Magdalene and the Man who Made Her?
Recently I was reminded of an age-old claim, used by liberals to justify hatred of Christianity; that the concept of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute was allegedly promulgated by Pope St. Gregory the Great in the 6th century AD. Of course when one attempts to debate that accusation, the opposing side clams up and claims that they don't have time or energy to debate because, simply, "it's true". But is it? In point of fact, Gregory did not "proclaim" Mary Magdalene to be the woman taken in adultery from Luke's gospel, he was echoing an interpretation of unidentified people from the Gospels which was already prevalent at that time in history. There are several unnamed people who play roles in the Gospel story, and scholars have been debating who was who ever since the Scriptures were first compiled. Gregory does address Magdalene as having been the woman taken in adultery, however he also identifies her as the woman who had 7 demons cast out of her, as