"Mary Magdalene by Lynn Picknett

Fascinating! I've not read "The Da Vinci Code, "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail or any of the spate of similar books, but I felt kind of drawn to read this and it's simultaneously turned some of my beliefs about Christianity on end and confirmed things I already suspected. It speaks of some of the things which will by now be pretty much common knowledge - the idea that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, had kids and all that kind of stuff - but most importantly, aside from all the presented evidence about this and similar theories, it speaks of the significance of the possibilities that the recovery of the Gnostic Gospels, etc, etc, suggest. More than a scientific exposition which sets out to prove that this happened and that happened, it takes you on a journey of possibilities and then summarises by saying, 'what if these things are true?' - what would this imply for the way the history of the world and Christianity has unfolded, unfolds and will unfold?

"Mary Magdalene presents evidence that Mary was not only not a prostitute, but Jesus' Apostle of Apostles - she may also have been married to him, was probably treated by him as at least his equal, and it is likely that she was a black, Egyptian, freethinking, intelligent, powerful and wise woman in her own right. Her image, however, has been so distorted by the (in particular Catholic) Christian church over the centuries, that we have been led to believe that the Christian way is and should be white, Euro-centric and male. If Mary had been revered or at least respected in the way she deserves to have been, how different would the world be now?

Anyway, I won't go further into the specific details now, except to say that this was an extremely interesting and thought-provoking book, and I certainly intend to seek further knowledge on the topics on which it touches. Definitely worth seeking - however... Christians beware!

*** pepsoid ***

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