I'm not a hooker, I'm following the Messiah!
While having to schlep my ass out to the 'burbs to do my jury duty was not how I'd hoped I'd be spending my day, it at least gave me a chance to finish my latest book, Margaret George's Mary, Called Magdalene. At least I didn't need to be there the whole day (since they dismissed everyone at 11:30am, yay!), so I have some time to post my review before the fiance gets home from another long day assisting gyne surgeries.
I'm a big fan of Margaret George's books - she's carved out a niche for herself as the grand mistress of hefty fictional biographies of historic figures. Past subjects have included Cleopatra, Henry VIII, and Mary, Queen of Scots, weighty figures all. In her latest she turns her attention to a famous figure whose life is virtually unknown - Mary Magdalene, one of the first followers of Jesus. She's only mentioned a handful of times in the Bible, although there is a gospel attributed to her in the Apocrypha, a group of writings that for various reasons were not included in the Bible proper.
Despite being over 600 pages long, the book reads quite fast and the story is engaging. It follows Mary's life from her early years through to her death in Ephesus at the age of 90, covering a wide range of events in that span. Most formation among them includes Mary's possession by demons, an affliction which is only lifted when Mary meets Jesus in the desert and he drives them out. From that point forward, Mary becomes his loyal disciple, following on his inevitable course to crucifixion, a decision that forces her to give up everything she's ever known and loved, including her young daughter Elisheba.
I certainly won't claim to be a biblical scholar, but I definitely find reading about the genesis of a religion fascinating. I think that a large part of how religions can be misinterpreted is found in the lack of consideration for the historical context the religion was born into. As much as a great many people believe that the Bible is the word of God, it's worth remembering that the Bible as we know it is at best a distillation of the word of God through human hands, and those human hands are guided by the prevailing opinions and attitudes of their owners. When the first Christians put the teachings of their most holy man into writing, they did so with a particular intent to accomplish a particular end - the dissemination of Jesus' words. That intent introduces a slant into the text that could be positive or negative depending upon your perspective. It's not unreasonable to assume that the authors did some editing and made changes, even if the changes were merely aesthetic. Translations of the text also have a huge effect - the King James version of the Bible was a translation commissioned with the express purpose of producing a Bible that supported monarchy, in direct opposition to the more "democratic" versions then emerging from Switzerland and Germany. (For more on that subject, I definitely recommend Alistair McGrath's In The Beginning).
Anyway, back to the book. A huge part of why the story seems so resonant and believable is George's depiction of the society in which Jesus and Mary lived. Having that perspective goes a long way towards enriching our understanding of the religious teachings that emerged from that time. George also does an amazing job of giving life, feeling, and attitudes to those that are only known to us through religion. Like any believer today, Jesus' followers were not abstract, idyllically holy beings, but rather humans tied to the human world by human emotions and human trappings, like material goods and family. Religion is a human product, and books like George's serve as a reverent but pointed reminder of that fact.
I'm a big fan of Margaret George's books - she's carved out a niche for herself as the grand mistress of hefty fictional biographies of historic figures. Past subjects have included Cleopatra, Henry VIII, and Mary, Queen of Scots, weighty figures all. In her latest she turns her attention to a famous figure whose life is virtually unknown - Mary Magdalene, one of the first followers of Jesus. She's only mentioned a handful of times in the Bible, although there is a gospel attributed to her in the Apocrypha, a group of writings that for various reasons were not included in the Bible proper.
Despite being over 600 pages long, the book reads quite fast and the story is engaging. It follows Mary's life from her early years through to her death in Ephesus at the age of 90, covering a wide range of events in that span. Most formation among them includes Mary's possession by demons, an affliction which is only lifted when Mary meets Jesus in the desert and he drives them out. From that point forward, Mary becomes his loyal disciple, following on his inevitable course to crucifixion, a decision that forces her to give up everything she's ever known and loved, including her young daughter Elisheba.
I certainly won't claim to be a biblical scholar, but I definitely find reading about the genesis of a religion fascinating. I think that a large part of how religions can be misinterpreted is found in the lack of consideration for the historical context the religion was born into. As much as a great many people believe that the Bible is the word of God, it's worth remembering that the Bible as we know it is at best a distillation of the word of God through human hands, and those human hands are guided by the prevailing opinions and attitudes of their owners. When the first Christians put the teachings of their most holy man into writing, they did so with a particular intent to accomplish a particular end - the dissemination of Jesus' words. That intent introduces a slant into the text that could be positive or negative depending upon your perspective. It's not unreasonable to assume that the authors did some editing and made changes, even if the changes were merely aesthetic. Translations of the text also have a huge effect - the King James version of the Bible was a translation commissioned with the express purpose of producing a Bible that supported monarchy, in direct opposition to the more "democratic" versions then emerging from Switzerland and Germany. (For more on that subject, I definitely recommend Alistair McGrath's In The Beginning).
Anyway, back to the book. A huge part of why the story seems so resonant and believable is George's depiction of the society in which Jesus and Mary lived. Having that perspective goes a long way towards enriching our understanding of the religious teachings that emerged from that time. George also does an amazing job of giving life, feeling, and attitudes to those that are only known to us through religion. Like any believer today, Jesus' followers were not abstract, idyllically holy beings, but rather humans tied to the human world by human emotions and human trappings, like material goods and family. Religion is a human product, and books like George's serve as a reverent but pointed reminder of that fact.
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