Scholarly Smackdown: Were Mary Magdalene and Jesus Married?

Continued from page 1

(3) If Mary was married to Jesus, why is she identified the way she is, as Mary of Magdala? All of the Marys of the New Testament are given some kind of qualifying description to differentiate them from one another. Mary was such a common name and peasants didn't have last names. We have Mary "the mother of Jesus," Mary "who came from Bethany," and Mary "who came from Magdala," for example. Each Mary is identified by the distinguishing feature that makes her stand out from the others. Now, if this particular Mary was in fact married to Jesus as his lifelong spouse and lover, couldn't you imagine some way to identify her more distinctively from the others, other than the fact that she came from a fishing village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee?

(4) The early Christian writers have no trouble mentioning Jesus' other relatives: his mother Mary, his father Joseph, four of his brothers by name, his sisters. All of these are mentioned in the New Testament Gospels. If Jesus was married, why would his spouse not be mentioned as such? In short, as exciting and titillating as it is to imagine that Jesus was married, and even married with children, there are compelling reasons for thinking that he was not married--at least, not married to Mary Magdalene. Anyone who thinks that he was married needs to provide some evidence; something more than wild, intriguing, captivating speculations with no historical basis. Sometimes, historical fact simply isn't as juicy as modern fiction.

Having said that, I don't want to minimize the importance of Mary Magdalene. According to some of our traditions, she and other women saw Jesus get crucified, saw where he was buried, and on the third day, were the ones who found his tomb empty. In some of the later traditions (not our earliest ones), Mary Magdalene was the first to declare that Jesus was raised from the dead. If this tradition is historical, one could argue that Mary, in fact, started Christianity! That's about as important as a person can be. But, it does not mean that she was Jesus' lover and had his children. That's a different question. And for that, we need historical evidence which, regrettably, is completely lacking.

I look forward to your response.

From: Barbara Thiering
To: Bart Ehrman
Date: May 11, 2006

Dear Dr. Ehrman,

Thanks for opening up the discussion so cogently. May I reply on each point by saying that the available evidence needs to be taken more fully into account?

Your first point is that there is no evidence that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. My reply is that students of both the Bible and the Gnostic gospels would not agree. There is good evidence, and in the case of the Bible, it has always been there.

In the "Gospel of Philip" (found in the Gnostic codices at Nag Hammadi), these words are clearly readable, in spite of the holes in the manuscript: "There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion." Later on in the same document we read: "And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene [...loved ] her more than [all] the disciples [and used to] kiss her [often] on her [...]. The rest of [the disciples...] said to him, 'Why do you love her more than all of us?' The savior answered and said to them, 'Why do I not love you like her?'"

The significance of this passage has been weakened by some scholars' assigning an unlikely late date to the "Gospel of Philip," insisting that it was composed after 250 CE. But, the very words of the "Gospel of Philip" show that it was written before 70 CE when there was still "Hebrews"--Jews who had recently become Christians. The earlier a document is, the more likely it is to be historical.

Continued on page 3: John 12:3 delicately alludes to the wedding of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. »