They Robbed millions of women of
a good strong role model.
A biblical women was Mary Magdalene was she a saint or sinner?
The war against terrorism that began in Afghanistan as shed light
on one of the most oppressive societies in history.
Especially were females are concerned, stories about women being
beaten and even stoned for the smallest infraction. Had horrified the world.
But it would surprise to learn that in the days of Jesus women
were subject to a similar kind of treatment. They were oppressed and they were
not allowed to go to school, most of the time the woman would stay inside to
avoid the treatment of Men.
Women were Not allowed to talk to men. It was considered
unacceptable. In the male dominated Society of Jesus day, only men were allowed
to study the Torah.
After Jesus death In AD 30 the Hebrew Scriptures had become
twisted around and after AD 70 a few Jewish leaders begon to believe that God would
not even talk to women, of course this is not what the Bible says at all.
But cultural influences overpowered the truth and women were the
ones who suffered.
It was in this extreme patriotic society that Mary Magdalene live
and met Jesus and became a part of history.
But how is this possible in a time when women were treated as an
object of scorn. Something radical must have happened to Mary Magdalene to
cause this transformation. But what?
The legend of Mary Magdalene is actually much different than the
reality of who she was. The image most often associated with her is of that of
a prostitute, but the scripture references do not say that all.
In Luke’s story in chapter 8 we get our first introduction to Mary
Magdalene which is tied to the story of Jesus traveling from town to town,
preaching we are told that his 12 disciples are traveling with Jesus along with
several women who have been cured of evil spirits and diseases. One of these in
women was Mary Magdalene she had 7 demons come out of her, buy a miracle of
Jesus that he performed, but nowhere does it say that Mary Magdalene was a
prostitute.
How is it possible that a woman with no historical hint of sexual
immorality would be associated as a prostitute?
Some scholars believe that Mary Magdalene acquired the reputation
of prostitute simply because of approximately in the Bible.
Right before the story of Mary Magdalene we find a story about an
unnamed woman in the Bible, that tells us that this woman had led a sinful life
and when this woman heard that Jesus was in a nearby house she went to see him.
As she stood behind him, she kneeled at his feet weeping she began to wet his
feet with her tears then she wiped them with her hair and kissed them and she
poured perfume on Jesus feet.
The concept of the story and the language that was used leads,
scholars to leave that the woman's sins were sexual, she was probably a
prostitute.
However, when Jesus saw her heart felt repentance, Jesus forgave
her. But there is no evidence to tie this unknown woman with Mary Magdalene.
But if this simple woman was not Mary Magdalene how did Mary
Magdalene acquire such a bad reputation? The Bible tells you there are many
instances where Jesus delivered men from demon possession, yet the stigma of
sexual sin has never been associated with their stories.
Why is it simply that Mary was a woman, so she was unfairly branded?
Or is there something more to the story. Was Mary Magdalene a threat to the
establish order of society? Mary Magdalene played an important role in early
Christianity and we have information about her in several documents in the New
Testament and in the apocryphal and in Gnostic writing. Some of the Gnostic
writings have scenes of rivalry between Peter and Mary Magdalene.
Where Peter says that women are not worthy of leadership, Peter
seems to be bothered by Mary Magdalene's leadership.
Could it be that Peter and other males’ disciples of Jesus
resented Mary Magdalene position in the group?
They were other rivalries among the disciples early in Jesus
ministry and on one occasion. Jesus said to Peter, get behind me Satan. Was
Peter himself somehow responsible for damaging Mary Magdalene's reputation?
It is important to remember that these apocryphal stories come
from text that were not acceptable by the Protestant Church these books were
excluded from the Bible because they were not considered by early church
followers to be divinely inspired.
Most modern scholars question the historical accuracy of most
apocryphal books. But what does the Bible have to say the disciple’s attitude
towards women?
One of the best indications that we have of how the disciples
treated women, can be seen in the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the
well. In this story Jesus speaks to a woman in a public place while the
disciples were someplace else. Once more she was a Samaritan woman. Someone
that Jews would not traditionally associate with in their culture. The text tells
us that when the disciples return to the well, they were surprised to find
Jesus speaking to a woman that was just socially unacceptable. Yet the text
goes on to tell us that none of the disciple’s question Jesus, because Jesus
was there teacher.
