Abstract

In biblical scholarship, Mary Magdalene has become one of the most discussed characters in the Gospels. Bruce Chilton has recently contributed to this discussion with his book Mary Magdalene: A Biography. The present article is a critical reading of this book. The first part of the article pays attention to some points which are worth considering in this book and call for further assessments of Mary Magdalene as a follower of Jesus in Galilee and the efforts to thwart wrong projections of her. The second part deals with some constructive observations and remarks as a result of resistance to some views held by Chilton on Mary Magdalene. It questions the reliability of some unfounded statements on her nickname, demon possession, anointment stories and dates of events on Mary Magdalene. In turn the article considers redactional motifs of each evangelist instead of drawing conclusions from a general reading of the gospels