Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Mary

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1 1 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Mary The Gifts of Mary July 5, 10am to 11am Parish Room. Mathew, Mark, Luke, John and Mary. Yes, there is a Gospel of Mary. What if it and other texts had been included in the New Testament, rather than hidden for centuries? Karin Tetlow explores how Mary Magdalene can inform our lives and paths to spirituality today. Organized by Karin Tetlow. Worship Associate is Ed Greenlee. The Gifts of Mary I became interested in Mary Magdalene after someone lent me two racy novels about her many lives.. she was a Druid somewhere in Britain, a prostitute in Rome, the wife of Jesus and the front line witness at the crucifixion and resurrection. In the final novel, which I haven t read yet, I hear she takes on St. Paul, goes to France and inspires the Cathars. Then I read a couple of out-there books about people who knew Mary Magdalene in past lives. After that I ventured into the considerable research that has engaged academic feminists and at least one Episcopal priest for the past 40 years. I was very surprised to discover that so much of the fiction about Mary has its roots in history.. For example, the Da Vinci Code, which you may remember was all about searching for the secret of Mary. What is up for discovery is not so much a secret, but who she was, what she did and what makes sense for us today So why the interest in Mary Magdalene? The answer is what could be called a perfect storm of events: the feminist movement, the New Age search for spiritual enlightenment and the availability of the Nag Hammadi scrolls

2 2 We ve all heard of the Dead Sea Schools, but what were the Nag Hammadi Scrolls? They turn out to far more significant and could be said to have revolutionized the underpinnings of traditional Christianity. In the 200 years after the crucifixion, there were multiple Christian groups, many gospels and diverse teachings. In fact, a riot of pluralism according to one scholar. When Christianity became institutionalized as the true faith under one hierarchical church, all those who thought differently were denounced as heretics or gnostics and their writings destroyed or hidden. Fast forward nearly 2,000 years. In the late 19 th century the Gospel of Mary was discovered in Egypt and in 1945 a jar of 52 papyrus scrolls was found at Nag Hammadi, also in Egypt. But because of scholarly jealousies, fear and political roadblocks, these scriptures remained unavailable. It wasn t till 1955 that the Gospel of Mary was published and 20 years later the first English translation of the Nag Hammadi scrolls appeared. The original sources of the scrolls date back to the second century and together they offer teachings that differ dramatically from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the four gospels of the New Testament. For one thing there are more than four gospels: There is the Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Truth, the Secret Book of James and many others. Elaine Pagels, in her very readable book The Gnostic Gospels spells out the differences and heresies between the New Testament and the Gnostic Gospels. One example: the Gospel of Philip describes the resurrection as symbolic and ridicules those who take it literally. I have to point out that the current correct way of referring to the New Testament is Christian Scripture. And the current correct way of referring to the Old Testament is Hebrew Scripture. But since the Gnostic gospels are sometimes included in the Christian Scriptures, I ll avoid confusion by using the traditional names of Old Testament and New Testament. Now, to move onto Mary Magdalene. First, what do we know about her from the New Testament? Interestingly all 4 gospels mention Mary Magdalene by name as the first witness to the resurrection, thereby earning

3 3 her the title Apostle to the Apostles. Also, all 4 gospels state that she stood firm when all the disciples fled in terror after the crucifixion. As one scholar points out, these are powerful statements giving Mary a place of honor that even the heavy hand of a male-dominated Church could not dislodge. Yet, for nearly two thousand years we have been told she was a sinner and a prostitute. In recent decades, scholars have disentangled the New Testament texts, and found that those conclusions are based on innuendos and false assumptions. In the New Testament gospels we read that Mary Magdalene had been freed of seven demons. But nowhere do the gospels say that she was a sinner or a prostitute. In fact one translator interprets Mary Magdalene being freed of the seven demons, to mean her having done the psychological work, with the help of Jesus teachings, and had become psychologically whole. Centuries of Christian theology have made the false leap from demons to prostitute and sinner. A deliberate plot to undercut her authority on the part of the male-only church hierarchy, say feminist scholars, Incidentally, teaching that she was a prostitute was repealed in The Hammadi gospels add new revelations. First, that Jesus inner circle included both men and women on an equal footing as far as Jesus was concerned. The women, several of whom are named Mary, which does confuses things, were full-fledged followers, not just companions who made the lunch. Moreover, these women, particularly Mary Magdalene, were on the inside track because they understood Jesus teachings, which, for the most part went right over the heads of the male disciples, who were more comfortable with stories and parables. Even the disciple Peter says, in an unusually mellow moment Tell us what you remember of his words that we ourselves do not know or perhaps have never heard. But later he shouted at her and made her cry saying Would the Savior speak these things to a woman in private Are we to turn about and all listen to her?

