Mary Magdalene 3/10/11

There are four main things to remember about Mary Magdalene. The first is that the ointment vessel in some of her pictures symbolizes her going to Jesus' tomb to anoint his body. The second is that the red egg in some of her pictures reminds us of the Emperor Tiberius and her "proof" of the resurrection.The third thing to remember is that Mary magdalene was a witness of the resurrection, and the fourth and final thing is that she was at the foot of the Cross.
The Da Vinci Code states that Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus. According to Jewish customs, Jesus would have to marry. The truth is actually very different than these claims. There is no evidence of Jesus' marriage. Some sections of Jews, such as the Essenes, did not marry. The Gospel of Philip was not written in Aramaic, it is a Coptic translation of Greek origin. The Greek word for "companion" is a friend. Since Jesus is both fully human and fully divine, a child would come from his human side, not his divine side. according to the Catholic Church, martial sex is not sinful. Mary Magdalene first appears in the Bible as being cured of demons. She is mentioned at the end of the Gospels. She is normally seen with a group of other women. The risen Jesus first appeared to Mary. She is portrayed as a sinner in the Bible, and as being cured by Jesus' healing powers. In the Gospel, of Mary, not written by mother Mary, Mary Magdalene is a prominent figure. This Gospel mentions Mary as an Apostle, which is weird because the Canonical Gospels just teach of only 12 male Apostles. This Gospel was written by Mary Magdalene, and focuses on her revelations about Jesus after his death. Other Apostles were begging her to teach the, about Jesus. The Gospel of Philip puts importance on Mary Magdalene. The three people who always traveled with Jesus in this Gospel were Mary (mother), Mary's sister, and Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was always around Jesus. They often kissed on the mouth. Jesus disciples were curious as to why he loved her more than them. Mary Magdalene was very important to Jesus, and vice versa, although they may have just been friends, or may have been "more than friends".

Was jesus Married With Children? 3/9/11

Today's topic was a very interesting one. First we must determine whether or not Jesus marrying or having a child would affect his divinity. According to the Catholic Church, Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. If this is true, his human side could have been married or given birth, while his divine side performed miracles and was resurrected. The Da Vinci Code claims that Jesus' marriage was a "matter of historical record", and that a child would "prove" him a mortal. The Da Vinci Code denies Jesus' divinity. If this is true, we must then examine the historical facts and traditions. No historical, factual evidence supports Jesus' marriage or having a child. Also, although the majority of Jewish men at that time were expected to marry, many decided not to, so Jesus' bachelorism was not uncommon. Also, martial relations are not considered sin, and therefore even if Jesus did marry and have a child, he was still pure. The Da Vinci Code clearly questions the Church's teaching, and a good question is why Dan Brown would accuse this?

The Divinity of Jesus 3/8/11

Today, at the beginning of class we learned a little bit about St. Thomas the Apostle. His statement in John's Gospel, "My Lord and My God" is the most explicit statement of Jesus' divinity in any of the four Canonical Gospels.
After that, we learned about the divinity of Jesus and how it was discussed at the Council of Nicea. The first thing that I learned was that Dan Brown stated that Jesus' followers did not see him as divine until the Council of Nicea. Rather, they saw him as a great and powerful mortal prophet. However, this is false, as we have St. Paul's writings that claim him to be divine well before the council. St. Paul referred to Jesus as the "Son of God", proving the idea of Jesus being the Son of God was not first introduced at the council. Rather, the council discussed how Jesus was divine. The Council had a vote whether Athanasius or Arius was right. Athanasius represented orthodox Christian views and Arius saw Jesus as purple (inside joke with Mr. Leeman's 8th perion Religion I class). The vote came out 250 - 2 in favor of Athanasius, the Orthodox Christian. Yet Dan Brown still argues that this idea was first proposed at the Council of Nicea. He believes the Council made up Jesus' divinity in order to gain prestige and power. For instance, no one would belong to a religion where their "god" is just a regular mortal human. There are multiple titles associated with Jesus, further solidifying my case. For example, Jesus is referred to as Lord, Savior of humanity, and in John 14:9, he acknowledges he is divine, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father". Almost all Christian writers agree that Jesus was divine.

