Did the early Catholic Church really portray Mary Magadalene as a prostitute?

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I know this may be an old question that may have been answered here before but I don’t have the luxury of time at the moment so if anyone would be so kind and generous to provide a solid answer to this question, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thank you very much and God bless!🙂
 
Mary Magdalene was a supporter of Jesus after He drove demons out of her.
Luke 8:2 and also certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities; Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven demons, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to Him of their possessions.
Mark 16:9 And when Jesus had risen early the first day of the Sabbath, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.

The thought that she was a prostitute probably came from these verses.
John11:2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
John 12:3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
In that culture, a woman who uncovered her head, let down her hair, or touched a man in public would have been considered promiscuous or a prostitute, certainly scandalous behavior in those days. So no definite Scripture says she was a prostitute. I believe this caught on when one of the medieval popes (can’t remember which one) used Mary as an illustration in a lesson, showing that even the most sinful of people could become a trusted disciple of Jesus. Instead, everyone remembered the Mary was a hooker part.🤷 Have a great Resurrection Sunday.
 
kingsan said:
I know this may be an old question that may have been answered here before but I don’t have the luxury of time at the moment so if anyone would be so kind and generous to provide a solid answer to this question, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thank you very much and God bless!🙂
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Another reason for viewing Mary Magdalene as a prostitute is the identification of her with the sinful woman of Lk 7:36-50 who anointed Jesus’ feet and dried them with her hair.

Commenting on Lk 7:36-50, which takes place in Galilee, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According To Luke, vol . I, p. 688 in the Anchor Bible Commentary series writes:
“37. * a certain woman*. She too is unnamed, as is also the woman of Bethany in Mk 14:3 and Mt 26:7. Neither in Mark, Matthew nor John is she called a ‘sinner,’ as here in Luke. In Jn 12:3 she is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus of Bethany. In Western Church traditions, at least since the time of Gregory the Great, Mary of Bethany has been conflated with the sinner of Galilee [the woman in question here in Lk 7:37], and even Mary Magdalene, ‘out of whom seven demons had come’ (8:2). There is however no basis for this conflation in the NT itself, and no evidence that the ‘possession’ of Mary Magdalene was the result of personal sinfulness. The Greek church tradition, by and large, kept these Marys distinct.”
 
kingsan said:
I know this may be an old question that may have been answered here before but I don’t have the luxury of time at the moment so if anyone would be so kind and generous to provide a solid answer to this question, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thank you very much and God bless!🙂
Click to expand...
Pope Gregory the Great expressed his own opinion that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute but that was NEVER a Church teaching and there is also nothing in scripture to support such an opinion.
 
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