The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

April 1, 2002
Interest in Mary Magdalene, the quasi-legendary woman of the Gospels who stood in an ambiguous relationship to Jesus, is booming just now. According to noncanonical sources, she was Jesus' wife, and probably not the prostitute with whom she is often conflated or confused. Among those unorthodox sources is one of the fragmentary early texts rejected by the church fathers and now called the gnostic gospels. Found in 1945 at Nag Hammadi in the Egyptian desert, it is a short but complex Coptic text that appears to render the voice of Mary Magdalene. This volume contains English translations of Leloup's French version of the original and Leloup's extensive commentary, which discloses the theology that inspired the lost gospel. Less dualistic and more woman-affirming than the canonical quartet, the Magdalene's gospel might be embraced by contemporary seekers, both Christian and non-Christian.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)