MARY WEPT OVER THE FEET OF JESUS: PROSTITUTION AND RELIGIOUS OBEDIENCE IN THE BIBLE - CHESTER BROWN

Still on my God shit. This was an impulse grab at the library but it does seem to be in line with the last book. I’ve read some other Brown books, though not his weird early stuff, actually all the stuff I’ve read has been really square. Even the previous book which was about being a John, called PAYING FOR IT, was remarkably restrained given the subject manner. It was clear reading that book that Brown’s thought a lot about sexwork and sexworkers  and tho I disagree with some of his conclusions (he is a libertarian and I have a much more pessimistic view of the market) it is clear that he’s a deep thinker on the subject and he’s refreshingly candid about his experience. Often when reading something “academic” or “policy driven” about a lurid subject, like drugs or sexwork or serious mental illness, you get the sense that the author has no real experience with the subject, just a lot of booklearnin’. I experience this constantly in my work. Brown has clearly read deeply about the subjects he cares about and is willing to discuss how these theories play out in his actual life. What I did not know is that Brown is really into the Bible and Christian history. This book is a comic retelling of a handful of biblical stories all of which revolve around prostitution or sex in some way (except for the Cain and Abel story, which is first). The retelling are simply illustrated and cleanly drawn-out. There are some differences between these versions and the canonical biblical versions but Brown really dives into this in a long afterwards and notes sections. This is where it becomes clear that Brown is pretty obsessed with the early church and the bible. He sites dozens of books. He goes deep on the etymologies of certain Greek and Hebrew words (the true sign of serious biblical scholarship, it never ceases to amaze me that “Christians” don’t think they should learn Greek) he gives us alternate versions from non-canonical texts, we get his opinion on various Biblical theories. My favorite are A) Mary Magdalene’s (who Chester and I agree is also Mary of Bethany) feet-anointing ceremony was sexual in nature since she was a prostitute (Brown gets deep into this), a woman’s hair was thought of as very sexual at the time (and is still in large portions of the world) and “feet” was a then-common euphemism for a penis. B) Mary, Mother of Jesus, was a prostitute. This Brown based on the unknown father of her child as well as a long genealogy at the beginning of Matthew that lists women, which is very unusual, and 4 women (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba) who people familiar with the Old Testament would know engaged in some sort of prostitution or prostitution-adjacent activity. There’s also debate over the Greek word that gets translated as “Virgin” for Mary. All very interesting, I would have just preferred Brown writing some Biblical essays, he’s well read and highlights some interesting theories. Overall, quick and good. 3 Marys.