Customer Reviews

Mad Mary: A Bad Girl from Magdala, Transformed at His Appearing

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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!

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.

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.

I have really enjoyed Liz Curtis Higgs' Scottish historical series, so thought I'd give one of her earlier, non-fiction books a try. I don't know exactly what I was expecting -- some new insight into Mary Magdalene, I suppose -- but overall I was disappointed.

Although Higgs doesn't lack for writing skill, it was the tone of the book that put me off more than anything. The first two-thirds of the book is called "The Story", where she translates the story of Mary Magdalene into a modern-day setting (even translating the Biblical characters' names into modern versions). It was a good idea -- Mary is a severely depressed woman driven to near madness by loneliness and grief over her divorce and her daughter's suicide, who exhibits many of the traits we typically connect with the mentally deranged: poor hygiene, filthy living conditions including numerous cats, etc. And there were some passages, namely those dealing with the inner thoughts and feelings of Mary and Jake (her pastor who is the modern-day version of Jesus) when each is alone, that were thoughtful and well-done. However, the majority of "The Story" dealt with Jake and the members of his fledgling inner-city church, and was comprised of their interactions and conversations, and these were the parts that rankled. Every conversation was filled with teasing and wisecracks -- one of Jake's congregants even talks back to him while he's preaching. And one old man, who doesn't feel Mary belongs in their church (and who was obviously supposed to be a modern-day embodiment of the Biblical Pharisees), is so openly hostile that I found it overdone to the point of ridiculousness. The whole thing didn't feel the least bit realistic to me, but rather reminded me of the exaggerated conversations and interactions that you see on a television sitcom (or, at least, what I remember of TV sitcoms, since it's been over 25 years since I've watched one). After about 60 pages I'd had enough and skipped to the last part of the book, "The Study."

This is the part where Higgs expounds on the Biblical account of Mary M. and, unfortunately, here too I was disappointed. First of all, because unless you are brand-new to the Bible I don't think there's going to be anything here you don't already know. In a nutshell, it is this: 1) there are three Biblical women (Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the unnamed sinner woman who anointed Jesus' feet with her alabaster box of ointment) whose stories are typically all lumped together as Mary Magdalene's. However, they are three separate and distinct women, and the only thing that we definitely know about Mary M. is that Jesus cast seven demons out of her; 2) Mary M. became a devout follower of Jesus, a female disciple as it were, who almost never left his side until after his death on the cross; 3) given her prominence in Scripture it is likely she was a woman of influence and means; 4) she did NOT have sexual relations with Jesus.

Aside from the disappointment at not learning anything new about Mary, in the second part of the book I was also put off by Higgs' tone. While others may like the constant use of "girlfriend, " "honey," "babe" and "sister," I am totally turned off by it. It doesn't make me feel one bit more connected to the writer, but rather felt like I was being talked to by a sassy, bleach-blonde, gum-chewing truck stop waitress. All a writer has to do to connect with me is to probe beneath the surface and touch my heart; sassy epithets are not necessary.

I have one more of Higgs' "Bad Girls" books to try; if I am not more satisfied with it, I will give up on her non-fiction and stick to her Scottish fiction. She does really well with that, and has another one coming out soon (I hope!).

THIS IS ONE OF MRS. HIGGS' MOST THOUGHT PROVOKING BOOKS YET, IN MY OPINION. IT IS VERY WELL RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN IN A MANNER THAT MAKES YOU GO BACK AND READ THE SCRIPTURES REGARDING MARY OF MAGDALA.

MRS. HIGGS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE WRITERS. THOUGH MOST OF HER BOOKS TICKLE YOUR FUNNY BONE, THEY GIVE YOU CAUSE FOR GREAT THOUGHT TOO. I PUT HER ON MY LIST OF TOP WRITERS, UP THERE WITH MAX LUCADO.

I really looked forward to reading this, as I am a big fan of Liz's books, and I was not disappointed. She really brings home the reality that Christ loves and values women just as much as men. She sticks to the facts (unlike some feminist authors who are trying to portray Mary Magdalene as equal and opposite to Jesus) and her research is meticulous. This is an entertaining and fascinating book which I highly recommend.

I loved her books "Bad Girls of the Bible" and "Really Bad Girls of the Bible", so I couldn't wait to get my hands on her latest, "Mad Mary." I wasn't disappointed. WOW! what a book. I couldn't put it down. Ms Higgs does it again. She stirred my emotions with her dipiction of a modern day Mary. I could feel this woman's pain. I found myself in tears more than once.
I repeatedly compared the fictional charactors to their real counterparts, in scripture. Jake is so compassionate, it's easy to see him as a modern Jesus. I could go on but I don't want to give away any of the other charactors.
Once again I am in awe of Ms Higgs talent.
I have discussed parts of her previous books in a Sunday School lesson. I have a feeling I'll be working this one in too.

I bought this book to have a better insight on her life and story. The first part of the book is about Mary M. if she lived today. It was a good story, but that is not what I bought the book for. The second part of the book is nothing but the writers view of religion and not about the life of Mary M. Oh well, you can't have it all.

The book itself was a great read. I learned alot and would recommend it to anyone. However, the time it took for the book to arrive was extremely slow. I ordered four books at the same time and paid separate shipping for each one and each one arrived in it own SLOW time. The people shipping are making a killing on the shipping costs ($3.99 per book) and sending them as slow as possible. NOT FAIR!!! If you have a product to sell and intend to keep customers coming back, you should send things promptly and for the cost you charge your customers.

The book was well written presenting Mary Magdalene from our times as an outcast.
I just did not like the ending of the story. Story was a bit predictable. I was hoping more from Liz. She is an outstanding writer. That is why I have raised a bar higher.
Overall, it is a great way to give a closer look of Mary Magdalene from the bible. Liz followed the bible and brought it to our daylight.