Healed: How Mary Magdelene Was Made Well

by Kate Moorehead

Overview

Mary Magdalene, first witness to Jesus’s resurrection, has been one of the most misunderstood of all the saints, maligned for centuries as a prostitute, despite there being nothing in the Bible to indicate anything of the sort. The Bible does say that Mary was possessed by demons, and that Jesus healed her. Today, we would call Mary’s problem not possession but a mental health condition. Author Kate Morehead says, “A saint is someone who walks ahead of us, guides us, and keeps us on the path to life . . . . For us, they are role models. Like us, they struggled and journeyed, but they drew closer and each one of them carved out a different path to God. “It is my hope and prayer that by telling the truth of her story, Mary Magdalene might take her rightful place as the guide for those of us who struggle with mental health issues (and if we are truly honest, that means each and every one of us) . . . . It is time for us to let her show us her beautiful, unique, and sometimes frightening path to true health. It is a path that leads directly to heart of God.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780898690712
Publisher:	Church Publishing
Publication date:	01/01/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	926 KB

About the Author

KATE MOOREHEAD is Dean of St John’s Cathedral in Jacksonville Florida. She is the first female dean in the Diocese of Florida. The author of Resurrecting Easter, she is a graduate of Vassar, Yale Divinity School, and Virginia Theological Seminary.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Making a Woman

I was the first woman to lead all three of the churches that I have served. I don't know if my leadership is supposed to look different than a man's. My husband used to pump me up when I first came to St. John's Cathedral. "Be the Dean!" he would say. I would try not to slouch. I would try to sound confident and tough. But really, I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing. I have been like a blind person groping my way towards some uniquely feminine form of leadership. To tell you the truth, I often didn't think much about it until I started doing retreats for women and they began asking me about what it was like to be a woman leader in the church.

I found myself searching the Bible for answers to their questions about what it meant to be a woman leader. Did women follow Jesus differently? How did they interact with Jesus? How did they worship him? Was there something that I was supposed to be doing?

Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus were the most important women in Jesus's life. One is inaccurately known as a repentant prostitute, the other as a perpetual virgin. These women are defined by whether or not they had sex. But who were they to Jesus? Did he define them by their sexual behavior too?

Mary Magdalene in particular grabbed my heart. Why had the church throughout the centuries painted her dressed in red, the color associated with seduction? Why was she seen as a sexual woman, voluptuous and tempting? In many Renaissance paintings, she looks like she is ready to lure someone to bed. Why was her sexuality so important? And why are fringe elements today trying to convince us that she really was Jesus's wife?

I wanted to get to know the truth about Mary Magdalene. But where to start? My search took me all the way back to the beginning, to the creation of the human race. The role and place of women in relationship to men has been complicated from the very beginning of scripture.

In the Beginning

In the Bible, the most important stories are told more than once. The story of Jesus is told in four gospels. The story of the Exodus is told many times in the Old Testament. And the story of the creation of the world is told twice. Scripture often repeats the most crucial stories as a way of honoring and exploring them, like when we hold up a diamond and examine its many sides. Each of these stories is told from a different angle, another perspective. Sometimes the details may even conflict. For some, the existence of multiple and sometimes divergent tellings of the same story is disturbing and means that none of it really happened. For me, it makes the words more real. After all, if a story is important to me, I tell it many times and so will anyone else who witnessed it. And their story will no doubt be told from a different perspective than mine. God inspired Holy Scripture to be written not as a textbook but as a living word told in many ways from many perspectives.

So there are two creation stories. All you have to do is open the Bible and read to see that this is true. In the first of the two creation stories (found in Genesis 1–2:3), God makes the world in seven days. On each day, God calls the created good. And on the sixth day, God makes humankind. Humans, both male and female, are created in the image of God. They are made in God's image together. And together, God declares that they are very good. In the first story, man and woman are created at the same time as equals and God says that they are very good.

