The Mary We Forgot: What the Apostle to the Apostles Teaches the Church Today

2025 ECPA Christian Book Award Finalist (Christian Living)
2025 Midwest Book Awards Finalist (Religion/Philosophy)

Mary Magdalene's life was transformed when she was healed by Christ and joined his ministry from Galilee to Jerusalem. The Gospels teach that she was also a witness at the cross and the first one sent by Christ to preach his resurrection. Yet her story is often confused, scandalized, and undervalued by the church.

In The Mary We Forgot, award-winning church historian and theologian Jennifer Powell McNutt unpacks Scripture and history to reveal the real Mary Magdalene: the first apostle of the good news and a model of discipleship for both men and women today.

McNutt also invites readers along on her journey through southern France, tracing the path remembered by some church traditions as where Mary Magdalene spread the gospel. Christians will learn from the disciple known as the "apostle to the apostles" how to embrace Jesus's calling to "go and tell" with faith and courage. They'll also be encouraged by the reminder that God calls ordinary, imperfect, and unexpected people to share the good news of Jesus Christ. The hope of remembering Mary Magdalene is ultimately to better know the one to whom she pointed, the risen Christ.

Author: Jennifer Powell McNutt
Publisher: Brazos Press
Published: 10/15/2024
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.30w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781587436178


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/12/2024

About the Author
Jennifer Powell McNutt (PhD, The University of St. Andrews) is the Franklin S. Dyrness Chair of Biblical and Theological Studies and professor of theology and history of Christianity at Litfin Divinity School, Wheaton College. Her book, The Mary We Forgot, has been named a finalist in the ECPA Book Awards and the Midwest Book Awards. She is a fellow in the Royal Historical Society, an award-winning professor and scholar, and an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian tradition. McNutt regularly speaks at universities, seminaries, and churches across the country. She and her husband cofounded McNuttshell Ministries, which serves as a bridge between the academy and the church, and they live with their three children in Winfield, Illinois.