That Jesus wanted to teach his disciples that women should be
treated with respect and as an equal. The point of the story is that Jesus did
not just restrict his miracles and teachings for men, that he shared it with
everyone, men, and women alike.
And this is a philosophy he wanted to instill in his disciples.
The Bible tells us that Jesus treat women as equals. Yet it is
precisely for this reason that many men ridicule his teaching.
Christianity was branded as a religion for women and slaves. Is it
possible that in the minds of some perhaps even some of the disciples, Mary
Magdalene prominent place in Jesus entourage threaten to undermine the
foundation of the new Christian movement?
Did her influence with Jesus go beyond just that of a supporter
and followers does her influence touches today in ways we do not even imagine.
Could it be that Mary Magdalene was actually the source for the
Gospel of John? The story of Mary Magdalene it is a fascinating tale not only
for its positive message to women but also mysterious twists and turns. What is
the real story of this courageous woman and how could someone who devoted for
life to serving God go from being a heroin of the church to being called a
harlot?
Mary Magdalene seem to be a woman
of Independence financially means and independent spirit. We know this because
the New Testament tells us that Mary Magdalene supported Jesus financially and
followed him and his ministry and clearly, he affirmed her as well.
This was a significant departure from what was expected in Jesus
time.
All of that is well and good but what effect would that have had
on the other disciples? Men who only knew the rules of the society which and
they lived. We can look at the case Mary Magdalene and see that a woman's
commitment to Christ and his ministry may have posed a serious threat to the
male dominated society of his day.
But who was responsible for slandering Mary Magdalene's name? Is
it a conspiracy that has been lost a time or does the evidence points to just
one man?
In the early centuries of the church there was no printed Bible
because there was no printing. Wealthy people and scholars would have had hand
reading codices ordinary people would have depended on the oral reading of
Scripture and particularly on sermons the end of the world
**In 591 towards the end of the
6th century, Pope Gregory the first, gave such a sermon on the person
of Mary Magdalene.
*** Pope Gregory was responsible for major confusion about Mary
Magdalene. Because he fused together three different stories. The story about
the woman who anointed Jesus described as a sinner and then the story about
Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus and then the story of Mary Magdalene and
he put them together in a compositive figure and imagine that they were one
person, who was a former prostitute.
In his sermon he interpreted an aspect of Mary Magdalene in a new
way. He said that the 7 demons that were cast out of Mary signified the seven
deadly sins and one of the most heinous of the sins was lust.
***Because of Pope Gregory, Mary Magdalene became the 7 deadly
sins personified and if that was not bad enough, he also he also drew
connection with the unnamed sinful woman.
Mary Magdalene would be labeled as a prostitute for almost 1400
hundred years.
Looking back to history it would seem that Pope Gregory recklessly
even needlessly slandered Mary Magdalene's reputation.
What could have been his reason for doing such a thing?
The modified story of Mary Magdalene would become a powerful
symbol to draw people to the church. ***That even the biggest sinner can be forgiven,
and it worked because a lot of people went to the church.
Many people do not believe that his motive was to discredit Mary
Magdalene but to draw people to the church.
For nearly 2,000 years she is inspired people to go to church and
turn away from their wicked ways. And in the Catholic Church she even has your
own feast day, there is no denying the negative effect that the Pope decreed
had by branding Mary Magdalene a prostitute.
*** He not only robs her of her good name, but he also Rob
millions of women of a good strong role model.
The Mary that we find in the Gospels was important to Jesus and
was probably a leader among his followers especially after his crucifixion and
resurrection.
What does the story of Mary Magdalene change simply because of 6th
century Pope wanted Christianity to appeal to a broader audience or was the
truth distorted long before that and if so why?
Was it because some of the church start thought that a
relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus was more romantic then they were
comfortable with?
Is there a part of Mary's true story that is yet to be revealed?
The Scriptures do not provide a lot of fact about Mary Magdalene,
but one thing seems certain she was an important member close group that
accompanied Jesus.
But one new discovery of the gospel of John are giving scholars
something different to think about and just maybe offering a discovery on who
Mary Magdalene really was.
