Setting the record straight on the life and legacy of Jesus Christ through the words of his truest companion, Magda Revealed by Ursula Werner is a revelatory work of fiction.
After two thousand years of watching Christianity morph into a carnival mirror version of itself, Yeshua tasks his most faithful follower with revealing the truth to the world. With that mission in mind, Mary of Magdala details her life-changing journey at Yeshua’s side, clarifying murky points of history around the disciples’ true colors, the ulterior motives behind the severely edited Gospels, and the eradication of the feminine legacy at the heart of Jesus’ teachings. With a sharp tongue and a relentless penchant for truth-telling, Mary of Magdala shines a spotlight on the shadows and secrets of the New Testament, while also humanizing the Son of God in a way few writers have achieved.
Elevating the idea of radical equality as the cornerstone of Christianity, this book assertively challenges the modern conceptions and unexamined dogma of the world’s largest religion. As Magda quips early on, the world-renowned Quartet of gospel writers are “standing next to a barber’s pole with razors and shears, singing their hearts out as they snip and slice pieces of the story to suit their purpose.” The narrative creatively undoes centuries of “fact” and decorates dozens of sacrosanct parables from the bible with humor, honesty, and humanity.
Leaving no biblically rooted stone unturned, Magda clears the air on Salome’s deadly dance, recounts the truth of Yeshua’s arrival in Jerusalem, explains the vengeful consequences of his temple tantrum, and proposes a murderous conspiracy at the heart of his crucifixion. Furthermore, allowing Mary Magdalene to tell her own story, with the historical hindsight of the last two millennia to back her up, results in a refreshing and articulate new perspective on Yeshua and the forgotten foundations of his faith. Magda’s eventual expulsion from her homeland, for the great crime of learning how to write and challenging her subservient place as a woman, is a fitting end to this riveting story’s arc. After living and loving at the side of a progressive godhead, she still falls victim to patriarchal insecurity and hypocrisy masked as piety.
These artful takedowns of biblical legend will be controversial to some, validating for others, and enthralling for anyone with an open mind about the malleability of the historical record. For those readers who don’t identify with a religion, or have left their faith behind, this novel is also a subtle philosophical treatise, offering an uncut revision of an entire belief system, which is fittingly laced with profound yet off-the-cuff wisdom from an incomparable narrator. Challenging atheists with as much vigor as evangelicals, Magda is a captivating protagonist who refuses to let readers off the hook: “But why not allow for just a glimmer of mystery in your world? Why keep your heart on such a short leash?”
Wickedly clever, yet respectful in its bold retelling, this is an inventive, immersive, and enthralling tale, reminding readers that written history rarely captures the whole story.
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