Most of the early church 'Fathers' seem to be unaware of the issue of the identity postion. ie that of MM being Mary of Bethany being Lukes sinner.

Most of these arguments from the church fathers regarding MM being NOT the same as Lukes sinner, or the anointing woman at Bethany are from arguments of silence. I can list them all if you want me to. Arguments from silence are always very weak arguments.

Several church fathers such as Origen do parallel and identify the anointing at Bethany in Mt. 16:6-13 and Mk. 14;3-9 (woman not named) with John.12 1-8 (specifically named as Mary).

We therefore have to decide how many anointings took place. Is there one, two or even three anointings? Some scholars have even discerned FOUR anointings!

As an example of the confusion Turtullian was evidently convinced there was only one anointing. He tends to 'allegorise' - that is, he kind of 'blends' several elements of various anointings together giving an impression that there was only ONE anointing and thus only one woman.

Be that as it may, the possibility of one woman and two anointings does exist with Origen.

Another argument for more than one anointing is suggested because in one account the head is anointed, in another the feet. Which was the most important?

If we remember Jesus was Jewish, the symbolism of the anointings can be interpreted as follows: that the anointings were rituals of sacrifice, especially when using semeia ('Semeia' (singular 'semeion'), which is Greek for 'signs', the word used to describe Jesus' miracles in the Gospel of John, ie the author of John wants you to see the story he/she is telling in relation to the covenant established with Yahweh and the people of Israel) and that four different parts of the body are used: head, body, hand and feet.

The significance can be said to be as follows:

The head: this equals the consecrated head of the priest, the sacrificial animal or the horns of the altar that represents holiness.
The body: the washed body of the sacrificial animal correlates with the bathed and vested body of the priest, the washed hands and feet of the priest, and the anointed sides of the altar. It is the medium through which God and humanity become possible.
The Hand: this is the semeion for the priestly function, literally the right hand of God.
The Feet: the feet of the sacrificial animal correlate with the base of the altar and the feet of the priest, and represent the profane, that which must be cleansed beofre contact with God may be made. The feet of the sacrificial animal were separated from the body and offered as a 'separate' part of the sacrifice.

In John then, Jesus is replacing the Temple sacrifices. Using these 'signs' one can see a whole different story in John. : ) Especially in relation to his death and burial and what Jesus himself has said he has come 'to do'.

Whether all these anointings in the Gospels are just garbled wrtitngs of the oral accounts, i doubt we will ever know.

This 'identity question' (eg those of Faillon and Corluy) say that according to patristic infomation, the sister of Lazarus is to be found among the women named in the context of the passion accounts, for all women mentioned here in the Gospels with the name Mary are mentioned. From this they deduce that the Mary of the anointings is Mary Magdalene because only she is named in the passion accounts!!!

IMHO, the author of the Gospel of John allows an identification of Mary of Bethany with the anointing woman. Even though there may be several anointings, i believe (at this current time) that there is only one anointing, and the biblical writers are talking about the same event. And in the context of the anointing, how about one anointing where the head and feet are done, but the oral traditions have been remembered differently by different groups? In other words, using semeia, Jesus whole body was being anointed for burial???

The details of the anointings are:

'....it happened in Bethany, at the table of Simon the leper (Mark 14:3-9; Matt. 26: 7-13). Simon the Leper lived in this house with Mary of Bethany and Martha, and presumably Lazarus. Some of those present at the anointing criticized her for the waste, but Jesus praised the act, and it was then that Judas decided to betray him.

Luke, placing the story in an earlier context, says that this “bad woman” washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, kissed them and anointed them with perfume; but it is probably the same story, for though it is said to have happened long before Judas’ betrayal and in a slightly different manner, it did happen in the home of a publican named Simon.

How did this event get to be associated with Magdalene? John may provide the answer. He says twice that Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus of Bethany poured perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. This happened in her own home, not in the house of a man named Simon, but it was in Bethany, it was during a meal, and Judas did complain about the waste of perfume that could have been sold and the money given to the poor'.

The Gospel of John says:

John 11: 11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

John 12: Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany
12 Six days before ithe Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and not given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

From the Gospel of John one can see that Mary of Bethany, whom Jesus loved, is the same who anointed Jesus six days before passover with an expensive ointment, and that it seems to be in relation to the raising of Lazarus.

Is Mary of Bethany the same as Mary Magdalene? If one is honest, there is no *direct* evidence that this is so.

Overview:
"How many times was Jesus anointed by a woman?

There are four reports of Jesus being anointed by a woman while he was alive on earth. These appear to describe possibly three separate cases, or perhaps different reports of the same event:

In Luke 7:36-38 and 44-50, a woman wet Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair and anointed them with ointment from an alabaster flask. She is described as a “woman of the city who was a sinner”. The city is not named, but was probably in Galilee as the events surrounding this passage took place in Galilee. This probably took place shortly after Jesus chose his 12 disciples.

In John 12:1-11, Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, anointed Jesus’ feet with ointment of pure nard . Judas Iscariot complained about the waste. This anointing took place six days (John 12:1) before the Passover at which Jesus was crucified.

In Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9, an unnamed woman anointed Jesus in the house of Simon the leper in the town of Bethany. She anointed Jesus’ head with very expensive ointment of pure nard from an alabaster flask. In this case it seems that all of Jesus’ disciples complained about the waste, prompting Jesus to defend her action, describing it as a beautiful thing done to anoint him for burial. This anointing took place 2 days (Matthew 26:2 and Mark 14:1) before the Passover at which Jesus was crucified.

There is one more attempted anointing. On the Sunday after Jesus had been crucified, various women came to anoint his dead body with spices and ointments (Matthew 28:1-6, Mark 16:1-6 and Luke 23:55-24:7)"

Thinking about it, especially in the context of the earlier discussion/arguments we had regarding the possible importance of Mary Magdalene in the Gnostic tradition, i wonder now why those accounts do not reflect this very important 'act' of a Mary in these anointing scenes. I would have thought that this most important of events would have been referred to in the Gnostic texts if the community did laud up Mary Magdalene, and if it was Mary Magdalene who did the anointing.
But in the Gnostic texts we have, i do not believe this is hinted at anywhere. It shows the inherent difficulty of seeing which Mary was which in all of these Gospel accounts, whether part of the canon or the apocrypha.

For me, it is only the Gospel of John which makes it clear - it was Mary of Bethany who did the anointing, and it was in readiness for his burial, which would (using semeia) be related to the fact that Jesus, a Jewish Messiah (and revolutionary, if you ask me, in the context of his Jewish 'religion') had come to call his people back to God, to replace the corrupt priesthood of his times, and to establish direct contact with God.

Now Mary of Bethany by all accounts was a fine upstanding citizen, and seemingly quite financially well off if she had her own house. Now, would a Mary like this, be a sinner, a bad woman, or even a 'harlot'.