(December 2, 2021 at 3:30 pm)T.J. Wrote: On the Mary Magdalene subject. I see nothing in the bible that supports her being a prostitute. It just says she had sex outside of marriage. Simply having sex with a person doesn't make one a prostitute (though I'm sure to the people at the time they would've called her a whore). So that's probably where the belief comes from. I also remember reading in the bible that she had demons taken out of her. So for all we know, "The devil made me do it!"
You're right.
The idea that she was a prostitute came about when Gregory I thought that she was the same as Mary of Bethany. In fact even Mary of Bethany is not directly called a prostitute -- only "a sinful woman."
Many of the details about Bible figures were added on long after the Bible was put into its final form. This is another reason why Bible literalists aren't really literalists.
