Mary Magdalene was present at the crucial moments of Jesus’ story. Why do we get her so wrong?

Jennifer Powell McNutt has spent years studying Mary Magdalene. She wants us to know who she really is.

Mary Magdelene is both well-known and yet not known at all. She has appeared prominently in art and popular culture in things like the musical Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) or in the film The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) or Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (2003).

She has often been inaccurately portrayed as a penitent prostitute and is sometimes presented as a romantic partner of Jesus. She was present at all the crucial moments of Jesus’ story, but history has frequently failed to recognise her remarkable contribution.

Jennifer Powell McNutt wants to correct that error. She is a Professor of Theology and History at Wheaton College in Illinois and the author of The Mary We Forgot. She thinks we are right to remember Mary Magdelene, but not for the reasons that many people think.

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The Mary We Forgot: What the Apostle to the Apostles Teaches the Church Today