Pages

Friday, March 27, 2015

Mary Magdalene & Jesus Christ

In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, one female character stands out more than others. Her name is Mary Magdalene. She has been referred to in the Gospels as one of Jesus' followers and was also implied by Luke the Evangelist as being a prostitute. Recent theological studies suggest that Mary of Magdala was the wife of Jesus of Nazareth. But who she actually was and her role in the Bible remains a biblical controversy. The following articles give a great objective view of such claims as Mary Magdalene being the Christian savior's wife, as well as her being portrayed as a prostitute. 

Was Mary Magdalene Wife of Jesus? Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute?

How did her reputation evolve “From Saint to Sinner?”

Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 11/16/2014

Read Birger A. Pearson’s article “From Saint to Sinner” as it originally appeared in Bible Review, Spring 2005. The article was first republished in Bible History Daily in October 2011.—Ed.
_________________________________________________________________

Image result for mary magdaleneWhen novelists and screenwriters try to insert something salacious into the life of Jesus, they focus on one woman: Mary from Magdala. Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute? Was Mary Magdalene the wife of Jesus? Birger A. Pearson addresses these popular notions in the article “From Saint to Sinner” below.

As Pearson notes, there’s no substantial evidence to either of these theories. As for her being named in the New Testament, none of the Gospels hints of her as being Mary Magdalene, wife of Jesus. Three Gospels name her only as a witness of his crucifixion and/or burial. All four Gospels place her at the scene of Jesus’ resurrection (though Luke does not list her as a witness). Only in the Gospel according to Luke is there even the slightest implication that she might have had a past life that could raise eyebrows and the question: Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute? Luke 8 names her among other female followers and financial supporters and says that she had been released from the power of seven demons.

Theologians in later centuries consciously tried to downplay her role as an influential follower of Jesus. She became identified with the “sinful woman” in Luke 7 whom Jesus forgives as she anoints his feet, as well as the woman “taken in adultery” whom Jesus saved from stoning. In the sixth century Pope Gregory preached of her being a model penitent.

Only the Western church has said that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. The Eastern church has always honored her as an apostle, noting her as the “apostle to the apostles,” based on the account of the Gospel of John which has Jesus calling her by name and telling her to give the news of his resurrection to the other disciples.

As Birger A. Pearson sets forth in “From Saint to Sinner” below, a noncanonical Gospel of Mary enhances her role to a greater proportion. Her ongoing role in the early church is subject to speculation, but she is indeed getting more respect in theological circles, not for being Mary Magdalene wife of Jesus nor for being Mary Magdalene a prostitute but for being a faithful follower of her Rabboni—her teacher.
_________________________________________________________________

The recent discovery of a Coptic papyrus fragment reignited the discussion on Jesus’ marriage. Read more about this early Christian text featuring the words “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …,’” as well as new tests conducted on the papyrus fragment’s authenticity.
_________________________________________________________________

From Saint to Sinner
by Birger A. Pearson

Dan Brown, William Phipps, Martin Scorsese—when looking for a lover or wife for Jesus, they all chose Mary Magdalene. It’s not surprising. Mary Magdalene has long been recognized as one of the New Testament’s more alluring women. Most people think of her as a prostitute who repented after encountering Jesus. In contemporary British artist Chris Gollon’s painting of The Pre-penitent Magdalene (at right), Mary appears as a defiant femme fatal adorned with jewelry and make-up.

Yet, the New Testament says no such thing. Rather, in three of the four canonical Gospels, Mary Magdalene is mentioned by name only in connection with the death and resurrection of Jesus. She is a witness to his crucifixion (Matthew 27:55–56; Mark 15:40–41; John 19:25) and burial (Matthew 27:61; Mark 15:47). She is one of the first (the first, according to John) to arrive at the empty tomb (Matthew 28:1–8; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1–10). And she is one of the first (again, the first, according to John) to witness the risen Christ (Matthew 28:9; John 20:14–18).

