Resurrection of Mary Magdalene: Legends, Apocrypha, and the Christian Testament [Paperback]

Jane Schaberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2004

The controversy surrounding Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code has intensified interest in Mary Magdalene and Jane Schaberg provides an authoritative source for a deeper understanding and re-assessment of this popular figure. Within a progressive feminist framework, The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene approaches Christian Testament sources through analysis of legend, archaeology, and gnostic/apocryphal traditions. This is the story of the suppression and distortion of a powerful woman leader - Schaberg presents Mary Magdalene as successor to Jesus in a challenging alternative to the Petrine primacy. >

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Schaberg (The Illegitimacy of Jesus: A Feminist Theological Interpretation of the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke) moves from contemporary feminist concerns, through the vast array of legend, apocryphal writing, and biblical reverberations, back to the "real" Mary Magdalene. She concludes that Magdalene was denigrated because she was a powerful woman, close to Jesus and perhaps to John the Baptist as well. At the same time, Schaberg searches for antecedents of the empty tomb and stories of John 20, in which Jesus appears to Magdalene: these she finds in the ascension of Elijah in 2 Kings 2, an association that suggests that Magdalene was Jesus' Elisha. Schaberg combines biblical scholarship, imagination, and feminist advocacy into a major work of methodological originality that reveals pervasive themes, such as the silencing of women who question the patriarchy. While there are numerous recent works on Mary Magdalene, Schaberg's book breaks new ground and is recommended for all libraries; required for seminary and feminist collections. Carolyn M. Craft, Longwood Coll., Farmville, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Mary Magdalene is ‘hot’ these days. Of all the many books coming off the press about her, this is one of the most solid, at the same time creative and scholarly. An excellent summery of the most important medieval legends about Mary Magdalene; a superb analysis of the empty tomb traditions. The structure of the book is well conceived. Schaberg has prepared the foundations for her argument with impeccable academic analysis. Her bold new interpretation will need to be tried and seasoned. Even for those who will eventually not accept it, there is much harvest to be gleaned in these pages. Who needs the DaVinci Code?” –Carolyn Osiek, Brite Divinity School, Biblical Theology Bulletin, 2004 (Carolyn Osiek Biblical Theology Bulletin )

“Read this worthy sequel to The Illegitimacy of Jesus for an exhilarating look at what imaginative reconstructions do to challenge theological givens. Written in partnership with Virginia Woolf, Jane Schaberg trains her scholarly eye on the woman who gave voice to Jesus’ resurrection.” –WATERwheel, 2005 (Waterwheel )

"In her groundbreaking work on Mary Magdalene, Jane Schaberg offers scholars of Bible and church history a view of Mary Magdalene that flows from careful, critical, and provocative research aimed at uncovering the nobility of a woman whose legendary history has all too often marred the truth of her beauty... Schaberg has given students, scholars, and an educated public a gem that will define Christianity and change the course of legend for years to come."- The Journal of Religion, Vol. 85, 2005

(Journal Of Religion )

"In her groundbreaking work on Mary Magdalene, Jane Schaberg offers scholars of Bible and church history a view of Mary Magdalene that flows from careful, critical, and provocative research aimed at uncovering the nobility of a woman whose legendary history has all too often marred the truth of her beauty… Schaberg has given students, scholars, and an educated public a gem that will define Christianity and change the course of legend for years to come."- The Journal of Religion, Vol. 85, 2005

(Journal Of Religion )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Continuum; First edition. edition (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826416454
• ISBN-13: 978-0826416452
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,114,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mary Magdalene for the Non-Theologian, November 26, 2002

By 

Judith M Shimkus (St Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene: Legends, Apocrypha, and the Christian Testament (Hardcover)

I can only write this review from a non-theological point of view. I am a systems-programmer, not a scholar. Having been brought up Roman Catholic, then fallen far, far away into what might be called "unorthodox deism", I am astonished by the difference between the canonical New Testament texts I was taught, and the views Jane Schaberg expresses. So, the canonical Matthew, Mark, Luke and John aren't "history"? This is refreshing, because taken as history they don't make all
that much sense. The additional frequent allusions to the documents from Nag Hammadi and other apocrypha point the way to "the way things might have been different" from the canonical teachings, and help to look at the historical Jesus as a real person, not a simpering victim of Augustinian prudery.
This last helps support Schaberg's postulation that Mary Magdalene, among other women, may have been not distant followers of Jesus but intimate companions and the true proclaimers of his message to the apostles and to the world.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schaberg's Magdalene, September 19, 2002

By 

Ralph D. Cushing (grosse pointe, mi United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene: Legends, Apocrypha, and the Christian Testament (Hardcover)

Schaberg's book is a challenging read, but should be accessable to one who reads feminist/womanist authors, Biblical scholars or both. She has meticulously reviewed and analysed the literature and film on or related to Mary Magdalene. She has summarized the limited archaeological work done at Migdal.
Perhaps I have been afraid of Virginia Woolf. Now I will read her work, and try to compare it with the work of Mary Ann Evans. I have been interested in what Evans says about religion.
I find Schaberg's discovery of allusion to 2 Kings 2 in John 20 to be breathtaking... I will be spending a lot of time with this book.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tour de Force on Mary Magdalene/Virginia Woolf, August 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene: Legends, Apocrypha, and the Christian Testament (Hardcover)

This is a masterful book. The scholarship is impressive, but it is the combination of solid learning with the personal that is unusual and engaging. Schaberg is fearlessly feminist, but this is not a polemic. She is persuasive and at times even poetic. For those interested in Mary Magdalene or Virginia Woolf this book is a must-read, but everyone interested in the origins of Christianity and the impact of patriarchy on human institutions will find a great deal of interest here.