Karen L. King (2) (1954–)

EL EVANGELIO DE MARÍA DE MAGDALA: JESÚS Y LA PRIMERA APÓSTOL

El Evangelio de María ha quedado prácticamente ignorado por el gran público. La primera redacción de este Evangelio, cuyo manuscrito se conserva desde 1896 en el Departamento de Egiptología de los Museos Nacionales de Berlín, dataría alrededor del año 150. Se trata pues, como los otros Evangelios, de uno de los textos fundadores o primitivos del cristianismo, atribuido a Miriam de Magdala, esa María Magdalena que fue el primer testigo de la Resurrección, la amiga íntima de Jesús y la “iniciada” que transmitió sus más sutiles enseñanzas.

Se dice que Jesús tuvo una seguidora que lo amó tanto como para tener el valor de asistir a su crucifixión, una seguidora a la que él amó tanto que la eligió para ser la primera en saber de su resurrección. Este personaje ha llegado hasta nosotros con una profesión y un nombre polémicos: María Magdalena, la prostituta. Sin embargo, la Iglesia Católica no duda en denominarla “Apóstola de Apóstoles”, aunque no reconoce como canónico el Evangelio de María Magdalena, un bellísimo texto gnóstico que nos propone un cristianismo como vía de conocimiento, un camino de regreso a nuestros verdaderos orígenes.

María Magdalena, la santa y sabia maestra del Santo Grial, a quien Cristo entregó su tesoro de los tesoros -la sangre mírrica-, difundíala atmósfera de la adoración. 'Amad a Cristo con todo vuestro ser. Adoradlo como yo lo adoro. Con esto es suficiente y todo lo demás se abrirá ante vosotros'. Este es el fundamento de la enseñanza de María Magdalena. En el albor de una nueva humanidad, la humanidad solar se ratifica, se revela la Sabiduría Divina. María Magdalena, la Madre de la civilización venidera, la Madre del Reino del Puro Amor en la Tierra, nos muestra el camino hacia el destino del alma: la divinización a través de la adoración al Cristo del Supremo Amor. Este no es un evangelio apócrifo. Es el Nuevo Evangelio Solar
¿Y si el despertar de la conciencia en nuestros días pasara por una sensibilidad más femenina? ¿Y si María Magdalena no hubiera sido la pecadora arrepentida de los textos oficiales? Hasta hace poco el gran público ignoraba que aquélla que parece cada vez más como la primera discípula de Cristo fue la inspiradora de un Evangelio.… (plus d'informations)

In Christian history, Jesus Christ gathered twelve people to his side to be his apostles and spread his beliefs throughout the world. According to The Bible, Judas Iscariot accepts payment of thirty silver coins from the Sanhedrin priests and agrees to point out Jesus to the local authorities so that he can be captured and tried for purporting to be the Son of God. Judas’s betrayal results in the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection as depicted later in the Gospels. The traditional telling of this matter is done by the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John--, but what if Judas himself got a say in the matter? In the 1970s, a papyrus codex was discovered near Beni Masah, Egypt which appears to be from Judas’s point of view. In Reading Judas, Elaine Pagels and Karen King tackle the new text to see if it can shed new light on old mythology.

There are a lot of things to learn from a shredded piece of paper from 1,700 years ago. First, Christianity was, is, and will always be an infinitely nuanced and an infinitely personal set of beliefs. Each iteration of the religion in each person begets a new system. In the Bible, each voice has a different Christianity, and in this new text, we hear the voice of the oft-reviled Judas Iscariot. The text is short, but packed with historical details, research, and annotations to the original document. It is a Coptic translation of a 2nd century Greek text, so things can definitely get lost through the years. Judas’s act, seen through Gnostic eyes, is one of love and loyalty, setting in motion the inevitable resurrection of his friend and the salvation of mankind.

Pagels’s and King’s text is nice and tight. They know that not everyone will be pleased to read about the “good” deeds of Judas Iscariot. Traditionalists will see this as a deliberate blurring of the lines between good and evil, but the codex is still a legitimate piece of history. Scholars can debate among themselves about the literal meanings of certain words and phrases, but they are more qualified than I in this matter. Overall, this was a very interesting book that illuminates a rather shady character in the Bible.… (plus d'informations)

Pretty good. She doesn't actually define Gnosticism, but rather delves into the history of the way it has been defined. Frequently, it's been defined in a way that serves prevailing opinions on religion, Christianity, Orientalism, and the practice of history. It seems that there never really was any single movement or religion that could go by the name "gnostic", just a collection of heresies that have very little in common.
She does indicate two main branches of gnostic thought, based largely on similarities of Nag Hammadi texts to what we are told various heretics believed - Sethian and Valentinian gnosticism. Seth here refers to the son of Adam, and the school of thought focuses on the joy of learning from all that wisdom has to offer, regardless of where it is to be found (note: crazy sex orgies don't seem to belong to this category). Valentinian refers to the teachings of Valentinus, who taught that there was a secret teaching revealed by Christ to those who seek and are initiated into the mysteries.
Mostly though the focus is on past scholars of Gnosticism, what they believed, how it influenced others, and how they may have gone wrong.
The last part of the book concerns historical methodology, particularly the methods she used in researching, evaluating, and writing this book. She acknowledges her debt to Foucault and Bourdieu, and how she differs from their methods.
4 stars on completion, mostly because I like the thoroughness and transparency of her method.… (plus d'informations)