DaVinci Code Part Six - Was Mary Magdalene the "Divine Feminine"?

I concluded my previous DaVinci Code post with a passage from the Gnostic Sophia of Jesus Christ:

The Holy One said to [Bartholmew]: "I want you to know that First Man is called 'Begetter, Self-perfected Mind'. He reflected with Great Sophia, his consort, and revealed his first-begotten, androgynous son. His male name is designated 'First Begetter, Son of God', his female name, 'First Begettress Sophia, Mother of the Universe'. Some call her 'Love'.  Now First-begotten is called 'Christ'. Since he has authority from his father, he created a multitude of angels without number for retinue from Spirit and Light."

This passage is part of a long-winded Gnostic explanation of the different personalities and spirits of God, a subject that is beyond the scope of these posts.  But this passage (along with dozens of other passages from Gnostic scripture) illustrates the Gnostic belief that God was an androgynous being composed of a series of personalities emanated in male-female pairs.  This line of thinking has led many to believe that the man Jesus of Nazareth -- if he indeed was the embodiment of the spirit of The Savior -- must have had an intimate relationship with an earthly female companion or wife.

Many modern-day mystics and Christians who practice a synchretistic faith (that is, a faith derived from multiple belief systems) have latched on to the Gnostic view of the masculine and feminine characteristics of God and have sought to introduce feminine aspects of God into contemporary Christian theology.  According to their teachings, understanding this "divine feminine" aspect of God is essential -- otherwise we are left with an incomplete understanding of God based only on His aggressive masculine traits.  Therefore, recognizing "Sophia" (or "wisdom") becomes a central part of their belief system.  These worshipers of the "divine feminine" revel in Gnostic teachings about Sophia, even though the New Age "Sophia" dreamed up by feminists bears little resemblance to the ancient Gnostic "Sophia".

But in addition to teaching about God's feminine personalities or spirits, does Gnostic scripture actually record the marriage of Jesus of Nazareth?   Those who believe that it does often site this passage from The Gospel of Philip:

As for the Wisdom [Sophia] who is called "the barren," she is the mother of the angels. And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples [...].  They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?"

Holes in the original manuscript make it impossible to translate the entire passage, but to some scholars this passage is proof of a deeper relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth.  These scholars believe that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were husband and wife.  And to some, Mary Magdalene was not only Jesus' physical companion and mortal wife -- she was the Holy Grail, the physical embodiment of the Sophia spirit and perhaps the mother of a human race born of The Savior and Sophia. (The mythical relationship between Jesus of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene is a bit different than the relationship between Jerry McGuire and Dorothy, but the "You complete me" theme is a part of both.)

Yet in the Gospel of Philip passage, Jesus himself straightforwardly answers his disciples query:

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."

Jesus loves Mary Magdalene more than the rest of the disciples because she "sees the light."  She gets what The Savior is trying to teach.  There is nothing more implied about Mary Magdalene than this.  Remember -- to the Gnostics, the comprehension of knowledge about the spirit world and the origin of the universe was the key to salvation.  The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas also speaks of Thomas as a favored disciple because he too understands the nature of The Savior.  Likewise the Gospel of Judas favors Judas Iscariot.

In all honesty, there are no Gnostic scriptures that explicitly state that Jesus and Mary were husband and wife.  These ideas are simply the product of centuries-old apocryphal tales, wishful thinking, and post-modern intellectual fancy.  Perhaps for some, decades of immersion in the worldview of radical 20th century feminism has left them incapable of understanding an orthodox God who is described exclusively by language of the male gender.

"Wisdom" is spoken of in the Old Testament and is the theme behind Solomon's Proverbs.  And in Solomon's writing, Wisdom is given the female gender. But while the ancient Hebrews prized wisdom as a trait that exemplified holiness and obedience to God, it was never a part of ancient Hebrew tradition to consider Wisdom to be a spirit being or a personality of God.

Certainly the accounts of Mary Magdalene in the orthodox Gospels paint her as an important figure in the life of Jesus Christ and in the early Christian church.  Jesus Christ delivered her from the posession of seven demons.  At Passover (before Jesus' crucifixion) she followed Jesus from Galilee and cared for His needs.  At the hour of Jesus' crucifixion, the male disciples had all fled; only Mary Magdalene and a handfull of other women kept vigil at the cross.  These women also placed Jesus' body in the tomb and returned to annoint His body for burial.  After they discovered that the tomb was empty, Mary Magdalene stayed at the tomb and wept.  And while at the tomb, she was the first to see the risen Jesus Christ.

This account of the life of Mary Magdalene, the one we accept as true, certainly proves that Jesus Christ cared equally for women and men, and unquestionably illustrates that Christ has reserved a special place in His Kingdom for women.  Mary Magdalene is simply one of a long line of holy women (Rehab, Ruth, Esther, the Virgin Mary, Priscilla and Aquila, and many others) whose obedience to God helped fulfill His plan and usher in His Kingdom.  These truths are not dependent upon fanciful tales of secret marriages or a "royal bloodline."

Next: - did the Emperor Constantine create the Christian bible?

Comments

[David N. Scott]

It's sort of funny, too, since not only is that manuscript pretty messed up but the question seems odd in the context they place it in, e.g. 'the Disciples got jealous that Jesus used to kiss his wife and demanded to know why he loved his wife more than them'.

Sounds a little... odd in that light.