Only the Gospel of Luke names Mary Magdalene in connection with Jesus’ daily life and public ministry. There, Mary is listed as someone who followed Jesus as he went from village to village, bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. “And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means” (Luke 8:1–3).
_________________________________________________________________

To learn more about Biblical women with slighted traditions, take a look at the Bible History Daily feature Scandalous Women in the Bible, which includes articles on Jezebel and Lilith.
_________________________________________________________________

The epithet “Magdalene,” used in all the Gospels, indicates that Mary came from the mercantile town of Migdal (Taricheae) on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. She must have been a woman of some means, if Luke’s account can be trusted, for she helped provide Jesus and the twelve with material support. She had also experienced Jesus’ healing power, presumably involving an exorcism of some sort. It should be noted, though, that the author of the Gospel of Luke has a tendency to diminish Mary Magdalene’s role, in comparison with her treatment in the other three canonical Gospels. For example, Luke is alone among the canonical Gospels in claiming that the risen Lord appeared exclusively to Peter (Luke 24:34; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:5). No appearance to Mary is recorded in Luke. Accordingly, his reference to seven demons may be tendentious.

So how did Mary become a repentant whore in Christian legend?

Critical scholarship has provided the answer to this question: It happened as a conscious attempt on the part of later interpreters of the Gospels to diminish her. They did this by identifying her with other women mentioned in the Gospels, most notably the unnamed sinful woman who anoints Jesus’ feet with ointment and whose sins he forgives (Luke 7:36–50) and the unnamed woman taken in adultery (John 7:53–8:11). This conflation of texts was given sanction in the sixth century by Pope Gregory the Great (540–604) in a famous homily in which he holds Mary up as a model of penitence. Pope Gregory positively identified the unnamed anointer and adulteress as Mary, and suggested that the ointment used on Jesus’ feet was once used to scent Mary’s body. The seven demons Jesus cast out of Mary were, according to Gregory, the seven cardinal sins, which include lust. But, wrote Gregory, when Mary threw herself at Jesus’ feet, “she turned the mass of her crimes to virtues, in order to serve God entirely in penance.”

Thus was invented the original hooker with a heart of gold.

Interestingly, the legend of Mary the penitent whore is found only in the Western church; in the Eastern church she is honored for what she was, a witness to the resurrection. Another Gregory, Gregory of Antioch (also sixth century), in one of his homilies, has Jesus say to the women at the tomb: “Proclaim to my disciples the mysteries which you have seen. Become the first teacher of the teachers. Peter, who has denied me, must learn that I can also choose women as apostles.”

Mary’s historical role as an apostle is clearly tied to her experience of an appearance of the risen Christ. As noted above, in the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene goes alone to the tomb, where she is the first to see the risen Jesus. He tells her to tell his “brethren” that he is ascending to God the Father. She then goes to the disciples and tells them what she has seen and heard (John 20:1, 11–19). Later that same day Jesus appears to the disciples gathered behind closed doors. He thus confirms in person the message Mary had given them. In contrast to Luke’s picture of Mary, in John she emerges as an “apostle to the apostles.”
_________________________________________________________________

The Galilee is one of the most evocative locales in the New Testament—the area where Jesus was raised and where many of the Apostles came from. Our free eBook, The Galilee Jesus Knew, focuses on several aspects of Galilee: how Jewish the area was in Jesus’ time, the ports and the fishing industry that were so central to the region, and several sites where Jesus likely stayed and preached.
_________________________________________________________________

The positive role played by Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of John was considerably enhanced in Christian circles that honored her memory. The Gospel of Mary, quoted in the accompanying article, is the product of one such early Christian community. In her recent book The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene, Jane Schaberg presents the following nine-point “profile” of Mary:
(1) Mary is prominent among the followers of Jesus; (2) she exists as a character, as a memory, in a textual world of androcentric language and patriarchal ideology; (3) she speaks boldly; (4) she plays a leadership role vis-à-vis the male disciples; (5) she is a visionary; (6) she is praised for her superior understanding; (7) she is identified as the intimate companion of Jesus; (8) she is opposed by or in open conflict with one or more of the male disciples; (9) she is defended by Jesus.
All nine characteristics are prominent in the Gospel of Mary, although many of these nine points are found in other noncanonical texts.

But does this portrait of Mary Magdalene as an early Church leader reflect historical reality? Perhaps. One scholar has suggested that Mary may even be mentioned along with a few other female leaders whom Paul sends greetings to in Romans 16:6, where he writes: “Greet Mary, who has worked very hard among you.” But this must remain speculative. It is true that we have no reason to suspect Mary was a prostitute or lover or wife of Jesus. But it is also true that if she was an apostle to the apostles, the evidence for her role has successfully been suppressed—at least until now. As a result of the recent work of a number of scholars, Mary Magdalene’s apostolic role in early Christianity is getting a new hearing.

