Breadcrumbs Episode 8: Mary the Tower
Learning about Mary Magdalene changed everything I thought I knew about women in Christianity — and myself in it.
This is the companion post to Episode 8 of Breadcrumbs, my behind-the-scenes series for paid subscribers. The full episode is available to paid subscribers on my website.
The Chapter That Changed My Faith
Discovering Mary Magdalene changed my life. It kind of happened all in one moment, but also in a slow-dawning way that eventually reordered everything I thought I knew about women in Christianity — and about myself in it.
This episode is a little different from the others. Instead of journal entries and personal stories, I'm taking you through the four books that shaped how I understand Mary Magdalene and why she matters so much to what I argue in this chapter.
The Entry: Cynthia Bourgeault
When I stepped out of my evangelical framework in 2015, contemplative Christianity is what handed me back the scripture with new language and new eyes. Through Richard Rohr, I found Cynthia Bourgeault — Episcopal priest, mystic, scholar — and her book The Meaning of Mary Magdalene.
I read it around 2017 and, although I had some quibbles with parts of it, it didn't threaten me. It enlightened me. It was the first book to help me see Mary Magdalene not as a side character to skip past on the way to Jesus and the male disciples, but as a primary figure — arguably the disciple who understood Christ's message most deeply.
Fair warning: it's dense. But if you're ready for it, it's one of the most important books I've encountered.
The Evidence: Dr. Elizabeth Schrader-Polczer
Dr. Elizabeth Schrader-Polczer aka Libby made a remarkable discovery looking at an ancient papyrus manuscript of John 11, the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. In our Bibles, Lazarus has two sisters: Mary and Martha. But in this very old manuscript, there is only one sister. Her name is Mary. Libby's thesis — the "single sister thesis" — is that Lazarus only had one sister, and that she was Mary Magdalene, the same person we know as Mary of Bethany.
It's disputed. Some scholars disagree. But here's what just happened: Libby presented her research to the international council of scholars who oversee the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament — the source text behind virtually every Bible translation in the world. And they are adding a footnote to John 11 that acknowledges the text is unstable. That is a very big deal.
Diana Butler Bass recently sat down with Libby on her Substack The Cottage to discuss this update. If you want to go deep on this, watch their conversation here.
The Credibility: Dr. Jennifer Powell-McNutt
The Mary We Forgot by Dr. Jennifer Powell-McNutt is the book I can recommend without caveats to my friends who are still inside evangelicalism. Dr. McNutt is a professor at Wheaton. The argument is the same — Mary Magdalene was a primary follower of Christ, a disciple, an apostle, the first witness of the resurrection — but it's made entirely from within the canonical gospels and mainstream church history.
If the theology that says only men can lead is going to be challenged, Mary Magdalene is one of the most compelling places to start. She was there. She led. She carried the news of the gospel first. That has immense implications for how we see women in the church.
The Depth: Megan Watterson and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene
These two I don't cite in my book — I made a deliberate choice to stay within the bounds of scripture and tradition that would be recognizable to my evangelical readers. But I want to name them here because they've shaped me.
Megan Watterson's Mary Magdalene Revealed draws on the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, a non-canonical text circulating at the same time as the writings that became our Bible. Megan doesn't identify as a Christian. When I first read her book around 2020, the fundamentalist voice in my head wasn't convinced. When I reread it this month in preparation for the feast day of Mary Magdalene, it hit me completely differently.
I think of these four books this way: Cynthia Bourgeault is the entry. Libby's scholarship is the evidence. Dr. McNutt is the credibility. Megan Watterson and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene are the depth.
Why It Matters
I didn't know how important women were in the story of Christ until I discovered Mary Magdalene. She was hidden in plain sight. She still is, for a lot of people.
Chapter Eight is my attempt to bring her back into view as the tower she always was.
The full Episode 8 of Breadcrumbs — including more on each of these books and why Mary Magdalene's feast day matters — is available to paid subscribers.
Faithfully Dissident Daughters publishes September 8, 2026 with Westminster John Knox Press. Pre-order here and get some fabulous pre-order bonuses.