Mary Magdalene, the woman Jesus loved
THIS Lenten season, I would like to focus not on Jesus Christ, but on the woman he loved, Mary Magdalene, a mysterious woman who was much misunderstood, maligned, ignored and marginalized by the Christian church.
To me, Mary Magdalene stands taller than any of the apostles of Jesus. She was the “Apostle of Apostles” to whom was revealed the greatest spiritual mysteries after the resurrection of Jesus.
She was mentioned only a few times in the canonical gospels of Luke, Mark, Mathew and John. But her importance in Christ’s mission cannot be denied.
She was present during the most crucial moments in Jesus’ life. It was Mary Magdalene who anointed Jesus with a most expensive perfumed oil, thus fulfilling his being called The Anointed One. She was present during the crucifixion and she was the first person to whom Jesus appeared after his resurrection.
Who was this woman that the early Church mistakenly branded as a “repentant prostitute” and
relegated to the footnotes of history? What did she represent that the church tried so hard to eradicate?
Wealthy
To be sure, not much is known about the background of Mary Magdalene. Modern research and educated guess work suggest she was a very wealthy woman, probably from a place in Africa called Magdala.
Other theories say she was from Egypt and some say she was from a town in the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. But she most definitely was not a prostitute, as commonly believed. There is absolutely no biblical basis for it.
Where did the idea of Mary Magdalene’s being a prostitute start? This false label stemmed from a homily of Pope Gregory in the year 591 where he declared that she and the unnamed woman in Luke VII were, in fact, one and the same, and the faithful should hold Mary as a penitent whore.
Here is the pertinent portion of that historic homily with the erroneous notion about Mary Magdalene:
“She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark. And what did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices? ... It is clear, brothers, that the woman previously used the unguent to perfume her flesh in forbidden acts.”
In 1969, the Catholic church officially corrected Pope Gregory’s error of labeling Mary Magdalene a penitent whore. However, almost nobody paid any attention to the correction.
The Christian community, by and large, persisted in regarding her as a former prostitute. One would expect the Catholic clergy to lead the way in correcting the false impression of Mary Magdalene but that has not happened.
Was there a deliberate attempt by the church to marginalize Mary Magdalene, as Dan Brown’s immensely popular novel, “The Da Vinci Code,” suggested? Though vehemently denied by church apologists, there seemed to be some historical evidence for this.
Why would the church want to downplay Mary Magdalene’s role? What could be its motive?
Based on his consultations with other writers, like Margaret Starbird (“The Woman in the Alabaster Jar”), Lyn Picknett (“Mary Magdalene”), Elaine Pagels (“The Gnostic Gospels”), and Michael Baignet, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln (“Holy Blood, Holy Grail”), Brown theorized, “Mary Magdalene represents a woman who is freed from sexual repression, who is not dependent upon a male-only hierarchy, and who fulfills her desires through confident individualism, not repentance and submission.”
All about power
In other words, this is about power and the recognition that sexuality is a fundamental element of power. According to Susan Haskins, “What the church feared and abhorred the most was that which is incarnated in the flesh of the woman, her sexuality, and so made Mary Magdalene a repentant whore in order to rob her of that power.”
In 1945, a whole library of ancient papyrus writings containing lost gospels written in the Coptic language was discovered inside jars in Nag Hammadi, Upper Egypt. The most well-known of these writings was the Gospel of Thomas. But it also contained the Gospel of Philip and the Gospel of Mary, which asserted that the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ was more than casual.
The main theory behind the “Da Vinci Code” novel is that Jesus and Mary were married and she bore him a child in France where she fled with Martha, Lazarus and John after the resurrection.
The Holy Grail was not the cup that Jesus used during the Last Supper, but the royal blood of Christ that must be protected. The church was said to be behind a conspiracy to keep this secret at all cost even to the point of deception and murder.
That’s why the Catholic church is all up and against this work of fiction. It has reason to be alarmed because Brown’s book has sold 25 million copies worldwide and is more popular than the Bible.
Although there is absolutely no historical basis or evidence that Jesus was ever married to Mary Magdalene, or that they had children, as some writers theorized, there is enough written and documentary evidence suggesting they were most likely lovers. During the early period of Christianity, it was no secret that Magdalene was not only his constant companion but his dearly beloved.
THE Gospel of Philip found in Nag Hammadi, Upper Egypt, in 1945 contains this very revealing passage:
“… The companion of the (Savior was)... Mary Magdalene. (But Christ loved)... her more than [all] the disciples, and used to kiss her [often] on her (mouth). The rest of the disciples were offended... They said to him, ‘Why do you love her more than all of us?’
“The savior answered and said to them, ‘Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness.’”
