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The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene
The Gnostic Society Library ^

Posted on 03/29/2008 8:24:03 PM PDT by hanfei

Chapter 4 (Pages 1 to 6 of the manuscript, containing chapters 1 - 3, are lost. The extant text starts on page 7...)

. . . Will matter then be destroyed or not?

22) The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots.

23) For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of its own nature alone.

24) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

25) Peter said to him, Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?

26) The Savior said There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin.

27) That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence of every nature in order to restore it to its root.

28) Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you.

29) He who has a mind to understand, let him understand.

30) Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from something contrary to nature. Then there arises a disturbance in its whole body.

31) That is why I said to you, Be of good courage, and if you are discouraged be encouraged in the presence of the different forms of nature.

32) He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

33) When the Blessed One had said this, He greeted them all,saying, Peace be with you. Receive my peace unto yourselves.

34) Beware that no one lead you astray saying Lo here or lo there! For the Son of Man is within you.

35) Follow after Him!

36) Those who seek Him will find Him.

37) Go then and preach the gospel of the Kingdom.

38) Do not lay down any rules beyond what I appointed you, and do not give a law like the lawgiver lest you be constrained by it.

39) When He said this He departed.

Chapter 5 1) But they were grieved. They wept greatly, saying, How shall we go to the Gentiles and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of the Son of Man? If they did not spare Him, how will they spare us?

2) Then Mary stood up, greeted them all, and said to her brethren, Do not weep and do not grieve nor be irresolute, for His grace will be entirely with you and will protect you.

3) But rather, let us praise His greatness, for He has prepared us and made us into Men.

4) When Mary said this, she turned their hearts to the Good, and they began to discuss the words of the Savior.

5) Peter said to Mary, Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of woman.

6) Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember which you know, but we do not, nor have we heard them.

7) Mary answered and said, What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you.

8) And she began to speak to them these words: I, she said, I saw the Lord in a vision and I said to Him, Lord I saw you today in a vision. He answered and said to me,

9) Blessed are you that you did not waver at the sight of Me. For where the mind is there is the treasure.

10) I said to Him, Lord, how does he who sees the vision see it, through the soul or through the spirit?

11) The Savior answered and said, He does not see through the soul nor through the spirit, but the mind that is between the two that is what sees the vision and it is [...]

(pages 11 - 14 are missing from the manuscript)

Chapter 8: . . . it.

10) And desire said, I did not see you descending, but now I see you ascending. Why do you lie since you belong to me?

11) The soul answered and said, I saw you. You did not see me nor recognize me. I served you as a garment and you did not know me.

12) When it said this, it (the soul) went away rejoicing greatly.

13) Again it came to the third power, which is called ignorance.

14) The power questioned the soul, saying, Where are you going? In wickedness are you bound. But you are bound; do not judge!

15) And the soul said, Why do you judge me, although I have not judged?

16) I was bound, though I have not bound.

17) I was not recognized. But I have recognized that the All is being dissolved, both the earthly things and the heavenly.

18) When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, which took seven forms.

19) The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the excitement of death, the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven powers of wrath.

20) They asked the soul, Whence do you come slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?

21) The soul answered and said, What binds me has been slain, and what turns me about has been overcome,

22) and my desire has been ended, and ignorance has died.

23) In a aeon I was released from a world, and in a Type from a type, and from the fetter of oblivion which is transient.

24) From this time on will I attain to the rest of the time, of the season, of the aeon, in silence.

Chapter 9 1) When Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to this point that the Savior had spoken with her.

2) But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, Say what you wish to say about what she has said. I at least do not believe that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are strange ideas.

3) Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things.

4) He questioned them about the Savior: Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?

5) Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I have thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?

6) Levi answered and said to Peter, Peter you have always been hot tempered.

7) Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries.

8) But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well.

9) That is why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect Man, and separate as He commanded us and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what the Savior said.

10) And when they heard this they began to go forth to proclaim and to preach.

The Gospel According to Mary


TOPICS: History; Theology
KEYWORDS: episcopalians; gnosticism; gospel; heresy; mary; marymagdalene; naghammadi
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1 posted on 03/29/2008 8:24:03 PM PDT by hanfei
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To: hanfei

I’m getting my popcorn now. :)


2 posted on 03/29/2008 8:33:18 PM PDT by dljordan
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To: hanfei

Your point?


3 posted on 03/29/2008 8:45:11 PM PDT by swmobuffalo ("We didn't seek the approval of Code Pink and MoveOn.org before deciding what to do")
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To: hanfei

If that’s the gospel, it’s bad news, not good. Makes the God of the universe sound like any two-bit buddhist.


4 posted on 03/29/2008 8:46:39 PM PDT by Migraine (Diversity is great...(until it happens to YOU).)
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To: hanfei

So who wrote this?


5 posted on 03/29/2008 8:47:03 PM PDT by Just mythoughts (Isa.3:4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.)
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To: swmobuffalo

There isn’t one, really.

There’s nothing wrong with the catholicos gospels; it’s just good to have more. Athanasius wasn’t divine; Jesus was.


6 posted on 03/29/2008 8:49:27 PM PDT by hanfei
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To: Just mythoughts
So who wrote this?

Gueesing from all of the "los" someone from the King James era.....

7 posted on 03/29/2008 8:50:48 PM PDT by Lijahsbubbe
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To: Just mythoughts

It’s very old; author is unclear, but is purportedly — far from certain — Mary Magdalene or Mary.


8 posted on 03/29/2008 8:51:24 PM PDT by hanfei
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To: hanfei
It’s very old; author is unclear, but is purportedly — far from certain — Mary Magdalene or Mary.