The Council of Nicea and the New Testament 3/7/11

Today, in the beginning of class, we learned a little bit about St. Perpetua and Felicity. Perpetua was a woman of Christian beliefs, but her father did not want her to convert, because it was a dangerous thing. Her and her servant (it was not illegal or wrong back then), Felicity, both had a newborn child when they were killed. This must have been an extremely hard decision, either their kid or their faith. We also learned a little bit of background information about the Council of Nicea. Christians did in fact believe Jesus was divine before the Council of Nicea. Also, we have records of St. Paul writing 20-30 years after Jesus, 250 years before Nicea, proving the NT was assembled before Nicea. Nicea was the first ecumenical council, or the first world wide gathering of Catholic bishops. There have been 21 of these total, the most recent being Vatican Council II from 1962-1965. The language used in mass was also changed in 1962 to English from Latin. Constantine wanted to unify his empire with this council. He also wanted to address the issue of the Adrian heresy. This was an idea that claimed Jesus was more than human, but less than God. Athanasius represented the orthodox Christian beliefs, and taught Jesus as human and divine. There are many differences between the Da Vinci Code and history. First is that the Da Vinci Code said the council of Nicea was held to determine Jesus' divinity. However, Jesus' divinity was discussed, whether he was created by God or another part of God. The Da Vinci Code also says that Constantine wanted to strengthen the new Christian tradition. This is in part correct, as he wanted to strengthen the Christian tradition, but it was not a new tradition. The Da Vinci Code also says that the council was the first time anyone saw Jesus as divine. This is not true, because St Paul's writings and other NT books describe Jesus as divine before the council.

The Da Vinci Code and the New Testament 3/7/11

The Da Vinci Code believes that the NT was assembled by colligation. Colligation means to link facts together by general description. Basically, the NT was assembled out of many different books and facts, and just put into order and  structure. The Da Vinci Code claims that Constantine colligated the NT. However, Constantine was not baptized until on his deathbed! This was not uncommon for Rome at that time, however. The Da Vinci Code also claims that Constantine created the NT in 325 AD. It claims that he only kept the books portraying Jesus as divine, and burned the rest. However, records prove that the colligation of the NT began way before Constantine and did not end until after he died. As far as we know, Constantine was not involved with the colligation of the NT whatsoever. The Da Vinci Code claims that Constantine colligated the NT in the Council of Nicea. However, there is no known practical reason why Constantine would want those other books burned. Also, the Da Vinci code states the Bible has been revised and translated many times. This is improbable because if it is inspired by God, he would not allow it to be fiddled with. Another topic that the Da Vinci Code brings up is the "Q"document. It is said to be a book of Jesus' teachings written by Jesus himself! Actually, the book is just a list of quotes and sayings by Jesus written 20 years after his death. Another topic is the Muratorian Canon. This is he first former list of NT books. It was written in AD 170. This is why the  the Da Vinci Code could not have been colligated in AD 325 by Constantine. We have historical evidence of colligation beginning way before then.

Why The Canonical and not the Gnostic Gospels? 3/1/11

The Church accepts the Canonical Gospels over the Gnostic for many reasons. First, the Canonical Gospels have more historical and factual evidence, that can be presented and accepted. However, the Gnostic Gospels present information that can be questioned, as there are no supporting eyewitnesses. For example, the Gnostic Gospels say Jesus had relations with Mary Magdalene. This cannot be supported with evidence, but can be argued against. Also, they say that Jesus and Mary had a child on the way when he died. The question is, though, would that lower his credibility? I would say no, he would still be credible. The Bible says Jesus bled blood and water, signifying that he was human and divine. His human side could have given birth, while his divine side did the resurrecting. Also, the sources and time periods made a difference in the Gospels. The Canonical Gospels were written around 90 AD, while the Gnostic Gospels weren't written until the second and third centuries. By then, the eyewitnesses were all dead, and all they had were second-, third-, and even fourth-hand accounts. The Canonical Gospels are used today, primarily because they have more evidence and credibility.