What I believe Christ was saying to them is this: “Even if I explain this to you, and you do not have the inner knowing, the gnosis, then you will still not understand. You are like the blind man who cannot see even if the light comes. But if you have inner vision or inner knowledge, you will understand.”
This implies that Mary understood and therefore had no need for explicit explanation. She intuitively knew and understood her true role which the disciples apparently did not.
Favored
According to Elaine Pagels, who holds a doctorate degree from Harvard and author of the Gnostic Gospels, “the Gospel of Mary depicts Mary Magdalene (never recognized as an apostle by the Orthodox church) as the one favored with visions and insight that surpass Peter’s. The Dialogue of the Savior (also part of the Nag Hammadi Library) praises her not only as a visionary, but as the apostle who excels all the rest. She is the woman who knew it all.”
Mary Magdalene, after Christ’s resurrection, became the intermediary between Jesus and the other disciples. As the constant companion of Jesus and the first witness of the Resurrection, it seemed only natural, as Michael Terdieu, editor of the Berlin Codex pointed out, that she had been accorded special revelations.
Instead of explaining why Mary Magdalene was not even considered an apostle when it was to her that Jesus Christ revealed the most secret teachings after his resurrection, not to Peter and the other disciples, the Church simply labeled those who advocated this view to be heretics.But labeling a statement or belief heretical does not mean it is wrong. It only means it’s different from the accepted or authorized belief.
For example, during the medieval period, it was heresy to believe that the earth revolved around the sun. In fact, the great astronomer Galileo was arrested by the Holy Inquisition because of such belief. He was made to retract this “heresy” or be burned at the stake. The Orthodox and accepted view at that time was that the sun revolved around the earth.
Unprecedented
The aggressive and often acrimonious smear campaign the Catholic church has unleashed on Dan Brown’s novel, which the author himself admitted to be mere fiction, is unprecedented in modern literary history.Church apologists took pains to point out every small artistic, historical, theological, biblical and even geographical errors Brown supposedly committed in his work, errors that are not essential to the story he was telling.
But Brown should be happy with the aggressive stance the Catholic church has taken against him. It will make his very popular book even more popular. More people who may not have been interested in reading the book will now want to know what the fuss is all about.
As usual, the Church will be at the losing end in this publicity game. Brown has the numbers. And with a movie starring Tom Hanks coming out soon, watch the sales of the book go even higher.
I wish the church also condemns my book “On Christianity, New Age and Reincarnation.” That will ensure its place on the bestseller list.
source: (April 3, 2006) http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=71548&col=3
(April 10, 2006) http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=72309&col=3
To me, Mary Magdalene stands taller than any of the apostles of Jesus. She was the “Apostle of Apostles” to whom was revealed the greatest spiritual mysteries after the resurrection of Jesus.
She was mentioned only a few times in the canonical gospels of Luke, Mark, Mathew and John. But her importance in Christ’s mission cannot be denied.
She was present during the most crucial moments in Jesus’ life. It was Mary Magdalene who anointed Jesus with a most expensive perfumed oil, thus fulfilling his being called The Anointed One. She was present during the crucifixion and she was the first person to whom Jesus appeared after his resurrection.
Who was this woman that the early Church mistakenly branded as a “repentant prostitute” and
relegated to the footnotes of history? What did she represent that the church tried so hard to eradicate?
Wealthy
To be sure, not much is known about the background of Mary Magdalene. Modern research and educated guess work suggest she was a very wealthy woman, probably from a place in Africa called Magdala.
Other theories say she was from Egypt and some say she was from a town in the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. But she most definitely was not a prostitute, as commonly believed. There is absolutely no biblical basis for it.
Where did the idea of Mary Magdalene’s being a prostitute start? This false label stemmed from a homily of Pope Gregory in the year 591 where he declared that she and the unnamed woman in Luke VII were, in fact, one and the same, and the faithful should hold Mary as a penitent whore.
Here is the pertinent portion of that historic homily with the erroneous notion about Mary Magdalene:
“She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark. And what did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices? ... It is clear, brothers, that the woman previously used the unguent to perfume her flesh in forbidden acts.”
In 1969, the Catholic church officially corrected Pope Gregory’s error of labeling Mary Magdalene a penitent whore. However, almost nobody paid any attention to the correction.
The Christian community, by and large, persisted in regarding her as a former prostitute. One would expect the Catholic clergy to lead the way in correcting the false impression of Mary Magdalene but that has not happened.
Was there a deliberate attempt by the church to marginalize Mary Magdalene, as Dan Brown’s immensely popular novel, “The Da Vinci Code,” suggested? Though vehemently denied by church apologists, there seemed to be some historical evidence for this.
Why would the church want to downplay Mary Magdalene’s role? What could be its motive?