In the second story (found in Genesis 2:4–5), God makes a garden first and puts Adam in that garden. For centuries the translators of the Bible have used the word Adam as the proper name for a man, and later in the book of Genesis, this word is used as if it were the name of the man. But the word in the Hebrew is derived from the word (pronounced adama) which means "earth." So a more accurate translation of the word Adam might be "earth-creature" or "one made from earth." Adam is created when God takes the earth and forms it into a human shape. And God breathes into Adam the breath of life. God then sets about making some company for the earth-creature.

God creates animals, birds of the air, and fish of the sea, but still Adam is lonely. So God makes Adam go to sleep and separates Adam's side from the rest of his body. The result of this split is the creation of and (eesh and eesha), male and female. These words, male and female, are different from the word Adam. So there is one earth-creature which is then split into two parts. And after the split, it seems that Adam and Eve existed in harmony and peace until the arrival of the snake.

We have only just opened the Bible and already the role and place of the woman is confusing. Was woman created alongside and equal to the man? Was she created after the splitting of an earth-creature? Who is she in relation to the man and what is her place in the created order?

These stories coexist to tell us a deep truth about who we are. The relationship between men and women is complicated and it has been from the very beginning.

Lilith and Eve

How can we understand these two different stories that sit side by side at the very beginning of the Bible? Baby lonian Jewish scholars tried to make sense of the two creation stories by imagining that the woman in the first story was equal to the man and that he did not like her. They named her "the First Eve." Later, this first woman became linked with legends of a female lilu (demon), who stalked men in their sleep, causing nocturnal emissions. This demon also caused stillbirths and other pregnancy abnormalities. Jewish myths arose in which this first woman was called Lilith. In these myths, Lilith was banished by Adam because she seemed too powerful, too much like him. So Lilith roamed around in frustration, causing havoc in the night.

And so, the woman in the first creation story who was created right alongside and equal to the man became evil. She was banished for being proud and independent. She was blamed for unwanted sexual desire and abnormal pregnancies. Lilith was both sexual and demonic.

Meanwhile, the second story painted a very different picture of the first woman. Her name was Eve. She was subservient and submissive. In a strange twist of fate, it was Eve, the submissive woman, who became the one blamed for the fall of humanity. And it was her gender, associated with a certain kind of sexuality, which was later considered to be her method of persuasion.

Blamed for the Fall

Eve tempted Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. She ate first. She believed the lies of the snake. It was her fault that Adam fell from harmony with God. Was it because she was a woman that she made this fatal mistake? How did she convince Adam to eat? Was Adam unable to refuse because he found Eve's body so attractive? Is Eve to blame for the fall of humanity, for all of our suffering, for the fact that we have lost our place with God? It is her fault. Isn't it?

Did Eve use her body in convincing Adam to consume the fruit? How could she have done this if Adam himself had not yet fallen, did not realize he was naked, and felt no lust?

First of all, let us go back and see exactly what the Bible says about how Eve convinced Adam to eat the fruit. Here are the simple verses from the book of Genesis.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.

— Genesis 3:1–6

From this passage, scholars over the centuries created a whole universe of possibilities. Notice that Eve and the snake have a conversation but Eve never converses with Adam. Did Eve convince Adam by seducing him? Did she use her femininity as her method of persuasion? Was it all her fault?

From these simple verses of scripture, the scholar Tertullian wrote this around the year 200 AD,

In pain shall you bring forth children, woman, and you shall turn to your husband and he shall rule over you. And do you not know that you are Eve? God's sentence hangs still over all your sex and His punishment weighs down upon you. You are the devil's gateway; you are she who first violated the forbidden tree and broke the law of God. It was you who coaxed your way around him whom the devil had not the force to attack. With what ease you shattered that image of God: Man! Because of the death you merited, even the Son of God had to die ... Woman, you are the gate to hell.

The Book of Genesis does not say that Eve convinced Adam at all. It simply says that he was with her. How have we come to believe that he needed convincing? The words of the scripture make it sound like Adam was just there when she ate the fruit so he took a bite. There is no reference to any kind of conversation at all.

Even if Eve did convince Adam, does that make Adam and all men not responsible for the fall? Is it really all Eve's fault, all the fault of the woman? Was Adam not conscious of his own actions? This theory makes Adam seem like some kind of helpless infant, as if he were incapable of refusing Eve. Ironically, this theory gives all the power to the woman.

