Descendant of Jesus Christ? Just read the Gospel of John, written by Mark
First off, I should note that I'm not aware of the argument that states why Jesus COULDN'T have been married or had children. The Bible does not include EVERYTHING about Jesus, as the Gospel of John notes. As far as I can tell, His sinlessness would not have been negated by a marriage or fatherhood.
That having been said, I don't know that I buy this story from July:
Kathleen McGowan is having a stressful week.
Her children are on school holidays, she has a suitcase full of dirty washing still to tackle after a recent trip... oh, and ever since she announced she was a direct descendant of a physical union between Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ, her phone hasn’t stopped ringing.
As the author of a new book which is set to storm the bestseller list, to the delight of its publishers and the fury of some academics and church leaders, this mother of three might have expected some fuss.
But the extraordinary story of how a 43-year-old middle-class working mother woke one morning and, urged by a dream, left her children and mystified husband to fly on a quest to Israel is itself stranger than fiction....
After flying thousands of miles to trace the mythical travels of Mary Magdalene after Jesus’s crucifixion, and having convinced herself that she is a direct descendant of the two, Kathleen has written what she describes as a ‘partly autobiographical’ novel.
Rights to The Expected One have already been sold in 20 languages, and when it is published next month by Simon & Schuster, it is predicted to blaze a trail left smouldering since The Da Vinci Code....
Her incredible journey began ten years ago, when an idea she had for a book about women in history became focused solely on Mary Magdalene....
Kathleen admits her research became obsessive: ‘Mary Magdalene started to take over my life. I started thinking about her throughout the day — her love for Jesus, her passion and her loss. Then one night, I went to bed and had an incredible dream.
‘I saw a huge crowd of people jostling on what I realised was Good Friday. To my horror, I realised they were the crowds who had been watching Jesus’s crucifixion. That’s when I saw a tiny but beautiful woman with incredibly fine features.
‘I will never forget her huge hazel eyes and the dirt smudged on her face. She was veiled, but one lock of hair had fallen out, and I could see it was auburn. She was clinging onto the hand of a child.
‘I couldn’t make out the face to see if it was a boy or a girl, but I could tell the child was upset. The mother was trying to get the child to safety. As she turned, she looked at me with such desperation and sense of pleading. She seemed to be saying, “I need your help,” but no words came out.
‘I tried to reach out to her, but at that moment I woke, with tears running down my face. I immediately knew I had seen Mary Magdalene in the milling crowds following Jesus’s crucifixion. And I knew that my life was changing. She needed help, and the only way I could do this was to tell her story. I could not let her down.’
No doubt academics and historians would be horrified that a mere dream forms the starting point for this book, and for Kathleen’s claims to have some kind of psychological (and familial) link to Mary Magdalene. But she is determined to stick to her story....
So Kathleen left her three-bedroom home in Los Angeles — she grew up in California — and headed for Jerusalem, and the Via Dolorosa: the path trodden by Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago as he walked towards his crucifixion.
‘I knew this was where I had seen her, Mary, in my dream,’ she says. ‘If I had to connect, this was where I had to start.’
She draws a deep breath. ‘First, I met a shopkeeper who gave me an ancient ring. It had a pattern on it which I learned was a symbol used by some of Mary Magdalene’s later followers. ‘Then when I got to the Basilica [of the Holy Sepulchre] where the tomb of Christ is, I was approached by a small man, dressed in robes and skullcap, who somehow knew my name. He tugged my sleeve, said: “Kathleen, we have no time, you are late,” and then dragged me across the church to the places which were important to Mary Magdalene....’
Apart from her apparent experiences at the Basilica and her fanciful dream (for which we only have her trembling word), what proof does Kathleen have that Mary Magdalene married Jesus, never mind that she is one of their descendants? The idea, of course, is not new. In 1209 in Beziers, south-west France, an entire village of 20,000 was slaughtered by papal forces for believing that the ‘whore’ Mary Magdalene had married Jesus....
Speaking in hushed tones, she says: ‘My research took me to the south of France, where I believe Mary fled with her two children after the crucifixion. After spending many years of building relationships, I was allowed to see certain documents and told stories that convince me this is true.’...
Talking to Kathleen involves mutterings of danger and subterfuge. She is reluctant to reveal her parents’ names ‘in case they are identified’. She mentions France and adds darkly: ‘It’s a very jumpy time in certain places, with a lot of information coming forward. I was followed everywhere I went when I flew back the other week.’...
But McGowan is being challenged by Biblical scholars, who say that her story is hogwash. Take Dr Barbara Thiering, for example, who says that McGowan got it all wrong. Here's what Thiering says:
Dr Barbara Thiering, a Sydney-based theologeon...has interpreted the New Testament using her expertise derived from the Dead Sea Scrolls to prove that Jesus
- lived to around 76 (last reference to him was in Ephesus, AD 70)
- had three children Tamar (a girl), Jesus (Justus) (his heir), and a second son
- was married to Mary Magdalene and, after a divorce, later to Lydia
- With Lydia, he had a second daughter
But what about all of the statements of several of the Twelve Apostles regarding the death and resurrection of Jesus? Well, depends upon who the twelve Apostles are:
Judas Iscariot a Scribe alternately Kohath
Simon Magus aka Simon the Zealot, Raphael
Theudas of Ephraim aka Thaddeus, Gershon at the Last Supper
Jonathan Annas aka Jacob of Alphaeus, Sariel
Thomas the twin, Didymus
Matthew Annas aka a Kohath...
Peter
Andrew
Bartholomew /John Mark the 'Beloved Disciple'
Philip
James, Jesus' younger brother
John the Zebedee aka Aquila, Sariel
So, what about the gospels? Things are topsy-turvy there also:
Dr. Thiering proves that Jesus dictated via Philip the Evangelist (a Greek) the gospel of John (Mark) in AD37.
Mark's gospel was written next under the auspices of Peter.
Luke was then written by the man who had become Jesus' physician.
Next was Matthew written under the authority of one of the Annas brothers, sons of the High Priest of the Jews, Ananus, 6-15 AD. (JM,532)
Finally, Acts was compiled in the early sixties AD. (JM,102), unfortunately unfinished.
And the crucifixion:
At 9 a.m. (true time) Friday 20 March 33, Jesus is crucified along with Simon Magus (to his east) and Judas Iscariot (who has been substituted for Theudas via a bribery scheme gone wrong.)
A time adjustment for the equinox occurs at noon, thus the three hours of darkness.
much more on this to come......
Well, now we know that Thiering is full of dung. Dr. Hank Lindstrom knows that Jesus wasn't crucified on a Friday.
Comments
I agree with you that had Jesus married and bore children, it would not have lessened his divinity one iota. I wonder if Kathleen McGowan will sue Dan Brown for the rights to her autobiography?