The Lost Books of the Bible: The Great Rejected Texts

by Joseph B. Lumpkin

  As we see in the following statement, the doctrine was not formally accepted until 1854 A.D.

  “The Most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

  Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854)

  The evolution of the status of Mary the Mother of Jesus has taken eighteen-hundred years to become what it is today. The status of Mary Magdalene was likely established within the Gnostic communities by 400 A.D.

  Gnostic texts often used sex as a metaphor for spiritual union and release. Since the Godhead itself had both a masculine element of the Supreme God, who is the Father, and a feminine element of Sophia, sexual terms are used freely. The sexual metaphor was expanded in the story of the Supreme God giving rise to Sophia as he spewed forth the essence of everything. According to some sects Sophia became the creator or divine mother of both angels and lesser Gods, including the creator of the material world, the Demiurge.

  Sexual duality found in Gnosticism, along with the concept of the sacred feminine seen in the Sophia myth, allowed for more reverence and acceptance of women in the Gnostic worship. Owing to this, the concept that Mary Magdalene was somehow special to Jesus, as is reported in the Gospel of Philip, or that he may have shared spiritual concepts with her that were unknown to the male apostles, as told in the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, is not so difficult to comprehend.

  The parallel between Sophia and Mary Magdalene cannot be overstated. Sophia was the handmaiden of the Supreme God, carrying the life force, which was the emanation of God. She carried the truth within her, which she offered to Adam. The truth was offered up to set him free. Mary was the consort of Jesus, carrying the imparted knowledge and possibly his life force in the form of a child. She revealed to the apostles the truth Jesus personally and intimately gave to her alone. We will see this stated clearly in The Gospel of Mary Magdalene later in this book.

  The mythos of Gnosticism’s sacred feminine force comes full circle in the person of Mary Magdalene. From God to Sophia; from Sophia to the man Adam; from the second Adam, who is Christ Jesus, to Mary Magdalene, who offered up that which was given her to mankind; the circle of knowledge and life was complete once again.

  Points of Logic, Faith, and Sex

  Man’s inability to understand the divine is eclipsed only by his inadequacy to accurately articulate what his feeble mind has so tenuously grasped. Each time man desires to “tinker” with theology in order to make that which is spiritual reasonable and logical to the carnal mind, more problems are raised than solved.

  When the Gnostics began to entertain the idea of the man Jesus being the vessel and host of the Holy Spirit they broke from their first basic tenet of faith: that which states that the spiritual world could not co-mingled, with the material world. As Gnostic theology developed, lines blurred and softened to a point where it was realized that if man was a triune being of body, soul, and spirit there must be a level of interface between the two worlds. At this point it was decided that only the Supreme God was too holy and pure to interact with the material world. This left open the possibility for the man Jesus to carry the Holy Spirit.

  But wait… isn’t God and the Holy Spirit the same? They must not be for this belief to work. If they were the same then the symbiotic relationship of Jesus the man and the Holy Spirit of the Supreme God would not have allowed itself to have a relationship with Mary Magdalene.

  Even though Jesus was considered the highest earthly creation, he was still not the equal of God.

  Yet, according to theology being proclaimed by the established churches, the Holy Spirit was not only equal to God but the essentially the same as God. This presented a point of illogic in the Gnostic theology. This was solved by some Gnostic slight of hand. Since the Holy Spirit was a feminine force, it was not actually God, but was the spouse of the Supreme God. This set the stage for further parallels between Sophia and the Holy Spirit.

  Rising to another level of the Sacred Feminine, it becomes the female part of the Godhead that empowered Jesus. The mother of the Godhead becomes the Christ Spirit that saves and leads mankind.

  Later, as the Catholic Church struggled to make sense of their own female redeemer, they began to elevate Mother Mary by announcing the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, so errors in logic were exposed. If Mother Mary was conceived without sin in order to carry Jesus, who was conceived without sin, one must ask why it wasn’t necessary for the mother of Mary to also be conceived without sin. This logic continues backward ad infinitum until Eve herself and all female offspring must be sinless. Of course, the church flatly refuses this line of reasoning, saying only that certain things must be taken on faith. This is the same tact taken regarding the “Ever-Virginity” of Mother Mary, even in the face of scriptures proclaiming that the mother, sister, and brothers of Jesus had come to have audience with him.

  It was the Greek Orthodox church that already had the answer to this dilemma. Original sin is not in their doctrine. They state only that humans are born with a predisposition toward sinning. This makes null the problem of sinless birth from the beginning.

  Even though the theological events of doctrine concerning Mother Mary occurred over time, they serve as an undeniable pattern of the Catholic Church as it endeavored to “purify” women and rid them of sexuality.

  It was the Gnostics that continued to increase the sexuality, power, and place of women in the schema of their faith.

  The sexual metaphors used in the Gnostic texts have fanned the flames of great controversy and speculation. It has been widely accepted that societal norms of the time dictated that Jewish men were to be married by the age of thirty. This certainly applied to Rabbis, since marriage and procreation were considered divine commands. Jesus is referred to by the title of Rabbi in the Bible. It has been noted that his marital status would have placed him into a very small minority in the culture at the time, being a male over 30 years of age and unmarried. Thus, some Gnostic followers use this observation to bolster the idea Jesus was married. This idea was held by those who thought that Jesus, the man, was the vehicle for the Christ spirit.

  For other Gnostics who believed Jesus to be an illusion placed on us by the Christ spirit while he was on earth, the idea of a spiritual illusion mingling with flesh was out of the question.

