{"id":1105,"date":"2015-05-01T02:36:58","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T06:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/?p=1105"},"modified":"2015-05-01T02:36:58","modified_gmt":"2015-05-01T06:36:58","slug":"mary-magdalene-mary-of-bethany-the-same-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/?p=1105","title":{"rendered":"Mary Magdalene & Mary of Bethany the same person"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Magdalene<\/a>
Mary of Bethany aka Magdalene Anoints Jesus Making Him the Anointed One – in Hebrew language, “Messiah”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For centuries people have debated whether Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, is the same person as Mary Magdalene. This is called “the conflation of the Marys”.\u00c2\u00a0 Supposedly Pope Gregory said they were the same woman in a sermon, confusing everyone for centuries thereafter. But no, people thought they were the same woman before his sermon. The Eastern Orthodox Church believes and teaches that Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene are two separate women, but the Catholics said they were the same for over a millennia.<\/p>\n

Margaret Starbird asserts they are the same person and indeed the Secret Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of John, and more recently an early 20th century Catholic Encyclopedia(!) imply or state they are indeed the same woman.<\/p>\n

Here is a recent post by Margaret Starbird explaining why she believes they are the same woman.<\/p>\n

Quoting\u00c2\u00a0an article we were discussing on the GoddessChristians forum:<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\u00c2\u00a0 “Mary Ann Beavis explains how the unnamed sinful woman who anoints Jesus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 feet in Luke 7:36-50, Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene gradually became identified. \u00c2\u00a0This was the teaching of Pope Gregory. The idea that (the conflated Mary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chief sin was sexual and that she was a prostitute is a later elaboration.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
***************Margaret Starbird’s reply;<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
IMO, this very old and very tired explanation is an error, endlessly perpetuated by people who attempt to separate Mary of Bethany from Mary Magdalene, although for centuries they were honored as a single Mary, the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ointment bearer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at the banquet at Bethany and at the tomb of Christ. \u00c2\u00a0The earliest \u00e2\u20ac\u0153conflation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of the two women occurs in the Gospel of John, believed to have been written in about 90 A.D., although some scholars attest that the Gospel seems to have strong \u00e2\u20ac\u0153eye-witness\u00e2\u20ac\u009d elements.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the account from Luke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Gospel 7;37-38:<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 37<\/bdo>.<\/td>\nAnd there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining\u00c2\u00a0at the table<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
38<\/bdo>.<\/td>\nand standing behind\u00c2\u00a0Him<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.<\/p>\n

Remember that \u00c2\u00a0an\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153unnamed woman\u00e2\u20ac\u009d had anointed Jesus in Mark 14 (written c. 70) and Matthew 26 (written c. 80), a woman with\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153an alabaster jar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of pure (precious) perfume (nard) came to Jesus at a banquet and anointed his head\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.and the apostles complained about the wasted value of the perfume. Jesus this says,\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She has done me a favor. \u00c2\u00a0She has anointed me in advance for my burial, and wherever this story is told, it will be told in memory of her.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0He links this anointing (an ancient rite associated with the messiah and his marriage to the land and people through the action of the\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bride\u00e2\u20ac\u009d).<\/p>\n

So Luke, writing in about 80-85) retells (and embellishes!) the story of the unnamed woman with the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153alabaster jar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201dand calls her a sinner! \u00c2\u00a0He also takes the story away from Bethany and Holy Week and places it in an unnamed town much earlier in Jesus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ministry, I believe in an attempt to downplay the importance of the action of the woman who anointed the head of Jesus in the earlier Gospels.<\/p>\n

So now we come to the Gospel of John,\u00c2\u00a0written a few years after Luke. \u00c2\u00a0John is trying to correct Luke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s version of this story. \u00c2\u00a0It is most improbable that an anointing of Jesus by a woman happened more than once, since a woman touching a Jewish man in public is an absolute\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153taboo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201das in NO chance!! \u00c2\u00a0All four Gospel authors are dealing with a story that has been\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153told and retold\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in their community for an entire generation about a woman who anointed Jesus at a banquet\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.probably just shortly before his Crucifixion and probably in Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, an extremely important location in Jewish prophetic tradition. \u00c2\u00a0And John\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s version is extremely explicit. \u00c2\u00a0In John 11:2 and again in 12.3,\u00c2\u00a0the author states that\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153it was Mary who anointed Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0Clearly this is a detail (outrageous action on the part of Mary, in light of the\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153taboo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) that occurs in Luke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Gospel and is repeated here. \u00c2\u00a0Then, in chapter 12:3, the author of John\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Gospel repeats the story, in case we missed it the first time:<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1<\/bdo>.<\/td>\nJesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/bdo>.<\/td>\nSo they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining\u00c2\u00a0at the<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0table<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0with Him.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/bdo>.<\/td>\nMary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/bdo>.<\/td>\nBut Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, *said,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/bdo>.<\/td>\n“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor\u00c2\u00a0people?<\/i>“<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/bdo>.<\/td>\nNow he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/bdo>.<\/td>\nTherefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
We can see that\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153John\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has taken the original story and has now named the woman\u00c2\u00a0with the ointment who anointed Jesus\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u201dshe is Mary, the sister of Lazarus. And, when Judas complains, Jesus says,\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let her keep it for the day of my burial\u00e2\u20ac\u009d! \u00c2\u00a0Again, Jesus associates the action with the ancient\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153heiros\u00c2\u00a0games\u00e2\u20ac\u009d rites of the sacrificed Bridegroom and his Bride, the woman who anoints the King. \u00c2\u00a0Luke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s version is the anomaly. The other three accounts agree that the woman who anointed Jesus was the\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153ointment bearer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at the banquet and at the tomb. \u00c2\u00a0Yet WHICH Mary carries the ointment at the tomb? \u00c2\u00a0Invariably, it is the one called\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153the Magdalene,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d an extremely significant title that associates her with the prophecy of the Magdal-eder, crying at the tomb of the deceased King and being sent, defiled and defamed, into foreign exile! \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why are you crying?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Daughter of Sion\/Magdal-eder is asked (Micah 4); the words are repeated at the tomb of Jesus n John 21, again, not once but twice: \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why are you crying?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0 It is the role of the bereaved Bride to return to the tomb of her beloved and to find him resurrected in the Garden\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. \u00c2\u00a0Where have we heard this story before?<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I\u00c2\u00a0believe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to correct the record! The\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153conflation” of Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene was NOT a later construct based on a sermon by Pope Gregory in 592. It was the original understanding of the community who knew Jesus and Mary, the one whom they gave the title\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153H Magdalhnh.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0For more information, please\u00c2\u00a0visit my website article about this title: \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>http:\/\/margaretstarbird.net\/mary_called_magdalene.html<\/a><\/u><\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span> \u00c2\u00a0<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span> \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
In memory of Her,<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Margaret<\/div>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Woman\u00c2\u00a0with the Alabaster Jar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/div>\n
www.margaretstarbird.net<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For centuries people have debated whether Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, is the same person as Mary Magdalene. This is called “the conflation of the Marys”.\u00c2\u00a0 Supposedly Pope Gregory said they were the same woman in a sermon, confusing everyone for centuries thereafter. But no, people thought they were the same … Continue reading Mary Magdalene & Mary of Bethany the same person<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59,35],"class_list":["post-1105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mary-magdalene","tag-magdalene","tag-margaret-starbird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1107,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions\/1107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}