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EKD expert answers the question about Mary Magdalene – A dilemma

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Who was Mary Magdalene and what role did she play according to the Gospel? An interested reader just wanted to know where this figure appears in the Bible. An “expert” from the Protestant Church responded. The dilemma: the answer went far beyond the question.

Where can Mary Magdalene be found?

An interested reader turned to the “experts” at the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and wanted to know in which Bible passages Mary Magdalene appears. This was an uncomplicated and simple question.

The corresponding answer from the “EKD expert” via the EKD’s media mouthpiece shows the cover image of one of the Catholic or Coptic variants of an image of Jesus with a halo (“sun disk”) behind his head and the same for the woman who is holds Jesus who died by crucifixion (Source).

The mentioned Bible passages

The “expert” knows the answer in relation to the passages that appear in the Bible that describe or mention Mary Magdalene (or Mary of Magdala). These positions are:

Matthew 27:56:
Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.
Parallel passages to this event at the crucifixion of Jesus are: Mark 15:40, Luke 23:49 and John 27:61.

Matthew 27:61:
And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.
Parallel passages to the event of the burial of Jesus Christ are Mark 15:47 and Luke 23:55.

Matthew 28:1:
“In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.”
Parallel passages to the scene of the empty tomb are Mark 25:47, Luke 24:1 and, specifically emphasized here, John 20:1:
“AThe first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.”
Above all, this verse contradicts the widespread thesis that Jesus Christ was “resurrected on Sunday shortly after sunrise.” This claim would be refuted with this verse.

Other Bible passages in which Mary Magdalene is mentioned are Mark 16:9, Luke 24:10 and Luke 8:2.

Beyond the question

This would answer the question and one would wish that the “expert” had concluded his answer with this. But far from it. He takes out:

The “expert” speculates that Mary Magdalene was a member of Jesus’ followers at an early stage, as far back as Galilee. The reason for this assumption can be found in Acts 1:14:
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
This describes the scene after Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, the apostles returned to Jerusalem and gathered in a building there. A connection with the point in time from which Mary Magdalene went with Jesus Christ cannot be derived here.

A serious inaccuracy

Stupid sheep
An attempt at misrepresentation

It is absolutely correct to point out that the woman who visited Jesus Christ according to Luke 7:37 was not Mary Magdalene. This woman is mentioned here as a sinner. However, and this is very striking, the “expert” at this point describes a woman who washed the feet of Jesus Christ. That’s wrong. She brought a bottle of anointing oil to anoint the feet of Jesus Christ. Luke 7:36-38:
And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

The aspect of washing the feet is completely different than the aspect of anointing the feet. Each has an important but separate meaning. Washing the feet means the forgiveness of one’s neighbor’s offenses. The anointing is a homage. In doing so, this woman, a sinner, forgave Jesus’ transgressions (blasphemy). Since this “inaccuracy” can also be heard from other mouths and read again and again, one can already speak of “well-practiced misleading”.

The fact that this woman is mistakenly associated with Mary Magdalene is also due to the erroneous theory that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. However, nowhere in the Bible is Mary associated with prostitution.

Mary Magdalene is underrated

However, the “expert” feels he belongs to those who want to eradicate the credibility of the Gospel, the written word of God. Equating Mary Magdalene with this “sinner” “could be a sign that she was a rather important disciple of Jesus whose importance was being downplayed,” said the “expert.” Mary Magdalene’s successor has already been located in the times of Galilee, the “expert” relies on further, “jump-from-the-hip” hypotheses. This “EKD expert” doesn’t go beyond the subjunctive and imaginary actors. The Protestant “expert” also provides the reason for this himself.

A signpost into the thicket

The “expert” can think of nothing better than to use apocrypha and Gnostic writings to attribute a supposedly far more important role to Mary Magdalene than the canonical gospel can. The writings Gospel according to Mary, Sophia of Jesus Christ, Gospel according to Philip, Pistis Sophia and Gospel according to Thomas were used for this purpose.

These writings therefore reported conflicts between Mary Magdalene and Peter. And again the “expert” comes up with an “ex temporal” hypothesis in the subjunctive, using this circumstance as possible evidence of Mary’s exclusion from the “prevailing Christian tradition” to the point where Mary Magdalene was turned into a prostitute have been.

Mary Magdalene – beloved of Jesus?

If the “expert” were even remotely accurate, he would have written about a “predominant Catholic tradition.” But that doesn’t seem to be his intention at all. On the contrary. Rather, the “expert” is interested in leading the interested questioner into the hopeless thicket using something much worse than just dubious writings. He even adds one more. Because these writings demonstrated “the tendency” that Mary Magdalene was a lover or partner of Jesus. This would already provide the motive to weaken Mary Magdalene’s importance as a disciple. Here too, the “expert” clings to the rhetorical lifeline of the aforementioned assumption.

Maria actually shows up early

Bible Gospel
Bible – The answers are there

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. He then fasted in the desert for 40 days. The very next step was His first work in Galilee. Galilee is an area in northern Israel. In the north of Galilee is the border with Lebanon and in the south is the city of Nazareth.

Luke chapter 7 describes how Jesus Christ worked in Capernaum. Mary Magdalene is first mentioned in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 8, verse 2 (for context also verse 1):
And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,

Based on this passage, it can be assumed that Mary Magdalene had been part of Jesus Christ’s followers since Galilee.

The fonts recommended by the “expert”.