Even as early as the second century, the fall of humanity became associated with women. Eve was considered the most at fault because she ate the fruit first. It was her disobedience which was the focus, the root cause of the fall from Eden.

In the second century, Clement of Alexandria wrote, Every woman should be filled with shame by the thought that she is a woman. ... the consciousness of their own nature must evoke feelings of shame.

— Paedagogus (The Instructor), Book 2, 33.2

Women were seen as lesser than men and this simple passage from Genesis about Eve was used to justify their reasoning. Martin Luther would later write,

For woman seems to be a creature somewhat different from man, in that she has dissimilar members, a varied form and a mind weaker than man. Although Eve was a most excellent and beautiful creature, like unto Adam in reference to the image of God, that is with respect to righteousness, wisdom and salvation, yet she was a woman. For as the sun is more glorious than the moon, though the moon is a most glorious body, so woman, though she was a most beautiful work of God, yet she did not equal the glory of the male creature.

Even earlier, about 160 AD, Justin Martyr would paint Eve as the antithesis of Mary the mother of Jesus:

For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her.

Again and again, the fall of humanity was blamed on Eve. It was the woman who was at fault. And the only way she could have convinced Adam to eat was by somehow using her body as a tool of seduction. Being a woman became a bad thing, for it was a woman who convinced Adam to eat the forbidden fruit.

Living in a Fallen World

I do believe that we live in a fallen world. Just turn on the news and watch. It is obvious. Life can seem cruel and random. When pain comes to us we feel that somehow we have been cheated. We ask God, "What have I done wrong?" Not only is pain itself difficult but it feels somehow unfair. When someone is diagnosed with an illness, they often ask, "Why is this happening to me?" They assume that they should be healthy and live always. When conflict, suffering, and even death arise, it just feels wrong. We were born assuming that life should be Eden. I believe this is evidence of the fact that we were initially created to live in Eden. We belong in Eden, in a place where there is no suffering and where we live in harmony with God. A child is born expecting and, in fact, deserving perfect care. And we parents, fallen creatures that we are, do our very best and still mess things up.

We love fairy tales for good reason. The good and the bad are so well differentiated. I love to take my boys to the movies and watch the good guys beat up the bad guys. We all want to defeat evil and live happily-ever-after just like they do in the movies. It is immensely satisfying to watch because it feels right.

On some level, we still assume that life should be lived in a state of peace and joy. When I counsel young couples planning to be married, part of what I have to do is remind them that their lives will not be a happily-ever-after. No matter how good they are to each other, they will encounter pain and conflict. It is part of the fallen nature of our world. They will have to fight for their marriage. It will not be easy. And when things get difficult, it will no doubt surprise them. They will think that they have done something wrong, but really it is human nature to struggle. We just don't believe that things should be hard.

Our yearning for peace, our yearning for happiness — these are signs of the fact that we were created by God for Eden. We were designed to live in harmony with God. Eden is where we long to be; it is where things feel right. It is where we belong and we keep trying to get back there.

Humanity has fallen from paradise; there is no denying that fact. But the fall of humanity — is it the fault of the woman alone? Does she alone bear full responsibility? The man chose to eat as well, but because the woman ate first, she is considered the more fallen of the two, the great temptress.

Mary the Virgin and Mary Magdalene: The Two Extremes Continue

Echoes of Lilith and Eve were woven deeply into the Christian tradition. After Jesus's death and resurrection, when the writers of the gospels began to tell the story, there arose two important women. One was Mary the mother of Jesus, the other was Mary Magdalene. In the gospels themselves, these women are portrayed with all the complexity and dimension of the men. Jesus's mother gets afraid and impatient with her son. She even tries to accuse Jesus of being possessed by a demon in order to bring him home. Mary Magdalene is a woman who has been healed by Jesus and becomes one of his most faithful followers. Jesus's relationships with both his mother and with Mary Magdalene seem to be relationships of mutual love and respect. It is Jesus's mother who urges him to perform his first miracle in the Gospel of John and it is Mary Magdalene who first sees the Risen Christ.

