Mary Magdalene's Role In The Early Christian Church

Intro

The establishment of the early Christian church is often presented as without conflict. After the death of Jesus, the tradition states that Simon Peter established Jesus’ ministry and was the first apostle commissioned by Jesus. However, this was not without competition and in some circles, Peter was not the choice of leadership for the early church. Mary Magdalene was a woman disciple of Jesus and in many canonical and non-canonical texts, she was the choice for leadership of the church. Both are said to have been commissioned by Jesus, and depending on the text, one or the other was the first to see Jesus’s resurrection. While each had a fair claim to apostleship, Mary Magdalene is not considered to be an apostle in the Christian Church.

These aspects were central to one’s claim to apostleship, but because both Mary and Peter were said to have apostleship on the basis these claims, other means were utilized to determine worthiness. Gender and the role of women leaders in the early church became a central issue in the early Christian church and presented a significant challenge to Mary Magdalene’s apostleship. Peter’s views of women leadership were similar to the patriarchal status quo established in the Roman world. As mentioned previously, Peter places the role of women as a beneficiary who contributes financial support, but not religious leadership. The Gospel of Thomas has a very clear example of Peter’s position against Mary. As quoted in Erhman, the passage states, “Simon Peter said to them, ‘Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life’” (p.211). Peter is referring to eternal life in this passage, but it remains a clear indication of Peter’s low opinion of women disciples. Women were viewed as imperfect in the roman world and it was understood that in order to be perfect, they must be men (Erhman 2006, p.212). Peter seems to subscribe to this belief based on this quotation. Jesus responds to Peter by saying “I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males” (Erhman 2006, p.211). While it is widely debated what exactly this means, it is clear that the controversy over women leadership is largely based on one’s gender and their perceived inferiority because of this. In light of this, it is apparent that women leaders faced a much more significant challenge to gain credibly than their male counter-parts, and this likely contributed to Mary’s non-apostle