Valentinian Gnosis: Jesus's Wife

Showing posts with label Jesus's Wife. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The Gospel of Jesus' Wife - tonight on Talk Gnosis

Tonight on Talk Gnosis: The Gospel of Jesus' Wife
9 pm Eastern Time

If you miss the live discussion, you can watch this and other videos on our YouTube channel.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Holy Blood, Holy Fraud

Holy Blood, Holy Fraud:

What happens when you mix a tourist trap, a pro-Nazi con artist, and a credulous public

With the emergence of the much-publicized "Gospel of Jesus' Wife" in the past week, it may be helpful to review some of the facts surrounding the Holy Blood Holy Grail/Da Vinci Code hoax.

For the record, as a Valentinian Christian I am favorably disposed towards the idea that Jesus was married, likely to Mary Magdalene. Unlike some other Gnostic schools, the Valentinians had a very favorable view of marriage; the Gospel of Philip says "Great is the mystery of marriage! For without it, the world would not exist", and refers to the Magdalene as the "companion" of Jesus, whom he used to kiss frequently.

And to be fair, Professor Karen L. King has made a point of distancing her find from the pseudo-histories and conspiracy theories found in HBHG and the Da Vinci Code. But with this story in the headlines, many will view it as a vindication of these tales, so I wanted to take the opportunity to re-post excerpts from a piece I wrote during the height of the the Da Vinci Code craze:

The "Priory of Sion"

The purported organization behind this hoax is the Priory of Sion (Prieuré de Sion), which was founded in 1956 by Pierre Athanase Marie Plantard, who was born in Paris in 1920, the son of a butler and a cook. The creation of the Priory followed earlier attempts by Plantard to create secret societies, which largely existed only in his head.

The Gospel of Jesus' Wife?

Great is the mystery of marriage! For without it, the world would not exist."

- The Gospel of Philip

By now, you're sure to have seen the news about a tiny piece of papyrus, about the size of a business card, that may mention a wife of Jesus. In case you haven't, here is the NY Times piece: A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus’ Wife. Some folks have already made up their minds, and April DeConick hints that if you're not sure, then you're probably a mean old misogynist. Others still have concerns.

To me, it has always made sense that Jesus was married, and it seems like Ms. Magdalene is a pretty good candidate for the position. The Gospel of Philip refers to her as Jesus' companion, and says that they did a lot of smooching.

Valentinians have a really positive view of marriage, unlike some other Gnostic schools of thought. The "mystery of marriage" is seen as an echo of the syzygies in the Pleroma, the male-female pairs of Aeons, seen here:

* But it still is not time to dust off your copy of HBHG.

Here is a draft of Karen L. King's article about the gospel papyrus, and below are images of the papyrus and translations, from the Harvard Divinity School website: