Collected together for the first time are the original Gospel of Mary, one of the "Gnostic Gospels," and three other secret texts that reveal the significant role Mary Magdalene played in Jesus' inner circle of disciples.

This is a new translation of the Gospel of Mary, as well as Meyer's translations of significant portions of other Gnostic gospels and texts in which Mary Magdalene plays a major part, including the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Thomas, Dialogues with the Saviour, and Pistis Sophia. Also included are the passages in the New Testament Gospels that feature Mary Magdalene, and they can now be read in a whole new light. Cumulatively, these texts reveal a vibrant oral tradition in which Mary Magdalene is not only a follower of Jesus but his companion and closest disciple.

The book will include lively historical introduction by Meyer, and an interpretive essay by Karen King at Harvard Divinity School, the foremost expert on the Gospel of Mary, whose translation and commentary on the Gospel of Mary is being published by an academic press in October '03.

The Gospels of Mary

HarperSanFrancisco

The Gospels of Mark, Matthew,
Luke, John, and Peter

The Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John are the four NewTestament Gospels, and the Gospel of Peter is a related fragmentaryGospel. All five Gospels were apparently composed duringthe last decades of the first century C.E. Among the New TestamentGospels, it is generally assumed that the Gospel of Markwas written first, around 70 C.E., and that the Gospels of Matthewand Luke were written a decade or two later and made use of aversion of the Gospel of Mark as one of their major literarysources, along with the sayings source Q, a source similar to theGospel of Thomas. The Gospel of John was written around 90 C.E.,and it differs rather substantially from the Gospels of Mark,Matthew, and Luke. Nonetheless, there are points of connectionbetween Mark and John in particular, and all four New TestamentGospels narrate a story of Jesus that emphasizes the crucifixionand its aftermath. So does the Gospel of Peter, which also announcesthe good news -- the gospel -- of the cross.

Mary Magdalene figures rather significantly in the New TestamentGospels and the Gospel of Peter. In Luke 8 (and the longerending of the Gospel of Mark) she is said to be one of the womenwhom Jesus restored to social, mental, or spiritual health, and it isreported that he cast seven demons from her. There she is in thecompany of other women who are followers of Jesus, and Lukedepicts Mary Magdalene and friends as independent women whotravel with Jesus and provide support for the Jesus movement.Mark 15:40?41, written prior to Luke, uses different language andmay allude to the women as disciples.

In all the New Testament Gospels it is said that Mary Magdaleneis present at the cross and at the tomb of Jesus. In Luke thereis only the general statement, in the context of the crucifixionaccount, that the acquaintances of Jesus and the women fromGalilee were standing at a distance. Mary Magdalene's prominenceis highlighted by the fact that ordinarily she is mentionedfirst in lists of women around Jesus. John 19:25 is an exception tothis pattern, and two or three women are referred to ahead ofMary, but these women seem to be relatives of Jesus. Accordingto Mark 15 and Matthew 27, Mary Magdalene and anotherwoman named Mary saw the burial place of Jesus (again Lukegives a more general statement). It is maintained in all fivegospels -- Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, and Peter -- that Mary Magdalene,often in the company of other women (though not inJohn), comes early on Sunday morning to the tomb of Jesus. InMark 16 Mary and the women see a youth in the tomb; inMatthew 28 they are frightened by an apocalyptic angel; in Luke24 they are greeted by two men in dazzling clothes.

The very first of all the followers of Jesus to experience therisen Christ, according to Mark 16 (the longer ending) and John20, is Mary Magdalene. According to Matthew 28, Mary Magdaleneand "the other Mary" share the experience. In John 20 the account of the encounter between Mary and Jesus is emotionaland the exchange of words is tender. Jesus' command that Marynot touch him has sparked a goodly amount of discussion, withseveral possible interpretations. This command may show the concernof Jesus (and the author of the Gospel) with the uncleannature of Jesus' body, since he died so recently, or with Jesus' needto return to the father, or with matters having to do with sexuality.

The scene in the Gospel of John seems to express such intimacythat it may recall the description of a woman seeking herlover in Song of Songs 3:1?5:

Night after night on my bed
I dreamed of my lover.
I was looking for him
but could not find him.
"So I shall rise and wander through the city,
down streets and through markets.
I shall look for my lover."
I looked but could not find him.
The watchmen came upon me
as they patrolled the city.
I asked, Have you seen my lover?
No sooner had I left them
than I found my lover.
I held him, I would not let him go,
till I brought him to my mother's house,
to the chamber of her who conceived me.

Promise me, daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and swift deer of the field,
that you will not arouse, will not awaken my love,
until love is ready.

The selections from Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, and Petertranslated here feature texts that specifically and unequivocallyconcern Mary Magdalene. Other texts that portray the unnamedwoman who is said to be a woman of sin and who washes Jesus'feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, kisses them, andanoints them with perfume (Luke 7:36?50), an unnamed womanwho anoints Jesus at Bethany (Mark 14:1?9), and Mary ofBethany (Luke 10:38?42; John 11:1?5, 17?20, 28?35; 12:1?8)are also included as additional stories about women aroundJesus. These stories may be related to each other in some way, butthey are not about Mary Magdalene. Some interpreters, however,have attempted to link these unnamed women and Mary ofBethany to Mary Magdalene, and for that reason these texts arealso presented here, though they are placed separately after theselections on Mary Magdalene. The selections from the Gospelsof Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, and Peter are given one afteranother in a series of translations. They should not be harmonizedinto a single account; their differences reflect the differing perspectivesof the several authors.

Excerpted from The Gospels of Maryby Meyer, Marvin Excerpted by permission.
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