Isle of Books: Mary Magdalene by Diana Wallis Taylor (Review)

One woman desperate for hope.

One Savior with the power to heal.

A beautiful girl blossoming into womanhood, Mary has high hopes for a life filled with learning, family, and young love. In one dreadful night, all of that changes. The nightmares come first, then the waking visions of unspeakable terror, until Mary hardly remembers her dreams for the future.

Can the Most High deliver her from this torment? How long must she wait for healing?

This vivid portrait of the enigmatic Mary of Magdala comes to life in the hands of an imaginative master storyteller. Diana Wallis Taylor introduces you to a Mary who is both utterly original and respectful of the biblical account, opening your eyes to a redemption that knows no bounds.

I GIVE THIS BOOK:

MY THOUGHTS:
Mary Magdalene is a wonderfully crafted novel. The author creates a vivid story and a character that so little is known about . Before reading this story, I knew that Mary was a woman Jesus had cleansed of seven demons and was the first to see Him after his resurrection, but I had never really tried to understand what that must have meant. I never considered the ramifications of having seven demons inside of a person, how she must have been marked as a crazy woman and how people must have avoided her. This book made a real impact on me in that regard. Mary has never been so clear a person to me.

I have to say though, that there were a couple of mistakes. Without going into too much detail, on page 123 when someone places an order for a boat (which will be delivered in 60 days time) it says that a certain event happened 3 years ago and then on page 127 it says this same event happened five years ago. However, on page 138 it says that the boat needs to be delivered. I found it very annoying, I kept flipping back to see if I misread it, but I didn't and so I wasn't sure how long it really had been since the event happened.

One of the other mistakes is on pages 272-276. It makes it sound as though after the appearance to Mary Magdalene Jesus only appears to His disciples one time (several days after His resurrection), where He spends the evening with them and then at dawn ascends into Heaven where the angels then say "Why do you stand still gazing up at the clouds? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into Heaven will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into Heaven.". When in fact He appeared many times to them over the course of forty days! Here are the places I have found in Scripture which speak about his multiple appearances to His disciples after His resurrection (bold added for emphasis):

Mark 16:9-14

⁹Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.¹⁰And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.¹¹And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.¹²After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.¹³And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.¹⁴Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

Luke 24

¹Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.²And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.³And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.⁴And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:⁵And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?⁶He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,⁷Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.⁸And they remembered his words,⁹And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.¹⁰It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.¹¹And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.¹²Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.¹³And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.¹⁴And they talked together of all these things which had happened.¹⁵And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.¹⁶But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.¹⁷And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?¹⁸And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?¹⁹And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:²⁰And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.²¹But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.²²Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;²³And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.²⁴And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.²⁵Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:²⁶Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?²⁷And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.²⁸And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.²⁹But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.³⁰And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.³¹And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.³²And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?³³And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,³⁴Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.³⁵And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.³⁶And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.³⁷But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.³⁸And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?³⁹Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.⁴⁰And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.⁴¹And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?⁴²And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.⁴³And he took it, and did eat before them.⁴⁴And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.⁴⁵Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,⁴⁶And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:⁴⁷And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.⁴⁸And ye are witnesses of these things.⁴⁹And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.⁵⁰And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.⁵¹And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.⁵²And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:⁵³And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

John 20:18-31 and John 21:

¹⁸Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.¹⁹Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.²⁰And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.²¹Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.²²And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:²³Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.²⁴But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.²⁵The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.²⁶And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.²⁷Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.²⁸And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.²⁹Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.³⁰And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:³¹But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

21 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.²There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.³Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.⁴But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.⁵Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.⁶And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.⁷Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.⁸And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.⁹As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.¹⁰Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.¹¹Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.¹²Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.¹³Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.¹⁴This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

Acts 1:1-12

1The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,²Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:³To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:⁴And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.⁵For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.⁶When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?⁷And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.⁸But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.⁹And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.¹⁰And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;¹¹Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.¹²Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

I believe that there is a reason the Bible clearly tells us that He appeared for forty days. I think that when people write about Biblical events, they have to be very careful to stay true to the Bible (and for the most part I think that this author did). Not so much for the people who know these stories well, but more for those who may have never heard them before or who don't know them very well.

I really enjoyed reading Mary Magdalene, and had it not been for the errors in it I would have given it five stars. If you love reading Biblical fiction than you should enjoy this book.

“Available June 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

***I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.***

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