Looking Behind the ‘Code’

Interest in Mary Magdalene has been growing for three decades; speculation about her has been active for well over 1,000 years. The West has made Mary Magdalene a prostitute, Jesus’s consort, and the flawed mother of a divine bloodline for diverse reasons, all with varying degrees of seriousness. Since the release of Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code,” some of my colleagues in the discipline of New Testament scholarship, as well as a number of other writers who – scenting popular interest – claim a sudden expertise in that field, have contributed many articles and books to the debate about Mary. With the release of the film adaptation of the book this Friday, no doubt many more will follow. But allowing ourselves to obsess over the legends of Mary Magdalene obfuscates what there is to be learned from the historical record.