The description of the love that Jesus had for Mary Magdalene has
given rise in modern misunderstanding. Marden people like to imagine that there
was romantic relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
There are several apocalypse texts that are written after the New
Testament gospel that are not included in the Christian Bible. Those texts are
the Gospel of Philip, the gospel of Mary and illustrates the significance that
Mary Magdalene held in the life of Jesus.
But it's the Gospel of Philip that implies they may have been a
relationship that is more intimate than most people realize in these text Mary
Magdalene is described as a companion of Jesus but the most significant piece
of information is that a text gives us is that Jesus love Mary Magdalene so
much so that she is also referred to as the Blessed One.
What significance in any should we place on these apocryphal
references referring to Mary Magdalene since they were written much later than
the New Testament Gospels. Does that mean they necessarily wrong about
the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene?
The so-called romantic references in The Gospel of Philip
considered in the line of the culture that produced referred to a spiritual not
a sexual intimacy and so calling Mary Magdalene the Blessed One is not
surprising it was a common Christian early term.
The relationship of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is clearly understood
in the Ancient times, as a relationship of discipleship.
Mary Magdalene was a special disciple she was described as
understanding Jesus in a very spiritual way. Mary Magdalene and the other women
are described as staying faithfully by Jesus side as he hung by the cross and
the male disciples are described as having fled.
When he died she wept bitterly and then on the third day after his
death her and other women are described as bring spices to embalm his body and
it was then that she experience the risen Christ for the first time.
Jesus tells Mary to go to the other disciples and tell them, he
has risen. So, she becomes a first person to announce the resurrection.
It is significant that she was entrusted with task of announcing
resurrection to the other disciples because in those days women we are not
regarded as having the authority to be an official voice. She was often
referred to as the apostles to the apostles.
What does that mean? That she had equal or greater status then the
other disciples.
Mary was a devout believer and she would have been considered as
an apostle of Jesus and she continued the Ministry of the church in the early
times.
After scholars have studied scripts and the non- scripts, it was
discovered that there is strong evidence that that points to her as the primary
author of the gospel of John.
She might have not been the one to put the pen to paper, but it is
her recollection of Jesus life in Jesus sayings that form the basis for the
book.
Could it be that this possibility was exactly what some leaders
from the primitive church wanted to avoid? How does someone go about erasing a
person from history?
There are several cryptic references in the Gospel of John, which refers
to an unnamed disciple, one who is repeatedly referred to as the disciple whom
Jesus loved. In John chapter 21 we are told that this is the same disciples who
wrote down the event that are in clouded in the Gospel of John. But for some
reason the writer wanted to keep the identity of the beloved disciple a secret
and that is strange because this disciple was obviously an important figure in
the history of the community.
For thousands of years Bible scholars have wondered who this
person could be and many have surmised whoever it was he was probably
responsible for writing the Gospel of John but noticed how even today the
reference are always too he.
Is it possible the author was not a man at all? And what is
interesting is some non-biblical texts refer to as none other than Mary
Magdalene as being the author of the Gospel of John.
Could it be the disciple whom Jesus loved was actual Mary Magdalene?
Was the gender of the unnamed disciple in the Gospel of John change to
concealed Mary Magdalene's identity and if so why?
There is no known instance of an ancient Jewish, Greek, or Roman
literally source, nor any biblical literature in which a woman wrote as if she
was a man. In the original text of the Greek New Testament and the beloved
disciples Is referred to as masculine pronoun word.
*** The authenticity of the gospel has never been determined so
will continue to wonder if Mary Magdalene wrote the accounts of the Gospel of
John.
Jesus talked about men and women being equal! That might be one of
the reasons that she was stripped from her title as one of his greatest
disciples of Jesus.
What matters most is to love and live a good life as Jesus did and
treat women with respect and kindness as you would want someone to treat you!
See how man have manipulated situations to fit their own agenda.
It is a shame, that we have been around for over five thousand
years and we still have not grown as a race! By now you would think there would
be NO Racism at all!
They rob the women of a great role model, to keep women down.
Why do they fear women so much?
Jesus loved us and He wanted women to be treated with Respect and
Kindness!!!
That is why I feel there is a lot of stories that have been
misconstrued and they have misled the masses for their own benefit or what today
we will call Greed!!!
God bless you
Bless it be
Lady Dee
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