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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Thanks, Nick. You have fueled my favorite
rant!! </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> All the "Marys" have been misinterpreted, but
the Magdalene has had a totally undeserved 'bad rep' since the Church
decided women were unfit vessels for religious teaching and transference of
access to the Diety. Even then, the monetary needs of religion influenced who
was "good", "bad", or "ugly". From there, it is only steps to subjugation of
women as "unclean" and "dangerous" unless "kept in their place" as wholly
(holy?) owned property.....nothing new under the sun....</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Religious right in the US keeping women in
subjugation, Fundamental Islam's denial of women as other than property, the
persistent erosion of women's rights in the US, school girls being taken as sex
slaves by "religious" groups, mass rape during political unrest.......What
are men so afraid of? Could it be our ability to bring life into the world?
Could it be fear of The Mother Goddess? Could it be fear that women are just
more rational, less prone to violence, and much more willing to negotiate? Who
knows...............It might just be that men enmass think with their little
head which only gives them minmal information. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>All the real men I know shake their heads and say
"This is not the behaviour of REAL men. I'm ashamed for my gender."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Rant done, no replies needed from the religious
nutjobs, as I've no intention of getting into it with them on-line. If ya'all
want to take it up in person? I'm your gal. Let's have coffee or a
drink...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Debi R-S</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
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dir=ltr>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ngier006@gmail.com href="mailto:ngier006@gmail.com">Nicholas Gier</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, April 22, 2014 11:02
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Was Mary Magdlene a
Missionary in France after theFirst Easter?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Dear Visionaries:</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Christians in Europe celebrated 2nd Easter Day
yesterday (and they just had an entire week off last week!), and now I'm
celebrating 3rd Easter Day.</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Legends have it that after that first Easter, Mary
Magdalene boarded a boat that eventually landed in France in AD 42, where she
continued her Christian ministry. </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">St. Augustine, one of the greatest orthodox
theologians, called her the "apostle to the apostles," and many medieval
theologians followed Augustine in granting Mary this exalted title.
After all, Paul defined apostleship as any person who had seen the risen
Christ (1 Cor. 9:1).</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Continue reading below. The longer version is attached
as a PDF file.</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Just trying to make Christianity and the study of
religion even more interesting than it already is,</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Nick</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=MsoNormal align=center><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">MARY MAGDALENE: APOSTLE TO THE APOSTLES</SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=MsoNormal align=center><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"></SPAN></B> </P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: left" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Legends have it that after that
first Easter, Mary Magdalene boarded a boat that eventually landed in France
in AD 42, where she continued her Christian ministry.</SPAN><BR></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">St.
Augustine, one of the greatest orthodox theologians, called her the "apostle
to the apostles," and many medieval theologians followed Augustine in granting
Mary this exalted title. After all, Paul defined apostleship as any
person who had seen the risen Christ (1 Cor. 9:1).</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Mary was
one of the most remarkable women in the Bible. She is described as an
independent woman, who "provided for [Jesus and the disciples] out of [her]
means" (Lk. 8:2-3).</SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">It took two millennia for the
Catholic Church to dispose of the long standing myth that Mary Magdalene was a
prostitute. In 1969 the Church indirectly removed the stain of her alleged
sins by assigning new scriptural readings for her saint's day on July
22.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Passages
from the erotic Song of Songs are no longer read, and the passage from Luke
7:37-38 about "a woman from the city, who was a sinner" is also
deleted.</SPAN><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">
</SPAN><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Catholics now read
the poignant passages from the Book of John (20:1-2, 11-18), in which Mary is
the first to see and talk with the risen Christ.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">The story
of Magdalene as a prostitute was the result of mistakenly identifying
Magdalene with Mary of Bethany (John 12:1) and an unknown woman "who was a
sinner" (Luke 7:37-38), both of whom took oil and bathed Jesus' feet with
their hair.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">This
conflation of New Testament women was made official in a famous sermon by Pope
Gregory I in 591, and was imprinted in millions of Christian minds with
paintings of the penitent Mary Magdalene with loose red hair carrying an
alabaster jar of ointment.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Gregory's
claim that Mary had "turned the mass of her crimes to virtues" presents to all
Christians, as Susan Haskins explains, "the redeemed whore and Christianity's
model of repentance, a manageable, controllable figure, and effective weapon
and instrument of propaganda against her own sex."</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">In the
Eastern Orthodox Church Mary was never identified as a prostitute; indeed,
they have her preaching in Rome, even before the emperor himself.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">In the Jewish tradition
anointing someone with oil is a ritual for making that person a messiah (an
"anointed one"), and the priests of Israel and even King Cyrus were messiahs
(Is. 45:1). So perhaps it is Luke's unnamed woman who officially makes Jesus
the Messiah.</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">In
Matthew's account of this story, the woman is not a sinner, and Jesus praises
her by predicting that "wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world,
what she has done will be told in memory of her" (26:13).</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Matthew
and John see the woman's anointment not as messiahship but as preparation of
Jesus' body for burial, an equally important sacred ritual.</SPAN><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">In the ancient Near East anointing
with oil was a priestess's job, so it is not surprising that New Testament
women play this significant role.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Women in
the early church played significant roles.</SPAN><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Single women traveled and preached
with Paul as equals; and Priscilla, who was later martyred and canonized, had
a church in her home.</SPAN><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">John
Mark's mother also hosted some of the earliest Christian worship in her
home.</SPAN><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">
</SPAN><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">In her book </SPAN><I
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">When Women Were Priest</I><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">s, Karen Torjesen offers strong
evidence that women officiated at the Eucharist in these early Christian
services.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Returning
to Mary Magdalene, we need to address the question of why so many women and
men are now identifying so fervently with her. Diane Apostolos-Cappadona may
have the answer: "[Mary] was an independent woman . . . . she didn't need a
child, she didn't need a husband. . . . She becomes the preacher, the
missionary, the evangelist, the healer, the miracle worker. . . . These are
the things that attract people to her."</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Nick Gier
religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years.</SPAN><SPAN
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"> </SPAN></P></DIV>
<P>
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