The Role of Women in Jesus Christ’s Religious Movement with an Emphasis on Mary Magdalene
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65394/dissertia2025.1.1.rwjmmKeywords:
Mary Magdalene, Women in Christianity, Feminist Theology, Early Christian Texts, Jesus Christ, The Bible, ApocryphaAbstract
This dissertation examines the status and representation of women in early Christianity, with a specific focus on Mary Magdalene as reflected in both canonical and apocryphal texts. Within the broader field of Christian studies, feminist theology provides a renewed interpretive framework for reading the Bible and early Christian writings. By analyzing the Gospels alongside selected noncanonical sources, this study investigates how Jesus’ teachings introduced reformative perspectives on women’s roles within the patriarchal context of Jewish society. The research highlights the distinctive portrayal of Mary Magdalene in apocryphal works such as the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Thomas, and Pistis Sophia, in which she is depicted as a figure of wisdom, leadership, and spiritual authority. Although the institutional Church later rejected these texts, they nonetheless reveal the intellectual and theological engagement of early Christian communities with questions of gender and discipleship. Ultimately, this study demonstrates how feminist reinterpretations of these sources can shed new light on the evolving position of women in both early Christianity and contemporary faith contexts.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Maryamalsadat Siahpoosh, Tahereh Hajebrahimi, Leila Hooshangi
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