great. the reason why people think that mary magdalene was a prostitute is because in the sixth century gregory the great gave a homily in which he equated mary magdalene with the sinful woman who anointed jesus feet. since that day, christians thereafter have thought that mary magdalene was a prostitute. i think pope saint gregory the great was not trying to be mean to mary magdalene or women. i think it was probably the result of poor scholarship. by the time we get to gregory the great, we not only have a collection of four gospels that circulate together, we have a tradition that says it s okay to blend these stories together. it is from this mistake that the image of mary magdalene as a sinful prostitute emerges. it is a myth that has concealed the reality behind why she became so devoted to jesus and played a central part in his life and resurrection.
mary magdalene s deep love for jesus will go beyond his death as jesus chooses mary to be witness to his resurrection. it s this stunning moment where she hears her name spoken by the one she loves and immediately she recognizes this as jesus.
it s not really the beginning, of course, because we re missing the first few pages. could this extraordinary lost gospel throw light on the mystery of mary s disappearance after the resurrection? having a brand new text to tell us about mary magdalene and the relationship between mary and jesus is really, really, exciting for us. the gospel picks up her story after jesus has risen from the dead. peter, i have seen the lord. tell us the words of the savior, what you remember. what you know but we do not. you have heard them. what is hidden from you, i will proclaim to you. the key point is that mary is the instructor. she s the teacher and the revealer to the other disciples, and she s somebody who speaks with authority. so much so that it troubles the male disciples.
magdalene and jesus and the other disciples and that s the last folio which is in folio 51. so can we see that? there it is. beautiful. so when saying 114, we see a little argument, a little dispute, a little scene unfolding. the gospel of thomas tells of an angry episode when peter vents his resentment against mary. tell mary to leave us because she s a woman and not worthy of life, spiritual life. similar to the jewish tradition that women aren t supposed to be taught torah. another lost gospel, that of phillip, suggests a different reason for peter and the other disciples apparent dislike of
instead, it is peter who goes on to become one of the leaders of jesus movement. peter emerges as a powerful figure in the church. he is the one to whom jesus entrusted the keys of the kingdom. he will travel around the roman empire much like paul did. he will wind up in rome, as tradition has it, as the first bishop of rome, first pope. look what happens to mary magdalene. she s known only as the penitent prostitute and her story and her importance fades away. centuries later, the discovery of another historic text offers a tantalizing explanation for what might have happened to mary magdalene after the resurrection. in 1896, a german scholar purchases an ancient book. it languishes in the egyptian museum in berlin until it is