The Complete Sayings of Jesus: Illustrated, and The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

Yet still no complete copy of the Gospel of Mary is known. of gospel and kingdom, as well as such sayings of Jesus as "Those who seek will Magdala. A well-known example should help illustrate the significance of these considerations.
Table of contents

One was the influence of scriptural expectations on the Jesus traditions -- Jesus often plays a role in a story that "just happens" to fulfill some prophecy of old.


  1. Inhoudelijk materiaal.
  2. In databanken!
  3. .
  4. A Legacy Of The Pacific.
  5. Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Short Introduction?

Such stories were probably invented, or at least emended, to "prove" that Jesus was the Messiah. Another good example is the comparison of the scene of Jesus' resurrection at the end of the Gospels, where the location of Galilee is stressed in some Gospels but not all see G. The diversity of the audience caused the problem of heresy when Jesus' saying were viewed by different people on different terms. The Gnostics and Mystics viewed Jesus as one who spoke mysteries of personal salvation.

Some others viewed Jesus more as a political rebel or reformer. Some saw him as an apocalyptic preacher. Since we can only know Jesus from materials written by people who held these different views, it's difficult to unmask the real "historical" Jesus.

The role of "faith" in Christian tradition: When did people start to use the gospel materials? There are a lot of claims about the date, but there are no unambiguous materials for precisely dating the composition of the gospels. The year 70 CE is a pivotal point for dating the gospels. It is the year when the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Roman forces. In the synoptic gospels, Jesus "predicts" the destruction of the Temple. Both within the Gospels and in other sources, it is clear that early Christians focused on recording the teachings of Jesus -- particularly with the earliest impetus of end of world expectations.

Thus many events in the Gospels may have been reconstructed from sayings, because little attention was paid at the time to record the actual sequence of events. As waiting for the end subsides, push for different kinds of materials grows -- to provide a history, a textbook, etc. Themes found in the Gospels: The author of Luke-Acts claims to have used sources; to what extent are earlier sources visible to us, looking back through the preserved accounts? They align similar accounts.

See the link at RelSt to a web based synopsis. By studying the synoptic problem: Even for people with a traditional Christian background, the problems are there in the texts, showing the human aspect of the gospel accounts and their transmission. Modern scholarship tries to handle the Synoptic Problem now as a scholarly pursuit without the theological involvement. Examples of Synoptic Problems 1.

The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene

The Birth of Jesus: Starts with the genealogy of Jesus claiming he is the descendant of David and Abraham. Jesus was born in Bethlehem but was taken to Egypt for fear of Herod. An angel appeared to Mary and told her she would bear a son named Jesus. Mary went to aid Elizabeth during her pregnancy. The Emperor Augustus decreed that a census be taken. Mary delivered Jesus in a Bethlehem manger. In two different places G. Matthew has Jesus teach that divorce is not permissible, except under certain conditions of sexual impropriety.

Perhaps the author of Matthew came from a community that was more sympathetic toward divorce. John have different accounts of when Jesus was crucified relative to Jewish Passover. There were at least two different Jewish calendars in the 1st century CE [see above for details]. Accounts of Judas' Death: Judas refuses the pieces of silver. Judas bought a field with the reward of his wickedness; falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. This field became known as Akeldama Hakel-dama , Field of Blood. Judas swells up from an illnes and dies in his home.

Instructions at the Empty Tomb see separate file: Abrupt ending in the oldest manuscripts which makes it difficult to get the full picture. The women came to the tomb. They saw a man human or superhuman - it's not clear saying that they would see him in Galilee as he told them see above - "He precedes you into Galilee Perhaps the original gospel ended here. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man Mark - in one of the endings to this gospel, says that later Jesus was eating with them and after speaking to them was taken into Heaven Matthew - the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had ordered them - Jesus then gave the "great commission" literally, "when you go, make disciples of all nations Nicod - Jesus and his disciples were sitting in Galilee on Mount Mamilch - while he spoke to them, he was taken into Heaven 7.

Gospel Parallels Sermon on the Mount plain: The historical setting in which the gospels were written, was markedly patriarchal. In such a society it was not uncommon for women who took up leading positions in the public sphere to be denigrated by the accusation of sexual irregularities.

It can be assumed that such a mechanism was also at work in the case of Mary Magdalene. Even as a converted prostitute, Mary stayed a prostitute for many, and thereby her role as a loyal disciple of Jesus and a proclaimer of the risen Christ is minimised. Whereas Mary Magdalene symbolises faith in the resurrection in the Gospel of John, this is not the case in the first three Synoptic gospels. We will briefly discuss the role and place of Mary Magdalene in these gospels:. Together with Salome and another Mary she is part of a group of women that watch the scene from a distance Mary Magdalene had followed from Galilee onwards It seems as if it is self-evident that women follow Jesus.

That is why the women are specifically mentioned only when the men have fled. When Mark goes through a group of women, he always mentions Mary Magdalene first. Women are not real followers of Jesus, let alone disciples. They accompany Jesus from Jerusalem to take care of Him. Neither do they see the abandoned tomb, as they are stopped from doing so by an angel.

