What Is the Gospel of Mary Magdalene?

Q: My daughter has been really into a book called Mary Magdalene Revealed, which claims that an early church writing called the Gospel of Mary should be in the New Testament and is important for Christians today. Is the Gospel of Mary legitimate?

A: The Gospel of Mary, sometimes known as the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, is a Gnostic writing from the mid-second century at the earliest. It wasn't discovered until late in the 19th century, and only three copies of it exist in any form at all. It's not mentioned in any early church writings, and it was almost certainly an obscure niche writing meant to take the teachings of Gnosticism and put them in the mouth of Jesus and his disciples. This all happened well more than a hundred years after Jesus lived, died, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven.

Some people are talking about the Gospel of Mary because of a popular book from 2019 written by Megan Wat, titled Mary Magdalene Revealed, The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel, and the Christianity We Haven't Tried Yet. The book claims that the Gospel of Mary is as ancient and authentic as any of the gospels in the Christian Bible, but that is not true. It was not buried deep in the Egyptian desert after an edict was sent out in the 4th century to have all copies destroyed. The only gospel that was written in the name of a woman is not the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, and it does not reveal a radical love at the heart of the Christian story.

Let me give my evaluation of this. First of all, there is hardly anything in the only known copies of the text. Ten entire pages are missing, including the first six pages. The Gospel of Mary is only about 1,400 words in one translation, which is about 6% of the content of the longest gospel, Luke, and only about 10% of the content of the shortest gospel, Mark. There just isn't much there.

Secondly, we don't know for sure which Mary the writing refers to. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene would better be titled the Gospel of Mary, as the Mary mentioned is not specified as Mary Magdalene. There are several Marys in the New Testament, and it could refer to any one of them.

Thirdly, there is no evidence that anyone tried to destroy or suppress the Gospel of Mary. It is never mentioned in any early church writing. The leaders of early Christianity didn't know about it and didn't care about it.

Fourthly, the Gospel of Mary does not say that Jesus made Mary the leader of the church. Even in the 1,100 words that we have, it doesn't say that. Fifthly, it does not say that Jesus and Mary were in any kind of romantic relationship. Sixthly, the Gospel of Mary was not written by Mary Magdalene or any other Mary found in the New Testament.

Seventhly, the Gospel of Mary is fake Gnostic propaganda. It is not scripture. It is a Gnostic tract containing secret visions and teachings on the soul's ascent. The Jesus of Gnosticism is not the same Jesus of the New Testament. The Gnostics wanted to make a mascot of Jesus, but in doing so, they couldn't help but honor him.

Lastly, the Gospel of Mary is Gnostic nonsense. It is not biblical truth. The best way to refute these Gnostic apocryphal works is to read them and compare them with the 27 books of the New Testament. The difference is like night and day. The benefit we get from the Gospel of Mary and similar Gnostic writings is to know what heresies were present, evaluated, and rejected in the early church.