The Magdalene Review

Google Roundup

Long gone are the days when Magdalene.org was #1 on Google, but that’s okay. There are some great resources at the top of the heap these days, so I thought it was worth a post to talk a little bit about them. Here are the top 3, in order, as displayed on Google:

#1: Mary Magdalene – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Over the years I’ve watched this Wikipedia entry grow from a relatively brief description of the saint to a very informative resource. It hits on all of the major threads of Mary Magdalene thought, discusses Gospel references, Gnostic references, and the biggest modern perspectives circulating today. In addition, there are a number of fantastic images that portray Mary Magdalene in different aspects of her legend. The endnotes are very useful, but I found the references to be a bit spare. Regardless, this is a page worthy of the #1 spot.

#2: The Life of Mary Magdalene

I have to say that I’m a little surprised that this page is so high in the search ranking. The page is divided up into sections of Legend, Fact, and Allegorical interpretation of scripture. Included are several of the more common medieval legends about Mary Magdalene (such as those described in Jacobus de Voragine’s “Golden Legend”) as well as some of the newer legends (Mary Magdalene was sitting to Jesus’ right in Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”). What troubles me isn’t that so much legend is present, but that the allegorical interpretations of scripture aren’t always interpretations of scripture at all, but interpretations of interpretations of legends of legends. These stories are rich and fascinating, but there is very little in the way of scripture represented. There are no footnotes or references.

#3: CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Mary Magdalen

I have to admit that I’ve used this reference page myself a number of times. The resource is very old, taken from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia published in 1910, but it is still very useful if you are able to sidestep the assumptions of the author that were typical of the time. For example:

“If the foregoing argument holds good [that St. Luke veiled her identity to avoid defaming someone still living], Mary of Bethany and the ‘sinner’ are one and the same. But an examination of St. John’s Gospel makes it almost impossible to deny the identity of Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalen.”

There isn’t any information in this article that isn’t available elsewhere in a more current form, but it is a handy resource for a quick and dirty look at what the more traditional view of Mary Magdalene was in the Roman Catholic Church pre-Vatican II.

And yes, dear readers, I’m happy to say that Magdalene.org is still among the top 5, making an entry at #4. I’m satisfied with #4 considering that I’ve been such an unreliable webmaster and have gone years at a time without updating my site. Today, Magdalene.org is in the throes of yet another redesign, with large swaths of the site still unusable. It’s getting there, but until then, please keep linking!

Twitter

Magdalene.org and The Magdalene Review (this blog) now have a Twitter identity! If you’d like updates on what’s happening with the site, the blog, and Mary Magdalene research in general, please follow magdaleneorg.

You never know, I might even give away some books once in awhile as the mood strikes…

New Magdalene.org Sneak Peek

Project Redesign is under way!

Curious what the brightened up Magdalene.org will look like? Why not take a look as we continue to develop it?

http://www.magdalene.org/new

Please keep in mind that many links may not work and the design may change slightly before it goes live, but it’s a good opportunity to preview our new look and feel.

Comments? I’d love to hear what you think!

Please send mail to comment [ a t ] magdalene [ d o t ] org.