4 4 So what was the inside track of Jesus teachings that the disciples thought were strange ideas? They certainly were not a set of rules or rigid doctrines as orthodox Christianity would have us believe. Rather, they present a path or process to inner spiritual knowledge that we can follow whether we be atheist or believer. As we heard earlier in the reading, Jesus says I told you to find contentment at the level of the heart. Guard carefully that no one misleads you saying Look, he s over there. The Son of Humanity already exists within you.. In other words the heart is key. It is the instrument of spiritual insight that is one end of a vertical axis to a higher realm of consciousness or what you could call..god. Blessed are the pure in heart. For they shall see God. Those famous words on the Tiffany window in our sanctuary now take on meaning. So how do you do that? How do you find contentment at the level of the heart? In earlier centuries the answer was prayer. In the 21 st century we call it staying centered that we can develop through the practice of meditation. Research about the meditating brain explains how that works: If we do not tighten up with fear in the face of bad reality, we allow a different neurological pathway to open, that gives us more intelligence and alternative solutions. As Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault says We can bring to a difficult situation a healing presence that was there all along. But that we couldn t see because the eyes of negativity immediately make you spiritually blind. Mary Magdalene did not flee at the time of the crucifixion, as the disciples had. She was able to respond to the terrifying and dangerous events of the crucifixion, by staying centered in her heart and not constricted by fear. In the reading earlier, in answer to the question by the seven powers of wrath who ask, Where are you Going? Mary Magdalene says What has bound me has been slain. Where time rests in stillness in the Eternity of time, I will

5 5 repose in silence. Clearly, Mary got to where we would all like to get when we meditate. Is it a coincidence that there are seven demons and seven powers of wrath? Maybe Mary Magdalene was freed from the seven demons by following instructions to stay centered in her heart. Mary Magdalene was on the inside track for another reason. She was in a special relationship with Jesus, most likely as his wife. In the Gospel of Mary the apostle Peter says we know that he loved you more than all other women. As some researchers point out, how could Jesus, a 30-year old Jewish man not have a wife? The male-dominated Christian Church had a very good reason for writing Mary Magdalene out of its script. For its purposes it needed Jesus to be a celibate, Divine figure who people could worship. It wanted a figure that was represented on earth only by the church hierarchy of bishops, priests and deacons. Jesus portrayed as a human being who had sex wouldn t work, even if he was married. Volumes have been written about Mary Magdalene s special relationship with Jesus. The relationship has been characterized as erotic and spousal (indeed scholars cite the Song of Solomon, that erotic book in the Old Testament, as a metaphor for the love of Jesus for the Christian soul in the person of Mary Magdalene.) Others call their relationship a divine sexual union, or the Fifth Way that can be walked by any in any relational combination, celibate or otherwise. Whatever their relationship, the bottom line is: Love in all its forms is a path for spiritual awakening. The purpose of the Jesus and Mary Magdalene union was to create a Kingdom of Heaven on earth where masculine and feminine energies are balanced. If Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, the next obvious question is what about the children? And where are their descendants? There has been

6 6 major research on this front, popularized by the Da Vinci Code whose plot is based on the blood lines of Jesus and Mary, whose offspring founded a secret dynasty that includes such famous names as Leonardo Da Vinci and Isaac Newton. But other sources say that the idea of blood lines misses the point. An heir of an ancient bloodline would have no role in the 21 st century. Also that a blood line makes no sense given the concept of the Virgin birth of Jesus, Virgin births cannot perpetuate a blood line. By the way there is discussion of how DNA can have a spiritual level which could help explain the whole theory of a virgin birth. To conclude: There are three Gifts of Mary Magdalene that make sense today? Together they are a path to peace and higher consciousness. First: Masculine and feminine energies can come in many forms of Love. When they are balanced and work together they can create anything, even something as big as Christianity. Second: Spiritual growth begins inside of us. Third: The heart is the instrument of spiritual insight. Closing the heart when we are fearful cuts off solutions to problems and spiritual healing. Mary Magdalene was,and is, a powerful, smart and generous woman with messages for all of us. As a partner of Jesus and in her own right she was a critical force for the creation of Christianity. She was also human and cried when the male disciples gave her a hard time. And she had her circle of supportive women friends. She is indeed the ultimate female role model. It is a testament to her power that she is still rocking the boat of Christianity. Let it be.

7 7 BIBLIOGRAPHY GIFTS OF MARY Sermon, July 5, 2015 Baigent, Michael, Leogh, Richard, Lincoln, Henry, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Corgi, 1983 Bourgeault, Cynthia, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Cowley Publications, 2004 Bourgeault, Cynthia, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene, Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity, Shambhala, 2010 Brown, Dan, The Da Vinci Code, Doubleday, 2003 Cunningham, Elizabeth, Magdalen Rising: The Beginning, The Passion of Mary Magdalene, Bright Dark Madonna (The Maeve Chronicles), Monfish Book Publishing, Reprint 2010, 2007, 2009 (three novels) Haskins, Susan, Mary Magdalene, Myth and Metaphor, Riverhead Books, 1993 Pagels, Elaine, The Gnostic Gospels, Vintage Books, 1979 Wilson, Stuart and Prentis, Joanna, Power of the Magdalene, The Hidden Story of the Women Disciples, Ozark Mountain Publishing, 2009 Wilson, Stuart and Prentis, Joanna, The Essenes, Children of the Light, Ozark Mountain Publishing, 2005

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