  Most Gnostics held to the idea of the duality of sexes playing out in multiple layers. The feminine force of Sophia becomes the feminine force of the Holy Spirit and is made the bride of God. The sexual duality continues when the feminine force of the Holy Spirit inhabits the perfect man, Jesus, making him the messiah. The sexual context is ripe for the story to be continued in the persons of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, physically shadowing the spiritual relationship of the Holy Spirit and the Supreme God as well as Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

  The concept of a married Jesus is revealed in several verses of The Gospel of Philip such verse 118.

  There is the Son of Man and there is the son of the son of Man. The Lord is the Son of Man, and his son creates through him. God gave the Son of Man the power to create; he also gave him the ability to have children. Gospel of Philip

  If one were to examine the writings of Solomon, the play on words between the sexual and the spiritual aspects can be seen clearly. The Gnostics simply expanded on the theme.

  Song of Solomon 1 (King James Version)

  1 The song of songs, which is Solomon's.

  2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

  3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

  4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine:

  Song of Solomon 2

  16 My beloved is mine, and I am
his: he feedeth among the lilies.

  17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

  Song of Solomon 3

  1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

  2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not…

  Song of Solomon 5

  1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

  2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.

  3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?

  4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

  5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

  Song of Solomon 7

  1 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.

  2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.

  3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.

  Due to the inherent dualism of Gnosticism, sex was a symbol, and, at times, a portal to a mystical experience. Many religions are replete with sexual allegories, as is Gnosticism. Proceeding from the two points of sexual metaphor in Gnostic literature and the likelihood of marriage among the population of Jewish men, controversy arose when speculation began as to whether Jesus could have married. The flames of argument roared into inferno proportions when the translation of the books of Philip and Mary Magdalene were published.

  And the companion (Consort) was Mary of Magdala (Mary Magdalene). The Lord loved Mary more than all the other disciples and he kissed her often on her mouth (the text is missing here and the word “mouth” is assumed). The others saw his love for Mary and asked him: “Why do you love her more than all of us?” The Savior replied, “Why do I not love you in the same way I love her?”

  The Gospel of Philip

  Peter said to Mary; “Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than all other women. Tell us the words of the Savior that you remember and know, but we have not heard and do not know. Mary answered him and said; “I will tell you what He hid from you.”

  The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

  Seizing on the texts above, writers of both fiction and non-fiction allowed their pens to run freely amidst conjecture and speculation of marriage and children between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

  The writers of The Da Vinci Code and Holy Blood, Holy Grail took these passages and expanded them into storylines that have held readers captive with anticipation.

  Did Jesus take Mary to be his wife? Could the couple have produced children? Gnostic theology leaves open the possibility.

  As we step into the Gospel of Philip we encounter pure Gnostic ritual. The most sacred of all Gnostic rituals is contained in the metaphor of the duality of man and God seeking unity. With this in mind, the Lord established five sacraments: baptism, anointing, the Eucharist, redemption, and the Bridal-Chamber.

  Whether the sacrament of the Bridal-Chamber was a ritual enacted by a man and woman, or strictly an allegory we may never know. All we know is that the concept of the Bridal-Chamber, where two become one, dualities merge into unity, and man finally unites with the truth within himself and finds the Supreme God is a recurring and central theme and experience of Gnosticism. Accordingly, the Gnostic Jesus would have likely been married as he led others by example.

  Why, out of all the women in his life and travels, did he choose Mary of Magdala? Who was she? What made her special? Let us examine the evidence.

  Who Was Mary Magdalene?

  The Gospel of Philip shines light on a special connection between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Philip calls Mary the Lord’s “companion,” a word that can mean “wife.” But, who was this Mary, the Magdalene?

  As was customary in Biblical times, the last name of the person was connected to his or her place of ancestry. This is evidenced in the fact that Jesus was called, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Mary came from a town called Magdala, which was 120 miles north of Jerusalem on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Magdala Tarichaea may have been the full name of the town. Magdala means tower, and Tarichaea means salted fish. The little village had the optimistic name of “The Tower of Salted Fish.” The main business of the area was fishing, and there is a good chance that Mary worked in the fish markets, or actually owned a business selling fish. Magdala, it seems, was a prosperous fishing village with a reputation as a licentious city. Mary Magdalene apparently had money since Luke says that she ministered to Jesus out of her “substance.”

  The Jewish text, “Lamentations Raba,” mentions a town called “Magdala,” and says Magdala was judged by God and destroyed because of its fornication. This could explain western Christianity’s assumption that Mary Magdalene was the prostitute caught in adultery and presented to Jesus.

  In fact, we have linked Mary Magdalene with many of the women in the New Testament who were redeemed or forgiven. This is a powerful and rich myth that resonates with both men and women who have fallen from grace and seek redemption. However, the Bible never says that Mary Magdalene was ever a prostitute.

  Luke does not name her as the woman who washes the feet of Jesus with her hair.

  Luke 7 (King James Version)

  36 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.

  37 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,

  38 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.

  39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

  40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

  41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.

  42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

  43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

  44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

  45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

  46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

  47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

  48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

  49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

  50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

  There is never a name given to the woman caught in the act of adultery.

  John 8 (King James Version)

  1Jesus went unto the mou
nt of Olives.

  2And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

  3And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

  4They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

  5Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

  6This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

  7So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

  8And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

  9And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

  10When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

  11She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

  12Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

  The only clear history we have is a single statement that it was Mary who was once demon-possessed.

  Luke 8 (King James Version)