Secrets of Mary Magdalene: The Untold Story of History's Most Misunderstood Woman [Hardcover]

Dan Burstein (Author)

Book Description

Series: Secrets | Publication Date: August 28, 2006

Secrets of Mary Magdalene: The Untold Story of History’s Most Misunderstood Woman addresses one of the defining mysteries of the last two millennia. With essays, interviews, stories, and art by some of the greatest thinkers and writers of our time, including Elaine Pagels, Anna Quindlen, and James Carroll, this book covers a fascinating range of thought-provoking ideas and questions. Who was the historical Mary Magdalene? What has she meant throughout the last two thousand years? What does she mean to us today?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dan Burstein’s “Secrets” series has more than three million books in print worldwide. Burstein is the founder of Millennium Technology Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm that invests in innovative new technology companies. He is an award-winning journalist and author of six prior books on global economics and technology, including Yen!, Euroquake, Road Warriors, and Big Dragon. He is also the co-author of Blog! How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business and Culture.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Vanguard Press; 1 edition (August 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593152051
• ISBN-13: 978-1593152055
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #562,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good way to start, September 21, 2006

By 

Reader for Life (On the Road) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of Mary Magdalene: The Untold Story of History's Most Misunderstood Woman (Hardcover)

A very nice collection of viewpoints about the woman who is fast becoming the focus for many people's spiritual lives. Ranging from the scholarly to what amounts to a love letter; from those rooted in the traditional to those very inclined to the New Age (and what's so wrong with a new age, I ask...as if new thinking was somehow laughable); from some people whose life work is the study of the feminine principle in religious matters, to one or two who've, as they say, "jumped on the bandwagon"; this book is a fine way to enter into today's consideration of Mary Magdalene. As the reviewer below said, I do wonder at the inclusion of a few (well one, really) who seem to hold odd agendas concerning the Magdalene, but this is far outweighed by those whose thoughts and opinions are well worth reading. I recommend this book for all those who are picking their way through the thicket of today's rapidly growing interest in the divine feminine.

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow, what a read, September 30, 2006

By 

S. Crane "Kiwi Guy" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secrets of Mary Magdalene: The Untold Story of History's Most Misunderstood Woman (Hardcover)

For those of us who are not biblical scholars, who are the "well known and highly respected authors"? Allow me to assist with a few words on their background ( university staff first sorry, otherwise alphabetical):

Elaine Pagels- professor of Religion at Princeton Univ, one of the foremost scholars on Gnostic literature, author of "The Gnostic Gospels" & National Book Critics Circle Award winner
Lesa Bellevie, founder of magdalene.org and author of "The Complete Idiots Guide to Mary Magdalene"
Bart D Ehrman, professor of Religious Studies at Univ of North Carolina, authority on history of early Christianity, author of "Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code"
Susan Haskins, researcher and author of "Mary Magdalene: Myth and metaphor" and contributor to "Secrets of the Code"
Karen L King, professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard Divinity School, author of "The Gospel of Mary Magdala..." and more
Marvin Meyer, professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman Univ, author of many books on Christian religions in antiquity
Margaret Starbird, writer on the concept of the Sacred Feminine and acknowledged influence on Dan Brown's novel

Diane Apostolos-Cappadonna, professor of religious art & history at Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Centre for Muslim -Christian Understanding and prof at Georgetown Univ
Ann Graham Brock, lecturer, TV doco person, and author of "Mary Magdalene, the first Apostle..."
Bruce Chilton, professor of Religion at Bard Univ, author and editor of "J for the Study of the New Testament"
Mary-Rose D'Angelo, prof in theology at Univ of Notre Dame, coedited "Women and Christian origins"
Deirdre Good, prof of New Testament, General Theological Seminary, NY city and author
Katherine L Jansen ,prof of history at the Catholic University of America, writer on women, gender and religious culture
Philip Jenkins, prof of History & Religious Studies at Penn State Univ and author
Katherine Kurs, at New School Univ, interests include contemporary American spirituality
John Lash, eclectic scholar, founder of Metahistory.org and author
John Saul, contributed to research with Henry Lincoln at Rennes-le-Chateau in 1970s
Jane Schaberg, prof of Religious Studies at Univ of Detroit Mercy and Magdalene author
Merlin Stone, teacher of art history, organiser of Goddess Festivals

Jacobus de Voragine, Dominican italian monk in 1200s
Joan Acocella, staff writter for the New Yorker
Tori Amos, singer-songwriter and pianist
Elizabeth Bard, art historian based in Paris, contributed to Secrets of the Code
James Carrol, civil rights activist and playwright
Richard Covington, contributor to "Women of the Bible"
Maxine Hanks, writer and feminist theologian
Ki Longfellow, novelist
Kathleen McGowan, editor and writer on spirituality, metaphysics and alternative therapies
Jeremy Pine, antiquarian and archaeologist
Nancy Qualls-Corbett, Jungian analyst, author of "The sacred prostitute..."
Anna Quindlen, bestselling author, columnist & Pulitzer Prize winner

Its a bit of a read sorry, but it gives you an idea of the breadth of contributors to the book and their scholarship. My apologies if I have cut a university academic's 40 year career to two lines! There is obviously a bit of repetition and overlap between authors, but Wow, what a read.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A long hard birth, August 25, 2006

By 

A Constant Reader (New York City, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of Mary Magdalene: The Untold Story of History's Most Misunderstood Woman (Hardcover)

Only read one other book in this series since I'm not a Grail man, but did read the fourth because I am very much a Jesus and Magdalene man. Written by so many Magdalene enthusiasts, scholars, and artists, therefore written from so many points of view, naturally this book is going to please in places, and perhaps not in others - it all depends on what the reader brings along with her/him. I brought along a certain admiration for many of the contributors, especially King and Haskins and Meyer, and a deep devotion to Pagels & Longfellow (The Secret Magdalene: A Novel, a thrilling novel), so for these five I would have bought the book in any case. But it was very interesting to read the efforts of those I'd never heard of, or those whose inclusion puzzled me. I learned all over again that there's a world of Mary Magdalenes out there, each catering to the needs of various and sundry seekers. But what is really happening is the development in our exceedingly materialist times of a New Goddess of the West. This book is extremely helpful in following that delicious process. I'm giving it five stars for the truly good articles, but would like to have held back half a star for one or two of the choices made in contributors.