Script
As if there had been no fantasists and forgers in the past

The “EKD media representative” recommends a whole series of non-biblical writings to interested readers. The “expert” obviously considers the statements contained therein to be important, because with them he justifies the high probability of a love relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. But these writings quite rightly did not make it into the canon of today’s Bible. In some cases, this would not have been possible at an early stage, but only from the middle of the 20th century.


Gnosticism – Gospel of Mary

The book “Gospel of Mary” recommended by the “expert” is Gnostic philosophy mixed with the plots of the accounts in the four Gospels. This writing is dated back to around 150 AD. It is obvious that Mary Magdalene could not have been the author who traveled with Jesus Christ from around 27 AD. The “Gospel of Mary” uses the Greek alphabet, but the language is in Sahidic, a Coptic dialect.

Gnosticism – Gospel of Philip

The “Gospel of Philip” is an excerpt from the Second Code of Nag Hammadi Writings. First appeared after a discovery in 1945. The period in which it was written is now considered to be the 1st to 4th century AD. Furthermore, it seems like an exaggeration to speak of a gospel, since the content is like a series of sayings. So similar to the daily sayings of a demolition calendar.

Gnosticism – Gospel of Thomas

Similar to the lines supposedly written by Philip, the “Gospel of Thomas” is also part of the Nag Hammadi writings, which were only found in 1945. The structure also resembles more of a collection of “clever” sayings than a gospel with the message of God.

Gnosticism – Sophia of Jesus Christ

The writing “Sophia Jesu Christi” (Sophia – Wisdom) recommended by the “expert” is an excerpt from Nag-Hammadi. The content of this work deals with a revision of the Epistle to Eugnostos. The author, whoever he may have been, added Christian aspects and transformed the letter into a dialogue between Jesus Christ and his disciples.

Gnosticism – Pistis Sophia

In fact, “Pistis Sophia” is one of the most important writings. Not for Christianity, however, but for Coptic Gnostics. Here too, Jesus Christ is portrayed as a teacher of “wise rules” which he imparts to his disciples. Pistis Sophia’s “career” is exciting.

This font is based on the Codex Askewianus, according to the British book collector Anthony Askew. Formulated at the end of the 18th century. The inventor of the name Pistis Sophia was Carl Gottfried Woide (1725-1790). Woide named the Christian Gnostic teacher Valentinus as the author of this ancient writing. He was born around 100 AD near Alexandria, lived and taught in Egypt and eventually traveled to Rome. There he worked as a theological teacher with the permission of the Bishop of Rome, Anicetus. Finally he moved to Cyprus and died in the year 170.

“Theological illogic”

The expert recommendation concerns writings that were only discovered in 1945. According to his philosophy, these should at least have the same value as the writings contained in the Bible. The question arose here as to whether God is not able to preserve the word he gave to humanity and also make this truth accessible “in a timely manner”? For centuries the Roman Catholic Church blocked people from the truth of the gospel. It was only with the Reformation and the subsequent Bible translations, and also thanks to printing, that the Bible was widely distributed for the first time. It was also relatively inexpensive compared to the immensely expensive hand copies of earlier times.

If one followed the logic of this “expert”, then God took a lot of time to give people the “whole truth” because the discovery only took place in 1945. This strangeness also applies to the ominous Textus Sinaiticus. Writings that were discovered by chance in a garbage can in a monastery at Mount Sinai in 1844. This text, of all things, is given preference in today’s equally ominous Bible editions according to the compilations by Nestle and Aland (Info).

Jesus Christ and a lover? In fact, this idea is not new. After all, Hollywood has taken up this topic and installed this relationship in one of the numerous Jesus films (e.g. “The Last Temptation of Christ”, 1988). Since Israel’s exodus from Egypt, an extramarital sexual relationship has been a taboo because it is a sin and has also been recorded in writing. The Gospel knows nothing about a wedding between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. Jesus Christ was without sin. Ergo: “nice try”, nonsense filed, topic closed.

Such answers are to be expected

Apostasy
Complete apostasy from the gospel

If one did not know about the rapid decline of Protestantism and the teachings of its “theologians” since the beginning of the 19th century, and the rapidly accelerated decline in the face of widespread spiritualism, one would immediately ask oneself what has gotten into this “expert”. . He seems to be completely abandoned by the “one good spirit”, otherwise he would not be able to tell such stories that are far from the gospel without a guilty conscience.

But since the exponentially accelerated decline of this church and its important representatives and mouthpieces is generally visible and therefore easy to recognize. The expectation of a response in accordance with the gospel would be a real surprise. Like the “expert” there are also many other “theologians”, especially with a professorship, who no longer have any faith at all. Zero, none of that.

Questioner very negligent

At this point another symptom also becomes visible. If the questioner actually exists and has asked this simple question – one can assume that much residual sincerity on the part of the EKD medium – then the interested party will have to put up with reproach.

Warum derartige “Experten” im Vertrauen von “Expertisen” anfragen und nicht die Bibel selbst in die Hand nehmen und danach suchen? Die Online-Bibeln (Suggestion) Why ask such “experts” in the trust of “expertise” and not take the Bible into your own hands and search for it? The online Bibles even have very convenient search functions. Simply enter “Mary” or “Magdalene” and the appropriate positions will be displayed. The question would then be answered completely and, above all, truthfully. This automatically opens up the context and understanding of it if you continue reading beyond the passages found.

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2 Thessalonians 2:10

EKD expert answers the question about Mary Magdalene – A dilemma
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