Debate:Mary Magdalene - First Witness to the Resurrection - Significance?

I am curious as to what the significance (if any) is to the fact that Mary Magdalene was the First to witness the resurrection of Christ. A "fallen woman" according to some accounts. Yet, a "female". Why did Jesus not choose to reveal himself to any one of the male apostles? To me, it speaks volumes about tolerance and acceptance, no matter what impression you may have about Mary Magdalene. Then, how does one explain so much of Paul's writings which show marked misogyny (women hating) and other biases? User:Seekcommon

Actually recent studies (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,472868-2,00.html) suggest Mary Magdalene may not have been a "fallen woman" at all, claiming it was a lie installed by the early church.

And from what I know about him, Jesus was one of the few men in his time who saw men and women as equals, Paul on the other hand was a common 0 AD near-east man, raised according to traditional Jewish values, explaining his misogyny.

Middle Man

Yes, an important message for me anyway is how Jesus looked at people versus how some conservatives (and yes liberals) view the role of women and how they are to be treated. So much of what people believe to be based on scripture etc etc is simply not true. Yes, even slavery was considered OK since the slaves were "dark skinned" and so on and so forth. Another message for me is that one cannot and should not take the Bible as the infallible words of God - but words that were translated and passed on from man to man with every man adding his interpretations and prejudices and beliefs and forcing the followers to accept them. But EVEN TODAY, there are those who cannot accept anything other than "Bible is the word of God in it's entirety" and simply refuse to examine anything that contradicts that. Oh well ... words that help a few gain power over many User:Seekcommon