To round out this brief thread of Gospels connected with Mary Magdalene, I’ve decided to repost something from a few years ago that almost no one outside of the small pond of early Christian studies knows about, a book called “The Greater Questions of Mary” (i.e., of Mary Magdalene).
Trigger warning: sexual content!
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“… as opposed to Epiphanius’s fertile imagination……”
Pun intended?
🙂
What do you think The Lesser Questions of Mary was about?
Also, what word is translated “forged” here? And does it relate to some of your scholarship on ancient perceptions of forgery?
It was presumably about far less stunning events…
Yes, the word does not mean “forged” in terms of a false authorial claim; it means “fabrication”
I was watching one of your videos last night about the difference in the teachings of Paul and Jesus as it pertains to salvation. Paul teaches atonement and Jesus teaches forgiveness. In light of that, how do you explain Mark 10:45, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” and Matthew 26:28 “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Yes, you make an important point. If Jesus said these things he did believe in atonement (and his death as what would bring it).
The biggest challenge for scholars of the historical Jesus involves determining which of the things he says in the Gospels were things he actually said and which are put on his lips by later story tellers (including the Gospel writers themselves). That has to be decided on case to case basis.
My view is that sayings of Jesus that explicitly rule out the need of atonement cannot be explained as coming from later story tellers after his death, since his earliest followers all believed in his atoning death, so far as we can tell. THe sayings of Jesus that do affirm atonement (and therefore negate his teachings that it was not necessary) can easily be attributed to later story tellers putting their views on Jesus’ lips. Hope that makes sense…