An enlightening exploration of one of the most intriguing and controversial texts of early Christian literature. This book presents the complete text of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene alongside a detailed commentary and analysis.

Perhaps no figure in biblical scholarship has been the subject of more controversy and debate than Mary Magdalene. Although she is discussed in the gospels of Philip, Thomas, Peter, and Bartholomew in the collection of writings known as the Gnostic gospels that were rejected by the early Christian church, there is no better insight into this mysterious and influential woman than Mary's own gospel.

In this new translation of the Gospel of Thomas, Leloup shows that the Jesus recorded by the "infinitely skeptical and infinitely believing" Thomas has much in common with gnostics of non-dualistic schools. Like them, Jesus preaches the coming of a new man, the genesis of the man of knowledge. In this gospel, Jesus describes a journey from limited to unlimited consciousness. The Jesus of Thomas invites us to drink deeply from the well of knowledge within, not so that we may become good Christians but so we may attain the self-knowledge that will make each of us, too, a Christ.

"These are the hidden sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down." With this opening statement, the Gospel of Thomas, legendary Apostle to the East, introduces a startlingly profound list of Jesus' ancient Wisdom sayings. Similar to the collections of quotations copied by the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Thomas' Gospel contains a hundred and fourteen sayings, half of which don't appear in the New Testament. Once known from only a handful of ancient sources, third-century Greek fragments of this Gospel first turned up at the end of the nineteenth century – but ...

And the companion (Consort) was Mary of Magdala (Mary Magdalene). The Lord loved Mary more than all the other disciples and he kissed her often on her mouth (the text is missing here and the word "mouth" is assumed). The others saw his love for Mary and asked him: "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior replied, "Why do I not love you in the same way I love her?" (The Gospel of Philip)