The Gospel of Mary Magdalene was rejected by the Roman Catholic Church and was not included in the King James Bible’s canonical Gospels in 325 AD. However, this alternative text, found in an ancient Egyptian jar in 1945, has become known as one of the valuable Gnostic Gospels. Gnostic comes from the Greek word gnosis, which means “in
ner knowing,” “self-acquaintance,” or “self-knowledge.” A group called Gnostics believed that Christ’s teachings could be found by searching within their own hearts and inner Being.
The Gnostic Gospel of Mary Magdalene shows us the deepest, most mysterious side of Christianity. This gnostic gospel begins with Page 7 since Pages 1 – 6 are missing.
It begins, “What is matter? Will it last forever? The Teacher Yeshua answered, ‘All that is born, all that is created, all the elements of nature are interwoven and united with each other. All that is composed shall be decomposed; everything returns to its roots; matter returns to the origins of matter. Those who have ears, let them hear.’
Peter said to him: ‘Since you have become the interpreter of the elements and the events of the world, tell us: What is the sin of the world?’
The Teacher Yeshua answered: ‘There is no sin. It is you who make sin exist, when you act according to the habits of your corrupted nature; this is where sin lies.
This is why the Good has come into your midst. It acts together with the elements of your nature so as to reunite it with its roots.’
Then he continued: ‘This is why you become sick, and why you die: it is the result of your actions; what you do takes you further away. Those who have ears, let them hear.”
The Commentary summarizes the statement about sin this way… ” ‘There is no sin, only sinners.’ Matter, the world, the body, are not sinful in and of themselves– yet it is possible to make bad use of them, and we are all more or less sinners to the degree that we do not know how to adjust or harmonize ourselves with the Real or the Good. (…the Being that is at the heart of all the impermanent, transitory phenomena of the world.)
Evil and sin arise from the blamer in ourselves. Instead of blaming evil on society and our parents, we must take all responsibility for what happens. The Teacher prefers us with our eyes open, away from this judgment. You are the result of your actions and attitudes, and it is only through them that you can be transformed and hope for a better life.”
This passage “invites us to live a life of glory, a life of love and consciousness, just as He did. This reunion with our roots is not a mere event in time, but an ever-renewed relation with the Source producing us in every instant. It is our ignorance that creates our distance from it, as ‘the result of your actions; what you do takes you further away.’ and this distance involves all sorts of sickness and suffering.
By an ever-new act of knowledge that is both beyond the known, beyond the mind and memories of which we are composed and by turning our consciousness from our externalized, objectified being toward our inner Being, we act from the deepest heart of our lack, from the intimate space of our desire of desires. This is the space where we receive the inspiration of the Teacher and His teaching.”
The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Jean-Yves Leloup, p. 44-56.
