While reading a blog called Forbidden Gospels earlier this week I was sad to learn that Esther de Boer, author of Mary Magdalene: Beyond The Myth, passed away in July.  Esther was a Dutch scholar who was very active in studying Mary Magdalene, and she had published several excellent titles on the subject:

Mary Magdalene: Beyond the Myth

Mary Magdalene Cover-Up: The Sources Behind the Myth

The Gospel of Mary: Listening to the Beloved Disciple

The Gospels of Mary (co-authored with Marvin Meyer)

She also wrote a compelling article for lectio difficilior: European Electronic Journal for Feminist Exegesis called “Mary Magdalene and The Disciple Jesus Loved.” (Scroll beyond the German text for the remainder in English.)

There are two primary reasons why I wanted to post about Esther’s passing.

First, when I started my exploration of Mary Magdalene in 1997, there were three books I started with: Margaret Starbird’s The Woman With the Alabaster Jar, Susan Haskins’ Mary Magdalene: Myth and Metaphor, and Esther de Boer’s Mary Magdalene: Beyond the Myth.  In 1997, there simply weren’t a lot of Mary Magdalene titles in print, but these three were readily available.  I was so inspired by reading these three books that I wanted to contact the authors to ask them more questions.  It was difficult for me to find any contact information for Susan Haskins, but I was able to find Esther’s email address.  So I wrote to her.

I didn’t have high expectations for a response.  She was a scholar, I was just some person who read her book.  Her response was warm and personable, however, and she was flattered that I was so interested in her work.  We exchanged some email, and kept in touch over the years.  She was always very approachable, and this welcoming response from an academic gave me the courage to contact more authors and scholars.  Over the years I have been blessed to have spoken to most of my “heros” of Mary Magdalene scholarship, and it all started with Esther.

My second reason for feeling compelled to mark her passing is I feel it is important to note that Mary Magdalene scholarship is losing a bright light.  Her work in the field was solid, and it is noteworthy, I think, that she is the one scholar working in academia who embraced Ramon Jusino’s thesis on the subject of Mary Magdalene as the author of the fourth gospel, possibly herself being the nameless “beloved disciple.”  Although it is only one of many perspectives on Mary Magdalene, I feel that it is an important one, and with Esther’s passing, this idea loses a great thinker on the subject.

The field of Mary Magdalene studies has grown a great deal in recent years, and many who were doing research before The Da Vinci Code have now found a more receptive market for their work.  There is a burgeoning Mary Magdalene movement still rolling forward, and I will always remember Esther de Boer as an important part of this history.