Esther A. de Boer

Who really was Mary Magdalene? The living woman behind the image is still little known, and Esther de Boer attempts to fill this gap. The author examines not only Gospel texts, but also writings discovered in the Egyptian desert during the last century, to present a vivid, fascinating, and attractive picture of Mary of Magdala--disciple, apostle, and human being.

Beyond the Myth

Mary Magdalene

John Bowden

Mary Magdalene has always been the subject of both popular and scholarly intrigue. Was she the wife of Jesus, his complete initiate, a Goddess or a priestess? Did the Church dramatically alter her image to deny her importance? These questions have inspired representations of her in art, film and literature, from Caravaggio to The Last Temptation of Christ and The Da Vinci Code. The Mary Magdalene Cover-Up is the first book to bring the original sources that have informed our current day view of Mary to a wider audience. Esther de Boer has brought together an impressive array of texts from the first century, when Mary Magdalene was alive, to the sixth century, when her image as a penitent sinner was invented. Each text is accompanied by an informed and lively commentary by the author placing it in its historical context. This combination of original texts and commentary enables the reader to draw their own conclusions about this most enigmatic of first-century women.

The Sources Behind the Myth

The Mary Magdalene Cover-Up

The Gospel of Mary, the only known gospel that is named after a woman, has aroused new interest in the figure of Mary Magdalene and the beginnings of Christianity. What was her impact and her message? What became of her and her ideas? This book examines the Gospel of Mary to discover what it reveals about Mary Magdalene and to determine the origin of its portrayal. It proposes a new perspective on matter and nature in the Gospel of Mary, suggesting that it is not to be categorized as a gnostic writing. Furthermore, the study argues that Mary's teaching in the Gospel of Mary is more closely related to the writings of Philo, the letters of Paul and the Gospel of John than to the Nag Hammadi Codices. As such, the Gospel of Mary and its portrayal of Mary Magdalene cannot be seen as evidence of a specific gnostic esteem for Mary Magdalene, but rather demonstrates the esteem of believers belonging to a broader Christian context.

Beyond a Gnostic and a Biblical Mary Magdalene

The Gospel of Mary

Esther de Boer

Even before the publication of The Da Vinci Code, Mary Magdalene has always been the subject of both popular and scholarly attention. In her search for a true historical Mary Magdalene, Esther de Boer has collected together all the texts about Mary Magdalene from the first century, when she was living, to the sixth century when her image as a penitent sinner was invented. All the texts are accompanied by an informed and enlightening commentary from the author placing these works in their historical context.

Esther A. de Boer

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