The Gospel of Mary

Matthew especially emphasises the role of the male disciples and tones down that of the women. Luke writes that Jesus travels through the country to spread the message of the Kingdom of God. Not only the apostles, but also women joined Him on his journey. It must be noted that Mary Magdalene explicitly did not belong the group of women who provided for Jesus — the emphasis lies on her being cured.

She disappears into a group of anonymous women e. Mary Magdalene is embedded in a larger group of women in the Gospel of Luke. For that reason, Mary Magdalene and other women play a much smaller role. In the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene appears for the first time at the crucifixion. Mary Magdalene does not really play a role of importance before the resurrection in the Gospel of John. This role is allotted to the Beloved Disciple John Neither are there women present at the burial. She is the first one to see the risen Lord: Still, however, her testimony is not indispensable, as Jesus also appears before his male disciples.

Different roles are assigned to Mary Magdalene in the four gospels: In all four gospels Mary Magdalene is a prominent woman that, in the company of other women, accompanied Jesus through Galilee and even joined him in Jerusalem. Apart from Peter, Jacob and John, her name is mentioned more often in the Synoptic gospels than those of the twelve apostles. She always came to be a central figure when the male disciples deserted Jesus.

She together with other women was present at the crucifixion and went to the grave on the first day of the week. It is assumed that the Markean Mary Magdalene is the most truthful image of this remarkable woman in historical terms. An unambiguous reconstruction of her person, nonetheless, remains problematic from an historical and hermeneutical point of view.

Mary Magdalene prefers to speak to us in manifold. Mary Magdalene appears in different forms in several Bible passages throughout history. The following pericopes are the heart of the matter:. This process is significantly influenced by Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, who in a homily in brought these three women together in the figure of one singular sinner.

This event established the image of Mary Magdalene for the centuries to come, leaving us with an art collection, a church history, and a pastoral theology that hold a deceptive representation of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute and a sinner. In the course of history, Mary Magdalene was also identified with Mary of Egypt, a hermitess who, according to a 7th century legend, lived in a cave in the desert, protected only by her hair and fed by the angels. The oldest sources on Mary Magdalene are the gospels end first, beginning second century A.

The little material that we can reconstruct on this basis is the following:. The gospel of Mary Magdalene is an apocryphal gospel that was found in Cairo in and which was scientifically published in The gospel of Mary Magdalene as we know it today is estimated to date back to the third century A. The beginning of the text is missing. Mary Magdalene tells of a vision of an encounter with Jesus who shares all sorts of secrets with her. Andrew expresses doubts about the content of her message because the difference with the known words of Jesus is too great and Peter calls into question that Jesus would have spoken to a woman to place her in a higher position than the other disciples.

Levi makes a stand for Mary Magdalene and the company goes out to proclaim and preach. More information can be found in E. Beyond the Myth, Harrisburg PA: She sees the displaced stone and returns to the disciples to report that the body is gone. After the other disciples have left the tomb, Mary Magdalene stands crying when she sees a man.

She thinks it is the gardener and asks him where Jesus is. The gardener, however, is Jesus himself, and he calls Mary by her name. He commissions Mary to tell the other disciples that He has risen. These three words can be translated in different ways: Does she try to touch Jesus, or to hold him, or to approach him and is this prohibited or not? Or has she held Jesus and does she have to adjust to a new relationship to the risen Christ? Does she hold him and has to let go so that both of them can go their own way?

Gnostic Scriptures and Fragments

This makes them a interesting and diverse entry point for the discussion of different theological disciplines like exegesis, pastoral theology, art and church history, etc. These various approaches are elaborately presented in remainder of the present document. For the moment, we will deal with the great diversity of meanings which are elicited by these words. Who is depicted and, above all, why are the characters portrayed as such?

Are these works of art involved with the touching? Or precisely with not touching? Or are they involved with the approaching, or not approaching? Which eyes cross ours? That of a pious disciple of Jesus or that of a sinner, a prostitute? Where does her gaze wander off to?

And where does it cross our gaze when we look around carefully? Every image that we have of Mary Magdalene is the result of a dynamic interaction between different images, views and texts. By studying these images, views and texts, we can give meaning to the figure and person of Mary Magdalene. She cannot be narrowed down to one fixed image, but is on the contrary a figure in which many different character traits, attributes and qualities are gathered.

The importance of the context wherein an interpretation of Mary Magdalene happens is thus of significance. The actual, pastoral praxis makes us reflect critically on the existing images of Mary Magdalene: Mary Magdalene can also serve as a model for many diverse purposes, as the conceptualisation of Mary Magdalene is the result of a mixture of several persons. Hannelore Devoldere discuss two radically different, pastoral perspectives on the figure of Mary Magdalene, namely the model of liberation and the model of oppression:.

In the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene became an example for active, secular life the laity as a consequence of church reform. This spirituality is still symbolised nowadays in the seven ointments that Mary Magdalene carries with her in a jar. These seven ointments represent the seven good deeds.

