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MARY MAGDALENE/DA VINCI CODE
In the lyrics to the 1971 Rock Opera "Jesus Christ
Superstar", Tim Rice intimated that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were far more
than just friends. Today, a runaway best-seller "The Da Vinci Code",
goes much further than the Rock Opera. Though I haven't read the book, I have
glanced at a few reviews and thumbed through an electronic copy of it on
Amazon.com. According to the critics, it is a well-written piece of fiction. I
underscore the word fiction. One editorial review describes it this way "A
murder in the silent after-hour halls of the Louvre museum reveals a sinister
plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since
the days of Christ." On page 244 of the book, the author, Dan Brown claims
that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. This assertion, just like the
intimation made by Rice in his Rock Opera is void of any valid biblical,
extra-biblical or historical evidence. Karen Leigh King, a Harvard professor
says, "there's no historical information whatsoever that either of them
was married, let alone to each other."
In his book, "Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code: A
Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and
Constantine", Bart D. Ehrman, chair of religious studies at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explores the issue by careful examination of
extra biblical and historical material and says, "This view that Jesus had
an especially close relationship with Mary has its ancient roots in some of our
second and third-century sources, such as the Gospels of Philip and
Mary...(though I should emphasize that even in these sources Jesus is never
said to be married to Mary...)."
—http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=jcs
—http://www.beliefnet.com/story/127/story_12776_1.html
—"Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code", p. 159.
Illustration by Jim L. Wilson
Beyond the speculation fostered by these works of fiction,
there are some things that we know for sure about Mary, namely that she was a
faithful follower of Jesus Christ who was with Him to the end.
John 19:25 (HCSB) "Standing by the cross of Jesus were
His mother, His mothers sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene."
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