The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene
. . . the Gospel of Mary communicates a vision that the world is passing away, not toward a new creation or a new world order, but toward the dissolution of an illusory chaos of suffering, death, and illegitimate domination. The Savior has come so that each soul might discover its own true spiritual nature, its "root" in the Good, and return to the place of eternal rest beyond the constraints of time, matter, and false morality. -Karen King, |
There is speculation as to which "Mary" the Gospel of Mary is referring to. Some scholars believe that it according to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The majority of scholars, however, believe it to be Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was known for being a follower of Jesus and is believed to be the first one to see Jesus after His Resurrection. It is believed to be Mary Magdalene strictly because of the fact that she was a follower of Jesus and she is accounted for in the Gospel of Matthew for being present at Jesus' crucifixion, and in the Gospel of John she is recorded as the first witness to Jesus' resurrection. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene serves as a story to display that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' beloved, favorite of all his disciples. Peter and Andrew in the gospel serve to represent the orthodox position of Christianity at that moment in time; women could not teach, and were second to men. Mary, being Jesus' favorite(in the gospel) gains her superiority over the other disciples by her visions and personal revelations which turned many people towards the good. To start, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene cannot be in the canon because it is believed to be written around 120-180 A.D; it is believed that the other four canonical gospels were all written in first century (with the exception of John). Also, it is difficult to credit the Gospel of Mary Magdalene as a canonical gospel because of the fact that it is an incomplete text; it is supposedly missing chapters one, two, three, parts of four and five, and all of chapters six-eight. |