In addition, a couple of virtues were ascribed to her: Humility was the ideal path to spiritual perfection. Chastity was more problematic, for the evident reason that people looked upon Mary as a sinner and a prostitute.

The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene

Preachers tried to temper their listeners with a number of arguments. After that she was said to have retired to the desert for 32 years. It was also said that she was an apostle, a martyr of compassion, a preacher of the truth, and that she spiritually was a virgin because of her humility. Traditionally, a distinction is made between Mary Magdalene before and after the resurrection.

Before the resurrection, she was seen as a symbol of vanity, lust and pride. In addition, she was beautiful, wealthy and autonomous: A handy reference work for this activity is B. Van Den Eynde, Noli me tangere. The catalogue gathers paintings, embroidery work, a statue, a photograph, wood engravings, devotionals, a porcelain statue, and bibles. Make a collection of art works and have pupils make associations.

How does the meeting between Jesus and Mary Magdalene look? What can you deduce from the work of art? Examples in case are:. Studying different works of art which feature Mary Magdalene shows us that there are different representations of her person. She presents herself as an extremely flexible character. Conceptualisation - United Kingdom, - With: Peter Mullan - minutes. The Magdalene Sisters is a disconcerting drama that shows how the image of Mary Magdalene as a converted sinner has had disastrous consequences for the lives of young women up to this day.

The movie Jesus Christ Superstar , which presents us with a specific image of Mary Magdalene, can be a good starting point for a discussion of the different images of Mary Magdalene in our history and culture. Jesus at that moment when Mary mistook him for the gardener himself to Himself already a ghostly memory on the cross allowed her a few more minutes so he could watch her weep and let what he remembered as his heart be broken one more time. The sweetness of it, so human, the bitter sweetness of abandonment.

He must have wished then that he was indeed the gardener, so he could linger to watch the other face of the Incarnation the part he could never play resurrected by a single word, her name, pronounced with tender authority. God's extended finger touching Eve. Mary of Magdala Poetry Contest Weep not, though the Saviour Has gone with the dead, For the light and the glory Still halo his head; The sighs and the sorrows, The stigmas, the stains: The anguish is over, The glory remains.

Weep not for the Saviour: His sorrows are o'er, And his love shall encircle Our hearts evermore; The rainbow of promise! The star ever bright! The compass to guide through The perilous night! The light of the temple! The eye of the blind! The food of the hungry! The friend ever kind! The well in the desert! The shield from the blast! The staff of the weary! The refuge at last! The sun of our glory! The light of our eyes! Weep not for the Saviour, For he shall arise. They who were once formidable driving my shame, anguish, now sit before me in my mind docile as drowsy children.

Now, people do the same with Gnosis, and want to castrate the gospel due to fear. How can humanity be saved if they do not know the sacred Gospel? What compassion is there in keeping from the sick the very medicine he needs? The Christ knows what humanity needs. The initiates must learn to emulate Him in all things. The teachers of the sacred wisdom must give the wisdom without adding anything and without taking anything away. According to Gnostic anthropology, a true Human Being is an individual who has conquered the animal nature within and has thus created the Soul, the Wedding Garment of the Gospels, the Mercabah of the Kabbalists, the Sahu of the Egyptians, the To Soma Heliakon of the Greeks: A hu-man is a creature in which the Spirit dominates the mind.

In us, the mind, with its passions and desires, is dominate. Jesus dominates the donkey mind when he rides into Jerusalem. This indicates the need for the Inner Being to dominate the mind. This is a real hu-man. A true Man is not male or female, but both. Mary is a true Man, because she has united herself with her inner Being, who is the real Human Being.

A true Human Being has reconquered the innocence and perfection of Eden, and has become what Adam was intended to be: The Intellectual Animal, however, is controlled by nature, and thus is not a true Human Being. Examples of true Human Beings are all those great saints of all ages and cultures: Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, Krishna, and many others whose names were never known by the public. We are made into Men by the wisdom and assistance of the Christ, who must be born into the stable of our mind, surrounded by the animal desires we have within.

Afterward, he has to perform all manner of difficult works in order to free us from our many iniquities, and to help us be born as true Human Beings. Peter, the great initiate, knows that Jesus and Mary were husband and wife. They were married and worked in the sacred and divine union of souls called Alchemy or White Tantra. He answered and said to me,. For where the solar mind is, there is the treasure in heaven.

The solar mind Netzach is part of the Soul, which is created when one works in sacred sexual magic. The golden, solar bodies are our treasures in heaven. These bodies are born of the sexual waters and the Holy Spirit.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: Now the soul has advanced far along the path, having created the Solar Bodies. The soul in this narrative is now working to free itself from all the Aeons, in the manner of Pistis Sophia. This is also allegorized in the Twelve Labors of Hercules. In each labor, the soul works in a region of the Klipoth hell , destroying the psychological elements that tie him there, and then he proceeds to the corresponding heaven to perfect the psychological elements related to that realm.

This is a process of descending and ascending like Orpheus … descending in order to ascend.