Screenshot from The Real Mary Magdalene

 This morning I cam across a video posted on Facebook for part 5 of 5 of a National Geographic documentary called The Real Mary Magdalene. I was able to find the page where all five parts are available: 

The Real Mary Magdalene 

These videos were posted on the Facebook page for a group called Priory of Sion. (Not THE Priory of Sion, for all of you Holy Blood, Holy Grail fans out there…) I also noticed a few other videos posted there that I’ve not yet watched. 

The National Geographic documentary was a fairly typical post-Da Vinci Code exploration of Mary Magdalene, but it focused much more on extracting an understanding of her from Biblical and Gnostic accounts than from the more recent “bloodline” legends. Although the narration and re-enactments had a sensational feel to them, it was a pretty level presentation of what there is to know about Mary Magdalene from the earliest sources. 

The expert guests were: 

• Professor Carolyn Osiek, Brite Divinity School 
• Professor Jonathan L. Reed, University of La Verne 
• Professor Marvin W. Meyer, Chapman University 
• Professor Karen King, Harvard University 
• Professor Marcus J. Borg, Oregon State University 
• Professor Stephen Patterson, Eden Theological Seminary 
• Professor Lawrence H. Schiffman,New York University 

I was disappointed that the last part of the documentary focused on the idea that Mary Magdalene’s identification as a prostitute was the result of a smear campaign by early church fathers. While I have no argument with the fact that church fathers used the reputation to their advantage in controlling women, I do not for a moment believe that they are the source of the legend. I also wish that a documentary like this would, for once, mention that Pope Gregory’s homily in the 6th century was likely an action taken to organize the deep confusion over the various Marys in the Gospels and the many competing perspectives that were currently circulating. Again, I don’t suggest that Gregory was a great guy who was doing Mary Magdalene any favors, but I also don’t agree with laying 1400 years of mistaken identity at his feet. 

“Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, were his plural wives, and Mary Magdalene was another.”
(Brigham Young’s 19th wife, on Young’s belief that Jesus was married)

There is quite a tradition within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints that not only was Jesus married, but he was married to multiple wives.  When I think about this, it brings to mind the scenes from The Last Temptation of Christ, in which Jesus walks to town with his wives, Mary and Martha of Bethany, with whom he has a small brood of children after the death of his first wife, Mary Magdalene.  It’s not really a new idea if the Mormon church has been nurturing such ideas since the 19th century at least.

Today the subject of polygamy within the Mormon church is controversial, to say the least.  While it’s clearly part of the church’s past, it seems that the church as an organization wants to move past that legacy.  There are some within the faith, however, who recognize the practice as part of their spiritual heritage, and they continue to practice plural marriage (in this world, not the next) to this day.

I came across a blog post about this the other day.  In a Mormon Coffee post called “Sister Wives,” blogger Sharon Lindbloom discusses an upcoming TLC reality show about a modern Mormon family with one husband, four wives, and thirteen children.  Lindbloom points toward some fascinating passages from a book called Jesus Was Married, by Anne Wilde (and her husband), including this one which quotes Orson Pratt, an early leader of the church:

“One thing is certain, that there were several holy women that greatly loved Jesus — such as Mary, and Martha her sister, and Mary Magdalene; and Jesus greatly loved them, and associated with them much; and when He arose from the dead, instead of showing Himself to His chosen witnesses, the Apostles, He appeared first to these women, or at least to one of them — namely, Mary Magdalene. Now it would be natural for a husband in the resurrection to appear first to his own dear wives, and afterwards show himself to his other friends. If all the acts of Jesus were written, we no doubt should learn that these beloved women were His wives.” (Orson Pratt, The Seer, p. 159)

It looks like the book may be hard to find, but it seems like an interesting read.  Maybe a trip to the university library is in order.  In the meantime, I wanted to point out another interesting book about Mormonism, Jesus, marriage, and Mary Magdalene:  Dynasty of the Holy Grail: Mormanism’s Sacred Bloodline, by Vern G. Swanson.  I’m still reading through it, but it doesn’t appear nearly as sensational as the title.  It contains some fantastic resources on the subject.

If any readers happen to see an episode of Sister Wives, I would love to hear whether Mary Magdalene’s name is dropped anywhere!

In the blog Irreducible Complexity, a post called “Messiahs, Mary and Mysogyny” caught my attention. Blog author, Ian, started out the piece by discussing how new religion messianic figures (i.e., cult leaders) tend to succumb to the temptation of taking advantage of their flock by sleeping with the female members. Granted, this doesn’t ALWAYS happen (I assume), but it occurs frequently enough to be not terribly surprising, even predictable.

Into this discussion, Ian turns his attention to the original Jesus movement, which at the time really was just a little cult of people following their messianic leader.  Assuming that Jesus was only human (a position with which I know not everyone will agree), could he have been faced with the same situation?  Could it have occurred?

This is a new take, I think, on the potential relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.  Some will surely find this offensive, but in the interest of free inquiry, it’s certainly another perspective to consider.

His Popeness, Benedict XVI, has decided in all of his wisdom to refrain from mentioning Mary Magdalene and Martha in a children’s book he published earlier this year called “The Friends of Jesus.” And it’s not because he only wanted to included the canonical 12 disciples; no, he also mentioned Matthais (who replaced Judas after he committed suicide), and –get this– PAUL, who never even met Jesus.

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One question I’ve heard a great number of times over the years is one that I have great difficulty answering. It’s troubling because I feel like I should have an answer easily at hand, maybe an “elevator speech” of sorts, but I don’t.

What does Mary Magdalene mean to me?

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Here is something worth checking out. In Jerusalem, on the Mt. of Olives, there is a Russian Orthadox church, complete with large golden onion domes, that is dedicated to Mary Magdalene. I’ve never had the good fortune to visit (someday!), and I’ve always wanted to get a better look at it. There are a few photos scattered around online, but nothing fantastic.

Until now, that is.

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From my book:

“Clearly, the legend of Helen is meant to be a Gnostic allegory for the fall of Sophia (which is in turn an allegory of the fall of the soul), but the parallels between Simon Magus and Jesus should also make us look more closely at the parallels between Helen and Mary Magdalene.

Both Helen and Mary Magdalene have represented Sophia’s presence in the physical world; wouldn’t the fact that Helen was incarnated as a prostitute have had some bearing on what was thought of Mary Magdalene’s pre-Jesus life as well? This is a question that hasn’t been fully explored by scholars, but as the studies of Mary Magdalene’s roles in Gnosticism continue, it very well could be the earliest indirect reference to Mary Magdalene as a prostitute.”

Apparently, someone in academia picked up the gauntlet I tossed down in this section in 2004. Here is the first paragraph of the conclusion of a 2007 thesis that very studiously explores the theme I mentioned above as well as the importance of MM’s medieval identity as a fallen woman.

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I obtained a recording of a UK television documentary from Demand Five called “Mary Magdalene: Saint or Sinner?” and watched it this evening. A fairly typical documentary, it includes dramatic narration asking all of the sensational questions being bandied about in our post-Da Vinci Code culture, a round-up of experts, and actors dramatizing the topics being discussed.

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Best wishes to all on this, the Feast of Mary Magdalene!

I thought that the following traditional litany, copied from the Catholic Culture website (formatting is mine), would be a fine reading for the day:

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I found a post in this blog from several years ago, in which I commented that it was odd that most Google searches for the keyword “mary magdalene” came from the Philippines and Raleigh, NC. Today I revisited Google Trends to see if the same is still true.

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