Hi everyone, and happy Fourth of July for all who commiserate.
It’s well known that Jesus had twelve disciples, who you are likely now picturing as a group of men who followed him around during his earthly ministry, and then travelled the world to spread the good news after his resurrection.
But we know that not all of Jesus’ followers were described in detail, or even mentioned. The most conspicuous absence from much of the Gospel narratives is that of women. Take how, for example, at Jesus’ crucifixion near the end of Mark’s Gospel, we are suddenly told,
“Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.” (Mark 15:40-41)
With this brief sentence we are not only informed of the existence of Jesus’ female followers, but also told that they had been with him throughout the ministry that Mark has just finished narrating, despite his failure to mention them until now.
Mary Magdalene is probably the most recognisable of these names. Popular culture remembers her as a repentant prostitute and potential secret lover of Jesus. It may surprise you to learn that even the former of these has no basis in scripture.
The most common explanation for the name “Magdalene” is that it refers to a town called Magdala, where Mary must have come from. However, the term magdala simply means “tower”, and given Jesus propensity for giving his followers nicknames steeped in theological and practical meaning (think of James and John, the “Sons of Thunder”, or Simon Peter, “the Rock”), is it unreasonable to think that Mary’s name originates in Jesus’ labelling her as some kind of “tower”? Perhaps a tower of faith, or a tower of strength.
Most astonishingly, the Gospels clearly describe Jesus’ female disciples as not only following him, but also funding his ministry:
“The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.” (Luke 8:1-3)
So, despite a frustrating lack of detail, we can certainly ascertain from the Gospels that Jesus’ female followers were crucial figures in his ministry. This raises an important question: why were they forgotten by popular Christianity?
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Helen Bond is Professor of Christian Origins at the New College, University of Edinburgh, and former head of the School of Divinity there. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
In 2023, she co-authored a book with Joan Taylor called Women Remembered: Jesus’ Female Disciples, attempting to rediscover these important women and uncover why history has largely forgotten them.
She joins me today to discuss her work on this subject. I’m looking forward, as always, to your early feedback!
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Why Were Jesus/ Disciples All Male?
08:20 – Which Biblical Woman Can We Know Most About?
11:29 – Did Each Disciple Have a Female Counterpart?
15:47 – Who was “Mary Magdalene”?
26:33 – Who Was Salome?
27:46 – Which Women Were Present at the Crucifixion?
36:21 – Why Does Paul Not Mention Women Witnesses to the Resurrection?
43:15 – Were Early Christians Sexist?
46:31 – The Importance of Women in the Early Christian Church
01:03:26 – Were There Early Female Bishops?
01:11:28 – The Erasure of Women in Early Christianity
01:17:28 – When Even Mary Was Left Out
