Mary Magdalene

Women, the Church, and the Great Deception

By: Adriana Valerio

Narrated by: Nan McNamara

From one of Italy’s most renowned historians of religion, an exciting new portrait of one of Christianity’s most complex - and most misunderstood - figures: Mary Magdalene.

Jesus’ favorite and most devoted disciple? A prostitute shunned from her community? A symbol of female leadership and independence? Who really was Mary Magdalene, and how does her story fit within the history of Christianity, and that of female emancipation?

In this meticulously researched, highly engaging book, Adriana Valerio looks at history, art, and literature to show how centuries of misinterpretation and willful distortion - aimed at establishing and preserving gender hierarchies - have stripped this historical figure of her complexity and relevance.

By revealing both the benign and the pernicious misrepresentations of Mary Magdalene, this thought-provoking essay reaffirms the central role played by women in the origins of Christianity and their essential contribution to one of the founding experiences of Western thought and society.

©2021 Adriana Valerio (P)2021 Scribd Audio

Not what I expected

Not a lot about Mary herself. Just a lot of references to other works. I liked the references to art.

Good to Question Gnostic

Like how the author is searching for proof about Mary Magdalene and reference to scriptures. Though as story progressed, it became highly disturbing to see shift away from biblically sound teachings and acknowledgement of gnostic gospel Mary. Better to keep to the facts in Bible for this one.