Editing Mary Magdalene (section)

===Patristic era===
[[File:Dura Europos baptistry women at the tomb.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|This fresco from the [[nave]] of the [[Dura-Europos church]] dates to {{circa|240}}{{sfn|Haskins|2005|page=59}} and contains the oldest surviving depiction of Mary Magdalene.{{sfn|Haskins|2005|pages=58–59}} She is shown alongside two other women (the third now almost completely missing due to extensive damage),{{sfn|Haskins|2005|page=59}} each holding a lit torch and a bowl of [[myrrh]], as they approach [[Tomb of Jesus|Jesus's tomb]], which is still sealed.{{sfn|Haskins|2005|pages=58–61}}]]

Most of the earliest [[Church Fathers]] do not mention Mary Magdalene,{{sfn|Schaberg|2004|page=86}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2006|page=185}}{{sfn|Haskins|2005|page=90}} and those who do mention her usually only discuss her very briefly.{{sfn|Schaberg|2004|page=86}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2006|page=185}}{{sfn|Haskins|2005|page=90}} In his anti-Christian polemic ''[[The True Word]]'', written between 170 and 180, the pagan philosopher [[Celsus]] declared that Mary Magdalene was nothing more than "a hysterical female... who either dreamt in a certain state of mind and through wishful thinking had a hallucination due to some mistaken notion (an experience which has happened to thousands), or, which is more likely, wanted to impress others by telling this fantastic tale, and so by this cock-and-bull story to provide a chance for other beggars".{{sfn|Schaberg|2004|pages=84–85}} The Church Father [[Origen]] ({{circa}} 184 – {{circa}} 253) defended Christianity against this accusation in his apologetic treatise ''[[Against Celsus]]'', mentioning {{bibleverse||Matthew|28:1|9}}, which lists Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" both seeing the resurrected Jesus, thus providing a second witness.{{sfn|Schaberg|2004|page=85}} Origen also preserves a statement from Celsus that some Christians in his day followed the teachings of a woman named "Mariamme", who is almost certainly Mary Magdalene.{{sfn|Schaberg|2004|page=87}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2006|page=256}} Origen merely dismisses this, remarking that Celsus "pours on us a heap of names".{{sfn|Schaberg|2004|page=87}}

A sermon attributed to [[Hippolytus of Rome]] ({{circa}} 170 – 235) refers to Mary of Bethany and her sister [[Martha]] seeking Jesus in the garden like Mary Magdalene in {{bibleverse||John|20|9}}, indicating a conflation between Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene.{{sfn|Schaberg|2004|pages=85–86}} The sermon describes the conflated woman as a "second [[Eve]]" who compensates for the disobedience of the first Eve through her obedience.{{sfn|Schaberg|2004|page=86}}{{sfn|Haskins|2005|page=90}} The sermon also explicitly identifies Mary Magdalene and the other women as "apostles".{{sfn|Ehrman|2006|page=253}}{{sfn|Bock|2004|pages=143–144}} The first clear identification of Mary Magdalene as a redeemed sinner comes from [[Ephrem the Syrian]] ({{circa}} 306 – 373).{{sfn|Hooper|2005|p=81}}{{sfn|Althaus-Reid|2009|p=86}} Part of the reason for the identification of Mary Magdalene as a sinner may derive from the reputation of her birthplace, Magdala,{{sfn|Haskins|2005|page=15}} which, by the late first century, was infamous for its inhabitants' alleged vice and licentiousness.{{sfn|Haskins|2005|page=15}}

In one of his preserved sayings, [[Gregory of Nyssa]] ({{circa}} 330 – 395) identifies Mary Magdalene as "the first witness to the resurrection, that she might set straight again by her faith in the resurrection, what was turned over in her transgression".{{sfn|Schaberg|2004|pages=86–87}} [[Ambrose]] ({{circa}} 340 – 397), by contrast, not only rejected the conflation of Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the anointing sinner,{{sfn|Maisch|1998|page=44}} but even proposed that the authentic Mary Magdalene was, in fact, two separate people:{{sfn|Maisch|1998|page=44}}{{sfn|Haskins|2005|page=93}} one woman named Mary Magdalene who discovered the empty tomb and a different Mary Magdalene who saw the risen Christ.{{sfn|Maisch|1998|page=44}} [[Augustine of Hippo]] (354–430) entertained the possibility that Mary of Bethany and the unnamed sinner from Luke might be the same person,{{sfn|Haskins|2005|pages=93–94}} but did not associate Mary Magdalene with either of them.{{sfn|Haskins|2005|page=94}} Instead, Augustine praised Mary Magdalene as "unquestionably... surpassingly more ardent in her love than these other women who had administered to the Lord".{{sfn|Haskins|2005|page=94}}