Mary Magdalene and Many Others: Women who Followed Jesus, by Carla Ricci

Book Review by Leah Welch

Who was Mary Magdalene, really? And who were the many women who gave of their time, resources and very selves to follow Jesus? Instead of their voices echoing from a great cloud of witnesses, they have either been caricatured or just plain forgotten throughout the history of biblical analysis. Perhaps the Church has not viewed these women in a fair light and a fresh methodology of interpretation is necessary in order to see them clearly and to understand the way that Jesus esteemed and befriended women.

Mary Magdalene and Many Others: Women who Followed Jesus, by Carla Ricci takes us down an untrodden path of examining the experiences of those whose voices have been left in silence for so many years. Ricci forges a new trail by providing a thorough exegesis of Luke 8:1-3, including enlightening, though dismaying, records about the situation of women in Palestine in the first century CE. Examples of this include the fact that a female witness was not considered valid in court, that women were not allowed to learn the Torah, and that girls were considered the property of their fathers until they belonged to their husbands.

Taking this information as the backdrop for the way in which Jesus led his ministry proves revolutionary. Having awareness of this society’s patriarchy and then observing how radically inclusive Jesus was of women shows that he chose to step out of his culture’s expectations in order to affirm the essential dignity of all human beings. Instead of viewing women in terms of the roles that they played in society, he saw them first as people, worthy of his respect, time, and love.

This book judiciously evaluates the “reformed prostitute” stereotype that has traditionally been held of Mary Magdalene and expresses the danger in such an assumption. Women have been historically dichotomized as either virgins or temptresses, as well as blamed for and labeled as the cause of sin, specifically sexual immorality. The severely misinformed and rampant view of Mary Magdalene as “the sinful woman” has only perpetuated the scandal. Ricci’s analysis demonstrates how unfounded most of the church’s ideas about Mary Magdalene are and suggests that her reputation be rethought. The book also presents a challenge to critically assess the patriarchy that affected the social structures and mindsets of the biblical authors and compilers, and even influences men and women today to ignore the contribution of women in Jesus’ ministry and life.

Ricci’s research is careful and extensive, and is useful for those interested in addressing the person of Mary Magdalene from the lens of biblical exegesis, as she compares her focus text to similar ones in the rest of the gospels in their original Greek. While her approach is academic and does assume that the readers have some background in biblical studies, the conclusions that she reaches and the picture of women in the New Testament that she uncovers is interesting and exciting for all who are concerned with biblical equality and mutuality in ministry.

Carla Ricci’s portrayal of Jesus’ attitudes toward women are both provoking and uplifting. I was personally grateful and challenged to see that her exegesis affords not only dignity but also great responsibility to women, as well as men, in the important duty of following Christ. May the stories of these women and men who followed Jesus in person inspire us today to live our lives pursuing the same goal. I enthusiastically recommend this book as a helpful companion along the way.

Leah Welch enjoys caring for adults with disabilities at a group home, as well as working as a Research Assistant at Christians for Biblical Equality. She adores the city of Minneapolis, but is excited to move to Durham, NC, in two months to begin a Masters in Theological Studies at Duke Divinity School.