that "it is, frankly, impossible to imagine that [the women at the tomb] were inserted into the tradition after Paul's day." Casey challenges this argument, contending that the women at the tomb are not legal witnesses, but rather heroines in line with a long Jewish tradition. He contends that the story of the empty tomb was invented by either the author of the Gospel of Mark or by one of his sources, based on the historically genuine fact that the women really had been present at Jesus's crucifixion and burial.[6] In his book published in 2014, Ehrman rejects his own previous argument,[87] stating that the story of the empty tomb can only be a later invention because there is virtually no possibility that Jesus's body could have been placed in any kind of tomb and, if Jesus was never buried, then no one alive at the time could have said that his non-existent tomb had been found empty.[87] He concludes that the idea that early Christians would have had "no motive" to make up the story simply "suffers from a poverty of imagination"[88] and that they would have had all kinds of possible motives, especially since women were overrepresented in early Christian communities and women themselves would have had strong motivation to make up a story about other women being the first to find the tomb. He does conclude later, however, that Mary Magdalene must have been one of the people who had an experience in which she thought she saw the risen Jesus,[91] citing her prominence in the gospel resurrection narratives and her absence everywhere else in the gospels as evidence.
Apocryphal early Christian writings
New Testament apocrypha writings mention Mary Magdalene. Some of these writings were cited as scripture by early Christians. However, they were never admitted to the canon of the New Testament. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches generally do not view these writings as part of the Bible.[92] In these apocryphal texts, Mary Magdalene is portrayed as a visionary and leader of the early movement whom Jesus loved more than he loved the other disciples.[93] These texts were written long after the death of the historical Mary Magdalene.[13][10] They are not regarded by bible scholars as reliable sources of information about her life.[13][10][94] Sanders summarizes the scholarly consensus that:... very, very little in the apocryphal gospels could conceivably go back to the time of Jesus. They are legendary and mythological. Of all the apocryphal material, only some of the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas are worth consideration. Nonetheless, the texts have been frequently promoted in modern works as though they were reliable. Such works often support sensationalist statements about Jesus and Mary Magdalene's relationship.
Dialogue of the Saviour
Fragment of a fourth-century text of the apocryphal Dialogue of the Saviour, in which Mary Magdalene is a central figure.
The earliest dialogue between Jesus and Mary Magdalene is probably the Dialogue of the Saviour, a badly damaged Gnostic text discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. The dialogue consists of a conversation between Jesus, Mary and two apostles – Thomas the Apostle and Matthew the Apostle. In saying 53, the Dialogue attributes to Mary three aphorisms that are attributed to Jesus in the New Testament: "The wickedness of each day [is sufficient]. Workers deserve their food. Disciples resemble their teachers."The narrator commends Mary stating "she spoke this utterance as a woman who understood everything." The Pistis Sophia, possibly dating as early as the second century, is the best surviving of the Gnostic writings. It was discovered in the 18th century in a large volume containing numerous early Gnostic treatises. The document takes the form of a long dialogue in which Jesus answers his followers' questions.Of the 64 questions, 39 are presented by a woman who is referred to as Mary or 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" At another point, he tells her, "Well done, Mary. You are more blessed than all women on earth, because you will be the fullness of fullness and the completion of completion." Simon Peter, annoyed at Mary's dominance of the conversation, tells Jesus, "My master, we cannot endure this woman who gets in our way and does not let any of us speak, though she talks all the time." Mary defends herself, saying, "My master, I understand in my mind that I can come forward at any time to interpret what Pistis Sophia [a female deity] has said, but I am afraid of Peter, because he threatens me and hates our gender."[100] Jesus assures her, "Any of those filled with the spirit of light will come forward to interpret what I say: no one will be able to oppose them."
Gospel of Thomas
Last page of the Gospel of Thomas from Nag Hammadi, containing the account of Jesus's reaffirmation of Mary's authority to Peter. The Gospel of Thomas, usually dated to the late first or early second century, was among the ancient texts discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. The Gospel of Thomas consists entirely of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. Many of these sayings are similar to ones in the canonical gospels, but others are completely unlike anything found in the New Testament.Some scholars believe that at least a few of these sayings may authentically be traced back to the historical Jesus.Two of the sayings reference a woman named "Mary", who is generally regarded as Mary Magdalene.In saying , Mary herself asks Jesus the perfectly innocuous question, "Whom are your disciples like?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene
