Was the Gospel of John Changed to Suppress Mary Magdalene?

Mary Magdalene has a ton of conspiracy theories swirling around her. Most are pure speculation. But a recent study by a Duke University New Testament PhD student, Elizabeth Schrader, argues that the copiers of the Gospel of John may have diminished the role of Mary Magdalene.

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Study:
Elizabeth Schrader, "Was Martha of Bethany Added to the Fourth Gospel in the Second Century?" Harvard Theological Review 110 (2017) 360-392

[AnubisGray]

I’m not saying Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene are the same person, I’m just saying I’ve never seen them in the same room together...

[grithbrot]

"We need to do something about Magdeline."

"Execute Papyrus Sixty-Six."

[LetsTalkReligion]

These videos of yours about early Christianity are endlessly fascinating to me. Keep up the good work!

[UGNAvalon]

“Always make sure to dot your iotas and cross your thetas!” -Some transcriber/editor

[J.B.]

There’s certainly enough suspicious activity around Magdalene, including her own gospel. Something is fishy. She was at Jesus crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. She was obviously important

[zorroazulapex]

Ancient scribe: “How do you solve a problem like Maria?”

[ian_b]

1st Century Palestine:

"This is my wife Mary and my daughters Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary and Joanna"

"Joanna?"


"There was a mistake on the birth certificate. But we call her Mary."

[lisaharmon]

One of the more interesting theories that I have heard about Mary Magdalene is that she was independently wealthy and supported Jesus in his ministry.

[omraguenon]

I absolutely love how you showed a NIV Childrens bible as a "definitive version" of the scriptures lol

great work, i love your channel

[williamwebb]

Scribe: *changes Mary’s name to Martha*

Jesus: *comes back to life*

Jesus: WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME???

[MAMoreno]

Some scholars believe that Batman added the name "Martha" to the manuscript tradition.


I'm interested in seeing the attestation of the ancient versions.

[greatwolf]

Hey Andrew, can you make a video about the St Thomas Christians of India(Nasranis)? We are a very unique Christian community. Our traditional story of our origins, is that St. Thomas the Apostle came to Kerala, India and converted the locals to Christianity. But scholars view that as unlikely. However there is definite archelogical evidence for Christians in that part of the country by early 9th century, mostly through copper plates detailing the rights and priveleges that local rulers gave to Christians. Many Christian authors in the Roman Empire also wrote about Nasrani Christians from 2nd century onwards. Unlike for Western Christianity for which there are a lot of sources, our community's origins is shrouded in mystery. Western historians focus on their own history and Indian historians mostly focus on Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, and thus there is very little research conducted on our community.

[ericjohnson]

"Paulie and his brothers had lots of sons and nephews. And almost all of them were named Peter or Paul. It was unbelievable. There must have been two dozen Peters and Pauls at the wedding. Plus, they were all married to girls named Marie. And they named all their daughters Marie." - Karen Hill, Goodfellas

[hehe]

Imagine being named Martha. Imagine your name is a typo some old monk made 2000 years ago

[amirsa]

No one:
The scribe: "Must save Martha"

[MdLanguage]

I’m incredibly ignorant about these topics but I’m when seeing your videos I’m still able to easily follow your explanations and arguments. That proves you are a superb teacher. Thanks a lot for your work.

[stevegunderson]

Did you purposely post this on the feast day of Mary Magdalene?

[michaelpearson]

From what I have heard, there were A whole lot of Mary's during the time of Jesus!

[LateefahABrown]

“Magdalene” indicated Mary was from the city of Magdala, in Galilee. How could one confuse Mary of Magdala with the Mary in Bethany, which was only a few miles outside of Jerusalem? If we are to assume they were the same person, then could one of these two locations be incorrect?

[florian]

Thankfully, today's Catholic teachings about Mary Magdalene are like: "Yeah, we were wrong. Turns out she was _not_ a harlot, but basically an Apostle in her own right."