Peter vs. Mary

Men in the Early Church, pt. 3

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

- Matthew 16:16-19

Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things.

He questioned them about the Savior: Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?

Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I have thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?

Levi answered and said to Peter, Peter you have always been hot tempered.

Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries.

But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well.

That is why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect Man, and separate as He commanded us and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what the Savior said.

- The Gospel of Mary 9:3-9

As I write this, the world is processing the headlines that the United States has bombed Iran. This is happening in conjunction with and aided by a government that has been committing genocide against a minority people for almost two years. And all of it under the umbrella of a fascist government that claims Christianity as its moral foundation.

As I read the actual words of Jesus, both in the canonical Bible and Gnostic texts, I can’t help but think, how did we get here?

The answer may be as simple as who the messenger of Christ’s words were.

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The apostle Peter—born Simon and renamed by Jesus—appears in all four gospel accounts. Originally a fisherman, he and his brother Andrew were the first two male disciples called to follow Jesus’ ministerial travels. He’s credited with the first “messianic confession,” recognizing Jesus as the Christ in the book of Matthew. Just a few verses later, Peter rebukes Jesus, to which Jesus says the famous line of “Get behind me, Satan!” During Jesus’ arrest and persecution, Peter denies knowing Jesus on three separate occasions, fulfilling a prophecy Jesus made during the Last Supper.

The Gnostic gospels paint an even less rosy picture of Peter. He’s most often shown struggling to grasp the more mystical and esoteric aspects of Jesus’ teachings. And in every interaction he has in Mary Magdalene’s presence, he ranges from dismissive to outright degrading, going so far as to suggest that she should not be allowed to live because of her gender. He is staunchly anti-woman, openly declaring that only men should have access to Christ’s teachings.

All in all, a pretty spurious history for the man Jesus supposedly trusted to found his Church.

And yet, in a sense, found the Church is exactly what Peter did.

After Christ’s death, like most of the disciples, Peter traveled and preached his understanding of the gospel. He settled in the Roman capital and was known first as the bishop of Rome, and later as the first Pope of the Christian church. So deeply is this belief ingrained that no other Pope has ever taken the name Peter, out of respect for who they believe to be the originator of Christian leadership.

And while that may be the most common story in both the Catholic and Protestant churches, it isn’t the only version.

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Historical documents and personal letters show us that, in the handful of centuries after Jesus’ death, there was not one agreed-upon version of Christianity. It would be far more accurate to say that there were several different Christianities, each fighting for their place and theological authority in the growing Christian culture. Different Christian communities looked to different authoritative figures for guidance on how they should worship, believe, and practice. Paul’s teachings, of course, dominated certain communities, especially those he had personally visited. But he was not the only theological authority in the early Christian movement.

The other two were Peter and Mary Magdalene.

The different types of Christianities traced their theological lineage back through a person who had direct experience with Jesus. Paul claimed that authority through his vision of Christ. Peter and Mary Magdalene claimed it or were bestowed it due to their lived, in-person proximity with Christ’s ministry.

There was debate at the time—and throughout history—as to who was the most “important” disciple based on Jesus’ actions after his resurrection. Some traditions claim that Peter was the first disciple to see the resurrected Christ, making him the primary disciple and most fit to lead the nascent church. However, every single gospel account agrees that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene first. So while Peter may have been the first male disciple to see Christ risen, Mary Magdalene was, in fact, the first of all the disciples, and the first to share the message that the resurrection had occurred.

Both Peter and Mary engaged in some forms of evangelism after Jesus’ death. Peter was said to have traveled to cities such as Antioch and Corinth to share the message, eventually likely settling in Rome and establishing a thriving church there. Mary Magdalene, on the other hand, is said to have gone to Alexandria in Egypt to preach to royalty. Legend says she then, due to ongoing persecution, was forced to flee to Southern France, where she preached and taught for decades. If this is true, then Mary Magdalene took Christ’s message farther than any other known disciple.

In addition to their evangelical travels, the teachings of disciples were spread through hand-copied versions of their gospels, circulated between and amongst communities. Both the Gospel of Peter and the Gospel of Mary were popular texts for early Christians, despite not making it into the formal Biblical canon. Individual communities would have chosen their primary texts to center their theology around. As a result, there would have been Petrine and Magdalene churches in the early Christian movement, and their theology and practice would have looked very different.

The communities influenced by Mary Magdalene prioritized the themes of her teachings: mysticism, compassion, and inner knowing. They had a consistent vision of the Divine Feminine and honored Mary Magdalene as Christ’s equal and co-teacher.

Peter’s communities, on the other hand, focused on the themes of his teachings: interpreting the law, authority, and right conduct. They leaned far more dogmatic than mystical and believed in strict hierarchies and social structures.

And these two Christianities battled it out for centuries, until one was codified by Roman rule.

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When Emperor Theodosius issued his edict declaring Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, he very specifically chose Petrine Christianity. He chose the sect that emphasized male leadership, strength, and lawfulness. And he did so on purpose, as it most closely mirrored Rome’s generational vision of itself.

Organizations reflect the personalities of their founding leaders. No matter how far removed the organization is from the life of the founder, it maintains the tone and values that person set in place. So what does a religion founded by a misogynist—known as a “hot head” by even his closest friends, who denied knowing the love of Christ on three separate occasions—look like two thousand years later?

It seems as though we’re finding out more and more every day.

Christianity has long been both a weapon of and an excuse for Empire’s worst choices. It certainly helps when the founder of that religion is as revered as he was problematic.

I so often wonder how different Christianity would look if Mary Magdalene had been afforded her rightful place alongside Jesus in the earliest part of the movement. I also wonder how different the world might look if Christianity had not been founded on the back of a man who denied Christ, dislike women, and quite literally walked away from Christ’s mystical and esoteric teachings. What if a gentler Christianity had won out?

I believe it is never too late to reclaim that version of our spiritual past.

It may be exactly what the world needs.

Thank you for reading! Next week, we’ll conclude our look at Men in the Early Church. In July, we’ll start a new series called Fiction Books in the Magdalene Canon. Very excited to explore amazing fiction works for the Magdalene path. See you next Monday!