Thanks. What language was it originally written and who did then translating to what I just read in the English?

9 posted on 03/29/2008 8:55:15 PM PDT by Just mythoughts (Isa.3:4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.)
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To: hanfei
where's the "oh, please don't harass us, if you don't like our thread, just click away...."?
10 posted on 03/29/2008 8:57:44 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (How much worse would things be if Eve had been "empowered?")
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To: hanfei

You forgot to add gnosticism to the keywords!


11 posted on 03/29/2008 9:00:09 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: hanfei

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/gnosticism/


12 posted on 03/29/2008 9:01:06 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Salvation
You forgot to add gnosticism to the keywords!

I'm entertained when Catholics accuse others of Gnosticism.

13 posted on 03/29/2008 9:03:29 PM PDT by Invincibly Ignorant
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To: hanfei

hanfei
Since Mar 12, 2008


14 posted on 03/29/2008 9:22:10 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: Invincibly Ignorant
You would do well to check out your heresies!

Americanism, Then and Now: Our Pet Heresy (encyclical of Pope Leo XIII)

Heresies then and now: ancient Christian heresies practiced in modern times

The Plain Truth About The Baptist Bride Heresy

Balthasar, Hell, and Heresy: An Exchange (is it compatable with the Catholic faith?)

Heresies then and now: ancient Christian heresies practiced in modern times

Know Your Heresies

The Rev. John Piper: an interesting look at "heresy vs. schism"

Pietism as an Ecclesiological Heresy

Heresy

Arian Heresy Still Tempts, Says Cardinal Bertone (Mentions Pelagianism As Well)

Catholic Discussion] Church group stays faithful (to heresy!)

An overview of modern anti-Trinitarian heresies

Christian mavericks find affirmation in ancient heresies

Where heresy and dissent abound [Minnesota]

Gnostic Gospels - the heresy entitled "Gnosticism."

The So-Called ‘Gospel’ of Judas: Unmasking an Ancient Heresy

Benedict XVI Heresies and Errors

Donatism (Know your heresies)

The Heresy of Mohammed (Chapter 4, The Great Heresies)

Father & Son Catholic Writers Tag-Team Old & New Heresies

Heresies Of The Word-Faith Movement [Read Only]

15 posted on 03/29/2008 9:26:30 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: hanfei; All

Information on Gospel of Mary

Estimated Range of Dating: 120-180 C.E.

In her introduction in The Complete Gospels, Karen King names the manuscripts available for the Gospel of Mary, “Only three fragmentary manuscripts are known to have survived into the modern period, two third-century fragments (P. Rylands 463 and P. Oxyrhynchus 3525) published in 1938 and 1983, and a longer fifth-century Coptic translation (Berolinensis Gnosticus 8052,1) published in 1955.”

King goes on to make these text-critical observations:

There are, moreover, some important variations between the Greek and Coptic manuscripts. The translation which follows gives preference to the Greek fragments over the Coptic because they are earlier and are written in the original language of the text, and also because the Coptic variants reflect theological tendencies that arguably belong to a later time. For example, the Greek fragments seem to presume that the leadership of Mary Magdalene as a woman is not under debate; only her teaching is challenged. Changes in the Coptic version, however, point toward a situation in which women’s leadership as such is being challenged and requires defense. The changes in the text may reflect the historical exclusion of women from their earlier leadership roles in Christian communities.

King states that the theology of the Gospel of Mary is as follows:

. . . the Gospel of Mary communicates a vision that the world is passing away, not toward a new creation or a new world order, but toward the dissolution of an illusory chaos of suffering, death, and illegitimate domination. The Savior has come so that each soul might discover its own true spiritual nature, its “root” in the Good, and return to the place of eternal rest beyond the constraints of time, matter, and false morality.

The Gospel of Mary exalts Mary Magdalene over the male disciples of Jesus. The Gospel of Mary provides important information about the role of women in the early church.

In her introduction in The Nag Hammadi Library, Karen King makes these observations:

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. The Gospel of Mary attacks both of these positions head-on through its portrayal of Mary Magdalene. She is the Savior’s beloved, possessed of knowledge and teaching superior to that of the public apostolic tradition. Her superiority is based on vision and private revelation and is demonstrated in her capacity to strengthen the wavering disciples and turn them toward the Good.

The terminus ad quem is set by the third century manuscripts that attest to the Gospel of Mary. The use of the term Savior for Jesus and the Gnostic theology in the Gospel of Mary suggest a dating in the second century.


16 posted on 03/29/2008 9:41:09 PM PDT by Between the Lines (I am very cognizant of my fallibility, sinfulness, and other limitations.)
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To: hanfei; darkwing104; Old Sarge; Darksheare

Come and get it!


17 posted on 03/29/2008 9:43:01 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: Salvation

One persons heresies are another persons jokes.


18 posted on 03/29/2008 10:48:09 PM PDT by Invincibly Ignorant
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To: hanfei
There’s nothing wrong with the catholicos gospels;

Are you implying that this is considered a canonical gospel by the Catholic Church?

If so, you a terribly mistaken. The Church rejected this, and the other works shown on the site you pulled this from, many, many moons ago.

19 posted on 03/30/2008 12:26:17 AM PDT by TotusTuus (Christos Voskrese!)
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To: Invincibly Ignorant

What does that mean? Catholics and the Orthodox are as opposite from the Gnostic heresy as one can get. Only some of the Protestant groups approach it, and even they do so only to a small degree (though one can argue that Mormons are pretty much modern Gnostics, but they aren’t even Protestants I would argue).


20 posted on 03/30/2008 1:23:12 AM PDT by beachdweller
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