Based on his consultations with other writers, like Margaret Starbird (“The Woman in the Alabaster Jar”), Lyn Picknett (“Mary Magdalene”), Elaine Pagels (“The Gnostic Gospels”), and Michael Baignet, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln (“Holy Blood, Holy Grail”), Brown theorized, “Mary Magdalene represents a woman who is freed from sexual repression, who is not dependent upon a male-only hierarchy, and who fulfills her desires through confident individualism, not repentance and submission.”
All about power
In other words, this is about power and the recognition that sexuality is a fundamental element of power. According to Susan Haskins, “What the church feared and abhorred the most was that which is incarnated in the flesh of the woman, her sexuality, and so made Mary Magdalene a repentant whore in order to rob her of that power.”
In 1945, a whole library of ancient papyrus writings containing lost gospels written in the Coptic language was discovered inside jars in Nag Hammadi, Upper Egypt. The most well-known of these writings was the Gospel of Thomas. But it also contained the Gospel of Philip and the Gospel of Mary, which asserted that the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ was more than casual.
The main theory behind the “Da Vinci Code” novel is that Jesus and Mary were married and she bore him a child in France where she fled with Martha, Lazarus and John after the resurrection.
The Holy Grail was not the cup that Jesus used during the Last Supper, but the royal blood of Christ that must be protected. The church was said to be behind a conspiracy to keep this secret at all cost even to the point of deception and murder.
That’s why the Catholic church is all up and against this work of fiction. It has reason to be alarmed because Brown’s book has sold 25 million copies worldwide and is more popular than the Bible.
Although there is absolutely no historical basis or evidence that Jesus was ever married to Mary Magdalene, or that they had children, as some writers theorized, there is enough written and documentary evidence suggesting they were most likely lovers. During the early period of Christianity, it was no secret that Magdalene was not only his constant companion but his dearly beloved.
THE Gospel of Philip found in Nag Hammadi, Upper Egypt, in 1945 contains this very revealing passage:
“… The companion of the (Savior was)... Mary Magdalene. (But Christ loved)... her more than [all] the disciples, and used to kiss her [often] on her (mouth). The rest of the disciples were offended... They said to him, ‘Why do you love her more than all of us?’
“The savior answered and said to them, ‘Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness.’”
What I believe Christ was saying to them is this: “Even if I explain this to you, and you do not have the inner knowing, the gnosis, then you will still not understand. You are like the blind man who cannot see even if the light comes. But if you have inner vision or inner knowledge, you will understand.”
This implies that Mary understood and therefore had no need for explicit explanation. She intuitively knew and understood her true role which the disciples apparently did not.
Favored
According to Elaine Pagels, who holds a doctorate degree from Harvard and author of the Gnostic Gospels, “the Gospel of Mary depicts Mary Magdalene (never recognized as an apostle by the Orthodox church) as the one favored with visions and insight that surpass Peter’s. The Dialogue of the Savior (also part of the Nag Hammadi Library) praises her not only as a visionary, but as the apostle who excels all the rest. She is the woman who knew it all.”
Mary Magdalene, after Christ’s resurrection, became the intermediary between Jesus and the other disciples. As the constant companion of Jesus and the first witness of the Resurrection, it seemed only natural, as Michael Terdieu, editor of the Berlin Codex pointed out, that she had been accorded special revelations.
Instead of explaining why Mary Magdalene was not even considered an apostle when it was to her that Jesus Christ revealed the most secret teachings after his resurrection, not to Peter and the other disciples, the Church simply labeled those who advocated this view to be heretics.But labeling a statement or belief heretical does not mean it is wrong. It only means it’s different from the accepted or authorized belief.
For example, during the medieval period, it was heresy to believe that the earth revolved around the sun. In fact, the great astronomer Galileo was arrested by the Holy Inquisition because of such belief. He was made to retract this “heresy” or be burned at the stake. The Orthodox and accepted view at that time was that the sun revolved around the earth.
Unprecedented
The aggressive and often acrimonious smear campaign the Catholic church has unleashed on Dan Brown’s novel, which the author himself admitted to be mere fiction, is unprecedented in modern literary history.Church apologists took pains to point out every small artistic, historical, theological, biblical and even geographical errors Brown supposedly committed in his work, errors that are not essential to the story he was telling.
But Brown should be happy with the aggressive stance the Catholic church has taken against him. It will make his very popular book even more popular. More people who may not have been interested in reading the book will now want to know what the fuss is all about.
As usual, the Church will be at the losing end in this publicity game. Brown has the numbers. And with a movie starring Tom Hanks coming out soon, watch the sales of the book go even higher.
I wish the church also condemns my book “On Christianity, New Age and Reincarnation.” That will ensure its place on the bestseller list.
source: (April 3, 2006) http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=71548&col=3
(April 10, 2006) http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=72309&col=3
posted by Misteryo Philippines Network (MPN) at 12:38 AM
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