(Redirected from
Gospel of Mary)
The Gospel of Mary was found in the Akhmim Codex, a text acquired by Dr. Rheinhardt in Cairo in 1896. It was not published until 1955, after the Nag Hammadi texts had also appeared. The other texts of the Akhmim Codex were in the Nag Hammadi texts, but not the Gospel of Mary. In this only known copy of the text, pages 1 - 6 and 11 - 14 are missing. The Gospel of Mary is purported to be that of Mary Magdalene.
The fragmentary Gospel of Mary Magdalene survives in two 3rd century Greek fragments and a longer 5th century translation into Coptic, in which the testimony of a woman first needed to be defended.
All of these manuscripts were first discovered and published between 1938 and 1983, but there are Patristic references to the (despised and dismissed) Gospel of Mary as early as the 3rd century. In the fragmentary text, the disciples ask questions of the risen Savior (a designation that dates the original no earlier than the 2nd century) and are answered.
Then they grieve, saying, "How shall we go to the Gentiles and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of the Son of Man? If even he was not spared, how shall we be spared?" And Mary Magdalene bids them take heart: "Let us rather praise his greatness, for he prepared us and made us into men." She then delivers a vision of the Savior she has had, and reports her discourse with him, which shows Gnostic influences.
Her vision does not meet with universal approval:
- "But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, 'Say what you think concerning what she said. For I do not believe that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are of other ideas."
- "Peter also opposed her in regard to these matters and asked them about the Savior. "Did he then speak secretly with a woman, in preference to us, and not openly? Are we to turn back and all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?"
Karen King has observed, "The confrontation of Mary with Peter, a scenario also found in The Gospel of Thomas, Pistis Sophia, and The Gospel of the Egyptians, reflects some of the tensions in second-century Christianity. Peter and Andrew represent orthodox positions that deny the validity of esoteric revelation and reject the authority of women to teach." (introduction, The Nag Hammadi Library)
See also
External links
