Mary Magdalena: A Controversial Religious Character - Essay Example

Mary Magdalena: A Controversial Religious Character Religion constitutes prominent part of the modern society’s life. There are several widely spread and because of this referred to as the major religions of the world, such as: Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism. Each of them has their characters, creeds, symbols, and confessions. A wide range of religious confessions and/or directions leads to emergence of different points of views on certain religious matters, and when these points of view describe opposite information controversies originate.

The purpose of this work is to investigate into these controversies on the example of Mary Magdalena, a Christian religious character referred to by different confessions radically oppositely. She is considered to be saint by Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christian churches, whereas the communities of these confessions define her differently: the Catholics, under a considerable influence of works of art and legendary material, mainly think of her as of a penitent prostitute, whereas the Orthodox and Protestant communities worship her as apostle and one of the most significant female character of the Bible.

To my mind, such controversies appear because every confession considers its position to be the only correct one, and in Christian religion the main reason for this is fundamental difference in approaches of the confessions to explanation and description of the story of Jesus Christ.Image of Mary Magdalena in Different Christian CommunitiesThe image of Mary Magdalena in Christian confessions is the basis of the above mentioned controversy in communities. For its clarification it is necessary to investigate how each of them interprets her image.

Magdalena in Catholicism. Numerous works of art, such as pictures, sculptures, and very rich legendary material about Mary which were primarily based on belief of her being a prostitute, or the secret lover or even wife of Jesus Christ and mother of their children. (Doyle). Magdalena in Orthodox Christianity. This religious direction worships Mary Magdalene almost as the Mother of Christ; she is considered to be apostle and one of the women-Myrrhbearers. She is commemorated by the Eastern Orthodox Church on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers.

The Orthodox Christians have never mentioned her as penitent, nor had they thought that she is a prostitute. The Protestantism and Mary Magdalene. Initially, she comprised three images of religious Marys. Mary Magdalene is honored by modern Protestants as a disciple and a friend of Jesus. As the Orthodox and Protestant Churches are based primarily on the Bible and consider it to be the only source of truly religious information, the view of their religious communities seems to be traditional.

Catholicism, on the contrary, underwent affect of art, and generations of Catholic society for centuries referred to them as to the same source as the Bible. This made a reason of controversies in religious views on religious matters. The approaches of the above mentioned confessions have the right to exist, and they shall be analyzed from the rational point of view, as I see it. Mary Magdalena was always very close to Jesus, and this gives food for thought in terms of male-female relationship, as we normally explain them in everyday life.

The best source, though, is reliable and truly, and it is always necessary to consult it rather than to limit to one’s own understanding. As for me, I prefer the second way, but it is impossible to reject obvious things: I analyze what I see, then I consult the reference source. I reckon Mary Magdalena to be a friend and a disciple of Jesus Christ; I cannot reject the Catholic idea of her being a prostitute, though I it was quite possible, though it is better to read the Bible rather than to watch the paintings of the Medieval artists.

ConclusionThere are many controversial points of view on different religious matters and characters, the example of Maria Magdalena demonstrates that the societies tend to be subject to influence of other sources that the Bible. In fact, in our everyday life, the truth is only in respectful and reliable source. Works CitedDoyle,K. Apostle to the apostles: The story of Mary Magdalene. Catholictimes. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.