The Magdalene in the Reformation. By Margaret Arnold

Abstract

Margaret Arnold’sThe Magdalene in the Reformation explores Lutheran, Reformed, early modern Catholic, and radical depictions of Mary Magdalene, by men and by women, in theological texts but also in literature and in art. Arnold uses these depictions to reflect on the role of women and lay people in these various contexts. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, the result is a richly textured account, not only of the range of attitudes towards Mary Magdalene in this period, but also of the ways in which men and women engaged with the challenges posed by the Reformation. Arnold begins by considering ‘The Medieval Magdalene’. In the late medieval period, Mary Magdalene was depicted as a key Christian figure, sinful yet contrite and beloved of Christ, used by God. Her role as preacher or proclaimer of the resurrection challenged St Paul’s instruction—echoed by the church—that women should be silent. The Reformation inherited Mary Magdalene's somewhat controversial status. Chapter 2 considers Lutheran preaching on Mary Magdalene. Luther and his followers viewed Mary Magdelene as called by Christ to offer ‘brave and faithful testimony’ (p. 67). Luther warned against allowing women to preach (although here Arnold’s argument would have benefited from attention to recent scholarship exploring Luther’s relations to women who supported his cause); Arnold claims that ‘the next generation gives evidence of lessening anxiety on this question’ (p. 69); this evidence might have been cited. Arnold shows that Protestant women such as Argula von Grumbach, Katharina Schütz Zell, Marie Dentière, Anne Askew, Queen Elizabeth I, and Catharina Regina von Greiffenberg drew on the story of Mary Magdalene to justify their public speaking and writing. Arnold observes, however, that the continuities with the medieval Magdalene tradition—‘mystical marriage with Christ, contemplation, and a divine command to preach—point to a more complex evolution for Protestant women’s spirituality than has often been assumed’, and in particular to the way that women participated in forming Protestant religious culture (p. 92).