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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Liz devotes a whole book to THIS "bad girl"!, October 9, 2001
This review is from: Mad Mary: A Bad Girl from Magdala, Transformed at His Appearing (Hardcover)
Perhaps you have read Liz Curtis Higgs' books "Bad Girls of the Bible" and "Really Bad Girls of the Bible". Each book tells the story of those notorious women of the Bible whose stories exemplify God's grace. In these books, Liz writes a contemporary short story dealing with these women. In the preface of this book, she said that in thinking about what women to put in her two previous books, she realized that Mary Magdalene needed a book all to herself! The first half of the book is a fictional account about Mary Margaret Delaney, a contemporary "type" of Mary Magdalene. This part of the book alone is reason enough to buy the book! The writing is fabulous, and the story really draws you in. But there is an excellent study that takes up the last half of the book. You will enjoy joining Liz with your Bible open, to better understand this woman that we THINK we know all about, but really don't! Liz quickly dispels any pre-conceived notions we have about Mary M's background. I'll let you read it for yourself to find out the details! Great food for thought! Study questions at the end of each chapter make this book a WONDERFUL one to study with your small group! Please check out my other reviews of Christian books (and Christian music)! May God bless you in your study of His Word!
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bible's most notorious "bad girl" not really bad at all!, August 13, 2002
This review is from: Mad Mary: A Bad Girl from Magdala, Transformed at His Appearing (Hardcover)
After reading Liz Curtis Higg's previous works, "Bad Girls of the Bible" and "Really Bad Girls of the Bible," I, too, was left wondering why she left out the "baddest" girl of the them all, Mary Magdalene. Well, this book more than made up for the omission. And it turns out, Mary wasn't that bad at all--she wasn't a prostitute like most people believe, she wasn't the one who annointed Jesus' feet, and she was never in love with Jesus. The only bad thing that happened to her was that she was possessed by demons (and haven't we all been at some point in our lives?...just kidding). Misinterpretation of her story by a patriarchal medieval Catholic Church is what gave her the bad reputation. Thank God Liz came along to set things straight! She explores who Mary Magdalene REALLY was through careful study of her appearances in the New Testament. (And as always, Liz makes Bible study accessible to everyone, even those who have never touched a Bible in their lives.) If anything, Mary Magdalene was a powerful and influential woman in her day--she was independently wealthy, she wasn't married at the time so she was free to follow Jesus as she chose, and Jesus Himself placed great importance upon her within his circle of followers. In fact, it was she (and none of the other (male) disciples) whom He chose to appear to first and foremost after His resurrection. That's got to say something about the woman herself! What I love most about Liz's books is that she tells us how God EMPOWERS women. After living though so many centuries of the Christian church being run by men and limiting women's involvment, many have come to see as Christianity being "anti-woman." But according to Liz, this is not true. She presents God as very pro-woman, and points out many examples of how God has used women over the centuries to do great things. But I would recommend for ANYONE to read this (man or woman) because there are so many misconceptions of Mary Magdalene in our culture today, and it's about time we change our beliefs.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well written, October 13, 2006
If you're looking for a scholarly book about Mary Magdalene, you're probably better off reading Margaret Starbird or Jane Schaberg. But if you want a well written story about the life of Mary, then this book is for you. Higgs is a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction, and sometimes she blurs the lines. Her previous books on Bad Girls in the Bible were just a prelude to this one book on Mary, which is actually two books in one - the first half is a fictional story and the second half is the factional stone. I say "factional" rather than non-fiction because Higgs is very liberal in her interpretation of the gospels and rarely does she address alternate theories. Higgs' discussion of Mary Magdalene assumes that Mary is not Mary from Bethany, yet there are a great many reasons to assume she is, and Higgs ignores most of these issues in her zeal to isolate Mary M as only the woman from whom 7 demons are exorcized. Yet in focusing exclusively on this aspect of Mary's story, Higgs seems oblivious to the meaning of the 7 demons within 1st Century jewish context. Moreover, she takes the easy road by assuming that Magdalene refers to the fact that Mary came from Magadan, when it makes more sense that Magdalene derived from Migdal (tower) and referred to the fact that Mary was the "tower", which, as Margaret Starbird points out, is equivalent to saying "Mary the Great". Jesus' disciples all had nicknames (Peter was called Rocky, John and James were the Brothers of Thunder, Judas was the Daggerman, Simon was the Zealot, etc.) None of these nicknames referred to places but to personality characteristics, so "Mary the Great" is in keeping with Jesus' nicknaming stragey, and "Mary from Magadan" is not. Don't let these criticisms stop you from reading this book. It is a quick read, quite funny in parts, and generally stays true to the gospels. It is informative up to a point. I recommend it, with some cautions.
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