Esther A. de Boer

Mary Magdalene has always been the subject of both popular and scholarly intrigue. Was she the wife of Jesus, his complete initiate, a Goddess or a priestess? Did the Church dramatically alter her image to deny her importance? These questions have inspired representations of her in art, film and literature, from "Caravaggio" to "The Last Temptation of Christ" and "The Da Vinci Code". The "Mary Magdalene Cover-Up" is the first book to bring the original sources that have informed our current day view of Mary to a wider audience. Esther de Boer has brought together an impressive array of texts from the first century, when Mary Magdalene was alive, to the sixth century, when her image as a penitent sinner was invented. Each text is accompanied by an informed and lively commentary by the author placing it in its historical context. This combination of original texts and commentary enables the reader to draw their own conclusions about this most enigmatic of first-century women.

En El Evangelio de Maria, Marvin Meyer, el experto mas destacado en Evangelios Gnosticos, nos presenta la traduccion -- por primera vez en espanol -- de los textos mas antiguos y confiables que arrojan luz sobre el misterio de Maria Magdalena. Estos textos revelan su importancia como bienamada discipula de Jesus, al igual que apostol y evangelista por derecho propio. Tambien revelan una vibrante tradicion oral en la cual Maria Magdalena no solo es una seguidora de Jesus, sino su companera y discipula mas cercana, una figura cuya relevancia para la cristiandad apenas hoy esta emergiendo de las sombras de la historia. Este libro incluye extractos de los Evangelios del Nuevo Testamento, al igual que de los Evangelios Gnosticos y de otros textos, entre ellos el Evangelio de Maria, el Evangelio de Tomas y el Evangelio de Felipe. Esther De Boer, una experta ampliamente respetada en Maria Magdalena y el Evangelio de Maria, ubica las traducciones de Meyer en el contexto actual de los ultimos estudios sobre el tema. Ella analiza el papel que desempena Maria en cada uno de los Evangelios en los cuales aparece, y la muestra como una mujer capaz y fuerte que representa una amenaza para la Iglesia primitiva, la cual estaba dominada por hombres.

The success of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code has raised new interest in Mary Magdalene and in the Gospel of Mary. Here, the author examines Mary Magdalene's influence on the beginnings of Christianity and asks what was her impact and her message and furthermore, what became of her and her ideas. Esther de Boer studies the Gospel of Mary (the only Gospel to be named after a woman) to discover what it reveals about Mary Magdalene and to determine the origin of its portrayal. She argues that the Gospel of Mary is not a Gnostic writing but is more closely related to the writings of Philo, the letters of Paul and the Gospel of John. She demonstrates that esteem of Mary Magdalene did not just belong to the Gnostic tradition but to a broader Christian context. In order to determine this context, the study identifies the different portrayals of Mary Magdalene in the New Testament, analyses their concepts of discipleship and their views on women, and investigates their historical 'reality'. Esther de Boer concludes that the portrayal of Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of Mary is close to that in the Gospel of John, and investigates the possibility that she is concealed in the Johannine disciple loved by Jesus.

The Gospel of Mary, the only known Gospel that is named after a woman, has aroused new interest in the figure of Mary Magdalene and the beginnings of Christianity. What were her impact and her message? What became of her and her ideas? This book examines the Gospel of Mary to discover what it reveals about Mary Magdalene and to determine the origin of its portrayal. It proposes a new perspective on matter and nature in the Gospel of Mary, suggesting that it is not to be categorized as a Gnostic writing. Furthermore, the study argues that Mary's teaching in the Gospel of Mary is more closely related to the writings of Philo, the letters of Paul and the Gospel of John than to the Nag Hammadi Codices. As such, the Gospel of Mary and its portrayal of Mary Magdalene cannot be seen as evidence of a specific Gnostic esteem for Mary Magdalene, but rather demonstrates the esteem of believers belonging to a broader Christian context. In order to determine this context, the study identifies the different portrayals of Mary Magdalene in the New Testament, analyses their concepts of discipleship and their views on women, and investigates its historical 'reality'. Esther de Boer concludes that t