But as the centuries passed, these rich biblical characters began to be painted in black and white. Mary the mother of Jesus is described as a virgin in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. She was not yet married when she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not have an earthly father, and Joseph waited until Jesus was born to have marital relations with his wife. This is an important concept, for it validates the understanding that Jesus was born of God and of man. God was the father, humanity the mother. Over the centuries, the church began to believe that Jesus's mother Mary never had sex at all in her entire lifetime. Mary was considered a perpetual virgin.

The concept of Mary's perpetual virginity began in the second century with both Irenaeus and Origen. By the fourth century, it was well established as a teaching of the church. Mary was viewed as the second Eve, and her purity — her total lack of sexual activity during the course of her lifetime — made her the antithesis of a temptress. John Chrysostom used the instruction of Jesus on the cross to his disciple — behold your son, behold your mother — as evidence of Mary's perpetual virginity and the fact that Jesus was her only son. Augustine of Hippo argued for the perpetual virginity of Mary, and Thomas Aquinas argued that to doubt the perpetual virginity of Mary was to call into question the perfection of Christ and insult the dignity of the Mother of God.

In the year 553, Mary was declared a perpetual virgin by the Second Council of Constantinople. The Bible tells us that Joseph did not know his wife sexually "until she had borne a son" (Matthew 1:25). But this verse was overlooked. There are also passages that refer to Jesus's brothers and sisters, but these were translated using a secondary translation, as cousins or friends. Even James, the brother of Jesus, was declared his cousin. It seemed essential for the church to believe that Mary the Mother of Jesus never had sex. This is still considered an essential doctrine in the Roman Catholic tradition today.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Healed"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Kate Moorehead.
Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Introduction,
1. Making a Woman,
2. Sex on the Brain,
3. The Real Mary,
4. Demons,
5. Saintly Struggles,
6. Tempted,
7. The Providers,
8. Being There,
9. Essential Rest,
10. Coming to the Tomb,
11. Breaking Open,
12. Encountering Angels,
13. The Conversation,
14. The First Preacher,
15. Mary's Silence,
16. Learning from Mary,

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Mary Magdalene's story invites us to bring our whole beings to the embrace of Jesus's healing grace."
—The Rev. Dwight H. Judy, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Formation, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

"Kate Moorehead debunks historical myths around the many 'Marys' of the Bible and addresses issues of women and shame, elevating the place of women in the life of Jesus. Her intricate attention to this story gives us hope that we, too, like this beloved disciple, can be healed of our own personal demons and stay on the never-ending journey to health."
—Amy Sander Montanez, DMin DMin, LPC, LMFT, author of Moment to Moment: The Transformative Power of Everyday Life

"The story of Mary Magdalene has always resonated deeply with Dean Kate Moorehead. And now, through her profound and perceptive book, this misunderstood saint can make a difference in your life, as well, guiding you toward mental wellness and spiritual wholeness."
—The Rev. Peter M. Wallace, producer and host, Day 1, and author, Getting to Know Jesus (again)

Editorial Reviews

"Mary Magdalene's story invites us to bring our whole beings to the embrace of Jesus's healing grace."
—The Rev. Dwight H. Judy, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Formation, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

"Kate Moorehead debunks historical myths around the many 'Marys' of the Bible and addresses issues of women and shame, elevating the place of women in the life of Jesus. Her intricate attention to this story gives us hope that we, too, like this beloved disciple, can be healed of our own personal demons and stay on the never-ending journey to health."
—Amy Sander Montanez, DMin DMin, LPC, LMFT, author of Moment to Moment: The Transformative Power of Everyday Life

"The story of Mary Magdalene has always resonated deeply with Dean Kate Moorehead. And now, through her profound and perceptive book, this misunderstood saint can make a difference in your life, as well, guiding you toward mental wellness and spiritual wholeness."
—The Rev. Peter M. Wallace, producer and host, Day 1, and author, Getting to Know Jesus (again)

From the Publisher