That, in my view, is more important than viewing her as Jesus’ wife.
_________________________________________________________________

“From Saint to Sinner” by Birger A. Pearson originally appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of Bible Review.
_________________________________________________________________

Birger A. Pearson is professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is one of the world’s leading experts on the Coptic gospels and has written hundreds of articles and books on Gnosticism and the Nag Hammadi codices. Since 1968, he has been involved in Claremont University’s Coptic Gnostic Library project.



Saturday, March 14, 2015

Signs in the Heavens

Throughout the ages of mankind's existence, the human has been fascinated by the heavenly bodies and their mysterious meaning. Ancient cultures, while fascinated, were also somewhat terrified of the enigmatic creations in the sky above. Occurrences such as comets and eclipses were seen as signs of impending disaster to our ancient ancestors. Even the falling star could spark fear into these ancient cultures.   

As mankind has progressed over the many centuries and knowledge has been increased to understanding, the modern inhabitants of Earth have mapped the heavens and even calculated the arrival of eclipses and orbiting comets and meteors.

Jesus, as well as the ancient prophets, predicted that during the "End Times" there will signs in the heavens before the great and terrible 'Day of the Lord'.
Image result for darkened sun blood moon pillars of smoke"Immediately after the distress of those days, "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken." - Matthew 24:29
Since those words were spoken by Jesus, over 2000 years ago, mankind has looked to the heavenly skies, waiting for the signs the Christian messiah not only had mentioned, but promised would occur.

The prophets of these ancient civilizations also decreed similar announcements long before Jesus was born. Their warnings had an air of authority about them... the antediluvian man took notice of these prophecies and payed it forward into our modern world.

Joel proclaimed:
"I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." - Joel 2:30-31 
Haggai proclaimed:
"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty.'" - Haggai 2:6-7
Zechariah proclaimed:
"On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day--a day known only to the Lord--with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light." - Zechariah 14:6-7
Zephaniah proclaimed:
"That day will be a day of wrath--a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness--"  Zephaniah 1:15
Luke proclaimed:
"In the last days, God says, 'I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.'" - Acts 2:19-20
John of Patmos reiterated these claims in Revelation, reminding mankind that such celestial happenstances, predicted by Jesus and the prophets of antiquity, were bound to fall upon the planet.
Image result for darkened sun blood moon pillars of smoke"I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place." - Revelation 6:12-14
With so many scriptural passages, all pointing to the same prophetical warning about impending doom from the astronomical universe, many Christians, as well as the Jews and Muslims, agree some kind of cosmic disturbance will someday seriously affect our planet. Many scholars attest that these supernatural events will take place between the Great Tribulation and the "Day of the Lord". Jesus' description of a darkened sun, blood red moon, the falling stars and the heavens being shaken continues to fascinate and terrify mankind even unto our modern times. Yet, such events were described many times throughout the Old Testament/Tanakh in connection with the time referred to as the "Day of the Lord".

Even Isaiah's narrative talked about 'people hiding in the rocks from the terror of the Lord' (Isaiah 2:10) The ancient prophet also informed that during this traumatic time, people will finally see the impracticality of their cherished idols, which they will throw to the "moles and bats". (Isaiah 2:20) He also reiterated what would happen in the heavens during the "End Times".
"See, the day of the Lord is coming--a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger--to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. I will make people scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger." Isaiah 13:9-13
For many centuries mankind has questioned the reasoning behind the Creator's wrath which will lead to the "Day of the Lord". The scholars of religion agree that it is likened unto the same concept during the time of Noah, which Jesus made comparisons to in Matthew 24:37-39. During the days of Noah mankind had descended into such depths of evil - that worsened from generation to generation - the Creator was regretful of creating humankind (Genesis 6:5-6). He was determined to destroy what he had created: mankind. Yet the Lord did relent his feelings when he chose to save Noah and his family from the Great Flood

Once again the Creator has chosen a similar path when threatening to destroy mankind during the "Day of the Lord". Yet, the difference this time is the human race has been warned for over 2,500 years (in comparison to Noah's 120 years of declaring the same warning) and has sent many prophets [over many generations] to recapitulate His ominous threat. And, "signs in the heavens" is definitely on the admonishing agenda.  
"Unless you people see signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." - John 4:48

For current astronomical information, please visit: The Top 101 Astronomical Events to Watch for in 2015