The final episode of CNN’s “Finding Jesus” is all about Mary Magdalene and does a fine job once again with the dramatic re-enactments. But once again the writers give far too much credence to ancient manuscripts that are not written by whom they claim. If one cannot trust the author’s identity, then how can one trust anything the author has to say? Certainly they serve another agenda besides the truth. And what do they offer in place of the truth? A very different gospel story, one that distorts Jesus beyond recognition.

They once again turn to the Lost Gospel of Thomas, which we’ve discussed before as not having been written by Thomas or even close to the time the events took place. They also quote the Gospel of Phillip, which was written 200 years later and certainly not by Philip the Evangelist. To their credit CNN does mention the late date of authorship and that these “other gospels” are not authoritative in the Christian tradition, but they do a poor job of explaining why.

The teachings of these later writings are antithetical to the Bible and fall in line with Gnostic teachings. The Gnostics taught that there is a divorce between the physical and the spiritual, and that one can do whatever they like in the flesh and it will have no impact on the spirit. What better way to teach this than to suggest that Jesus didn’t maintain celibacy throughout his life?

Towards the end of the program comes the big reveal, a book known as the Gospel of Mary. Once again, they mention that it was written mid second century and not written by Mary Magdalene. They continue to speculate that quite possibly instead of being a consort she was an older woman, financially independent and committed to spirituality in her later years. They do not mention that some scholars are even uncertain that the Mary in the text is Mary Magdalen but perhaps Jesus’ mother. All the speculation in the world, however, is meaningless since the text cannot be trusted in the first place.

What is the take-away from this mixture of truth, speculation and deliberate error? That the Bible being our only reliable source of information about this woman leaves many questions unanswered. We do not know her profession, or how she came to have the money she used to help fund Jesus’ ministry (along with six other woman who did likewise). We do not know her age or station in Jewish society. In fact there is far more that we don’t know about her than what we do know. As biblical thinkers our duty is a commitment to truth and not idle speculation or wild theories spun centuries later.

What we need to know about Mary is that Jesus first rescued her from demonic possession, and later became her eternal savior. She was devoted to the teachings of Jesus and helped fund his travels. She was at the cross when all the disciples had fled, and she was the first to see Jesus after his death and therefore the first to learn of the resurrection. As such, for a couple hours anyway, Mary was the Church, the only living person with the full understanding of Jesus’ teachings about himself. And for me, that is enough to know that she is one of the most remarkable women of history.

Next: Episode 4