The Significance of Mary Magdalene’s Memory as Witness and Apostle
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Abstract
Mary Magdalene was an important character in early Christianity. We can find a proof of this in the fact that she underwent several transformations in different writings, both canonical and apocryphal. Despite the fact that most of the occurrences are plain and simple, they reveal the internal tensions between different groups of the movement gathered around Jesus. According to data found in the gospels she was one of the disciples of Jesus, authorized witness of the resurrection and sent by the Resurrected Christ on an apostolic mission. However, her name was vanished from several sources, her leadership denied and her importance set aside. Finally, around the seventh century she was characterized as a repentant prostitute. The causes behind the transformation of her memory are not always clear and evident, but sources provide enough data that might be used to infer some of them.
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