PUBLIC MARKS with tags the & m.a.

Mary Magdalene: Author of the Fourth Gospel? by Ramon K. Jusino, M.A. � 1998 INTRODUCTION Some Related Links: My Review of The Da Vinci Code The Nag Hammadi Library Non-Canonical Christian Texts Women in Ancient Christianity The Role of Women in Christian Churches of Paul's Day www.Magdalene.org Women and Gender in European History Mary Magdalene and the Discipled Jesus Loved The Sociology of Secrecy and the Fourth Gospel This article makes a case for ascribing authorship of the Fourth Gospel (the Gospel of John) in the New Testament to Mary Magdalene. As far as I know -- no previously published work has made an argument in support of this hypothesis. Most biblical scholars today assert that the Fourth Gospel was authored by an anonymous follower of Jesus referred to within the Gospel text as the Beloved Disciple. It is posited here that, in an earlier tradition of the Fourth Gospel's community, the now "anonymous" Beloved Disciple was known to be Mary Magdalene. It is further posited that Mary Magdalene is the true founder and hero of what has come to be known as the Johannine Community (i.e., Mary Magdalene was one of the original apostolic founders and leaders of the early Christian church).