The Life of Mary Magdalene 抹大拉的馬利亞

文/克里斯琴·喬治 譯/任東升 析/馬月蘭

By Christian George

WithoutMary Magdalene1 《圣經》中共有七位以“馬利亞”命名的女性，相關知識可通過《圣經》文本或百度查得。, how far would the ministry of Jesus have spread? All four of the Gospels describe her as a character of no small importance.She accompanied Jesus in his travels and supported him financially.Mary stood at the foot of the cross during Christ’s crucifixion, was the first to see the stone rolled away from the tomb and, according to Mark, encountered the risen Jesus before anyone else.

若沒有抹大拉的馬利亞，耶穌的事跡和教導能傳播多遠？四福音書都不惜筆墨將她刻畫成一個非同小可的人物。耶穌周游傳教，她一路陪同，并給予資助；基督被釘十字架之時，她就站在十字架下；耶穌的墓石被移開后，她第一個看到；據《馬可福音》記載，她遇見復活的耶穌,也在他人之先。

[2]Despite her importance in the Gospels, 1,400 years of literature, art,and religious teachings have handed down a less-than-biblical portrayal of Mary’s character.Was she, as many have insisted throughout the centuries,a prostitute? Did Mary entice Jesus into having his child, as suggested by Dan Brown in the novelThe Da Vinci Code?What does the historical record reveal about this shadowy heroine who is mentioned 12 times in the Gospels, more than any woman other than the mother of Jesus?

[2]福音書中的馬利亞舉足輕重，然而，長達1400年的文學著作、藝術作品乃至教義書籍對她的記述都少于《圣經》。那么，馬利亞果真曾為妓女，一如多少世紀以來許多人堅信的那樣？她曾引誘耶穌并為其誕下后代，又如丹·布朗小說《達·芬奇密碼》之暗示？對這位福音書里提及12次，僅少于耶穌母親的影子般女英雄，歷史文獻又是怎樣披露的呢？

[3]According to Luke, Mary first appears on the scene after Jesus liberates her from the possession ofdemons2 demons一詞（見《路加福音》第8章2—3節），在中文譯本中有以下翻譯：“惡鬼”（如1919年“和合本”）、“惡魔”（如1968年“思高本”）、“惡靈”（如2003年“恢復本”）。and physical ailments.Luke then mentions Mary and two other women as supporting Jesus financially.In first-century Judaism, wealthy women often made contributions toward the provisions of popularrabbis3 rabbi，音譯“拉比”，原義為教師，即口傳律法的教師，是猶太人中的一個特別階層。.However, Mary went beyond this practice by joining Jesus’entourage and accompanying him—when all the disciples had fled—during the final moments of his execution.

[3]據《路加福音》記述，馬利亞初次露面是在耶穌趕出其身上污靈、治愈其身體疾病之后。路加隨后寫道，馬利亞和另外兩位婦人為耶穌提供了資助。在1世紀的猶太教內，家境殷實的婦人給有名望的拉比捐款捐物，并不少見。然而，馬利亞不只于此，她不僅加入耶穌的傳教隊伍——甚至在耶穌受難的最后時刻所有門徒都逃離之時——她依然堅守在其身邊。

[4]Mary of Magdala was first conflated with the penitent prostitute Mary of Bethany (Luke 7: 36—38) by Pope Gregory in the sixth century.According to one theory, this was not merely na?ve papal exegesis but character assassination on account of Mary having acquired a great deal of influence among early Christians, with prominence rivaling that of Peter, the Roman Church’s first and foremost vicar of Christ.

[4]最早把“抹大拉的馬利亞”同懷有懺悔之心的妓女“伯大尼的馬利亞”（《路加福音》第7章36—38節）混為一人的是公元6世紀時的教皇格列高利。有一種說法，如此教皇級的解經并非出于“無知”，而是對馬利亞這一女性人物的故意抹殺。因為，在早期基督教信徒中，身為一介女子的馬利亞，聲譽太高，其地位之重要竟與羅馬教會基督首席神父彼得相比肩！

[5]While we will never know the reason Mary Magdalene was labeled a prostitute, we do know that in many instances scripture is far more flattering to Mary than it is to Peter.In the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter fell asleep; Mary watched and wept.Peter fled from Jesus and denied him; Mary stayed with Jesus and proclaimed him.Peter abandoned the empty tomb; Mary remained.The comparisons point to the likely reality that Mary played a significant, if not central, role in the early development of the Christian church.She was, after all, the“apostle to the apostles,”as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas—two of the leading theologian of the Latin tradition—identified her on account of her sharing the news of the risen Christ with the other apostles.

[5]為何抹大拉的馬利亞被貼上妓女的標簽，我們無從知曉，但我們清楚看到，《圣經》對她的褒獎超過了彼得：在客西馬尼園，彼得已睡著，馬利亞卻在觀看、哭泣；彼得逃離并否認耶穌，馬利亞卻同耶穌在一起并堅認耶穌。對比發現，馬利亞很可能在基督教會早期發展史上扮演著一個即便不是中心、也是極為重要的角色。畢竟，正如希波的奧古斯丁和托馬斯·阿奎那所說的，她乃是“眾使徒的使徒”。這兩位著名拉丁神學家之所以如此稱許馬利亞，是因為她把基督復活之好消息傳送給了其他使徒。

[6]Although history has been slow in granting her preeminent status, recent scholarship is rehabilitating her beleaguered reputation.Mary is getting a 21th century makeover that gives new meaning to the ancient words of a poem that Peter the Venerable penned in her honor:

Life is yours forever, Mary,

for your light is come once more

and the strength of death is broken;

now your songs of joy outpour.

Ended now the night of sorrow

Love has brought the blessed morrow.

[6]承認馬利亞的非凡地位，歷史總是滯后一步。然而，最近的學術研究正在為她正名?！榜R利亞”成為在21世紀一個得以美化的名字，這也為彼得神父（1048—1156）為其寫的贊美詩注入了新意：

生命永歸你，馬利亞！

因你的光照再次來臨！

死亡的力量終被打碎！

你的歡歌噴涌而出！

悲傷之夜現今已過，

愛攜來蒙福的明日。