Legends of Mary Magdalene in Europe

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

9 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

04/22/2009

Category :

History & geography

Sub category :

Modern history

Oboulo.com selection criteria

$ 18.95 Add to cart

Summary :

Introduction
Ephesus legends
European legends
1. Provence
2. European events
Mary Magdalene's body
Conclusion
Bibliography

Abstract

Most of what we know about mary magdalene is found in the New Testament or in the documents about the early groups called apocryphal writings. The texts of the New Testament are not reliable historical records, since they were written years after the events by people not personally involved, but those texts are still considered the best sources of information about mary magdalene, since they are the accounts closest in time that we have. In those accounts mary magdalene stands by Jesus at the crucifixion, goes to the tomb to prepare the body, finds it gone, and tells the other disciples. Later Jesus appears to her and to the other disciples in either Galilee or Jerusalem, and eventually ascends into heaven.After that the New Testament is silent about mary magdalene, but apocryphal texts-such as the Gospel of mary, the Gospel of Philip, the Pistis Sophia, the Sophia of Jesus Christ, the Dialogue of the Savior, and the First Apocalypse of James -portray her as a teacher or primary disciple who sometimes clashed with other disciples, particularly Peter and Andrew.
mary magdalene's disappearance from the New Testament stories that go on to chronicle the exploits or several men, such as Peter, Paul, Philip, and others, leaves a tantalizing question: What happened to mary magdalene after Jesus died? Such a tantalizing question would never go unanswered, and many legends arose through the millennia to answer it.