Author: VM

Cannibalism, a crime so heinous that most who resort to such measures only do so when wildly desperate, is depicted in Smith’s “Modest Proposal” as a way to control the population, specifically the poor and unhoused. When I first understood what this classist, sexist man from the 17^th-18^th century was suggesting, I was so repulsed that I had to physically shut my computer and look outside for several minutes. As someone who has worked with children, the very idea of raising humans to be slaughtered is something that goes against my core beliefs and moral values. One objection to this, as mentioned in the text, may be; well, humans raise animals to be slaughtered, how is it any different? To such a question, I might say that pigs, cows, and sheep do not have the same value as a human in my mind, mainly due to the fact that they are a separate species and cannot communicate with me.

No matter a person’s background, I believe every human has intrinsic worth to their community and should be respected, protected, and educated as a child to ensure their success and civic engagement as an adult. Smith’s plan reeks of old philosophies that declare the wealthy to be the only ones who are smart, valuable, and powerful; something that is not only incorrect, but offensive to every human who is not lucky enough to be born into a rich family. Of course, only a person who has never known desperation, who has never lived on the streets, who has never had to beg for food would suggest those in poverty to sell and/or eat their own children, their own flesh and blood, as a way to boost the economy. This old-fashioned thinking disgusts me, and I am not looking forward to discussing such a topic in class.

While reading the Gospel of Judas, I couldn’t help but wonder at how Jesus acts while amongst his followers, continuously expressing amusement at their ignorance and attempting to instruct them on how to better themselves. Throughout the text, Jesus literally laughs when his disciples get something incorrect before responding to their questions with allegories or prophecies that they do not or cannot yet understand. This image of Jesus conflicts with the one I was raised with, as He does not act as the all-knowing Son of God, but more like a snarky teenager who just discovered adult entertainment flaunting their knowledge in front of friends. Whoever wrote the Gospel of Judas had little reason to portray the Savior of Humanity in such a way unless they specifically wanted sympathy to go towards the one who led Him to His downfall. Therefore, I considered the motives behind this reading, questioning who wrote it, when, and why.

Another part of this Gospel that confused me was the Apostles’ vision of a hedonistic, sinful temple dedicated to Jesus, as I have never heard of such a thing before. Moreover, Jesus’ response did not make sense to me, as it seemed to imply his own disciples would prompt such a scenario to occur. Again, it made me consider who the author was and why they portrayed both Jesus and his disciples in such a manner.

Something I found very difficult for this reading was how much my own biases interfered with my understanding as well as how much of the original text was missing, thereby preventing full understanding. Having attended both Catholic and Christian schools, I thought my perspective of Christianity would match the portrayal within this Gospel, but that was certainly not the case. I was baffled by Jesus’ actions and slightly offended by the idea that Judas would receive special conversations while his fellow disciples were mocked for attempting to share their insights. Overall, the Gospel of Judas is something I believe requires further study, and I look forward to hearing from my classmates on the subject.

Mary of Magdala reminds me of the poet Sappho, a historical figure of whom very little is known, and what is known is exaggerated. Before reading her gospel, I had barely heard of Mary of Magdala, only thinking that she was one of the women who followed Jesus around like groupies do with boy bands in the modern day. Now I can say my understanding of her character as well as the common interpretation of her role in early Christian history is incorrect; Mary of Magdala should be considered one of Jesus’ trusted disciples, not a mere follower, but someone who helped shape Christianity.

Focusing on the words within this recovered gospel, I want to note how Peter was the first to ask Mary to share what Jesus taught her while also being the one of the two Apostles that doubt her word. Specifically, he reminds Mary how Jesus loved her more than any other women, something that makes me wonder about the original wording as well as possible translation mix-ups. In an earlier class I looked at the original Koine Greek meaning of words within the Bible compared to the modern English translation, which revealed a few misleading terms that could have been translated to mean something else entirely. As the Bible has changed quite a bit over the past millennia, I wonder how exactly the Gospel of Mary has been altered.

Referring back to Peter naming Mary the woman the Savior loved most, I wonder whether Peter could have said Jesus loved Mary more than any man, as in human being, in his original statement. This would transform interpretations of Mary as well as the intention behind Peter’s request. If Peter asked Mary for her wisdom, knowing she was Jesus’ most loved person on Earth, then one reason for him to question her is jealousy. If Mary is discredited in front of Jesus’ Apostles, if the other disciples doubt her word, then they might also doubt the relationship Mary had with Jesus. As seen in the text, Andrew questions Mary on whether Jesus would say the things she mentions, while Peter goes directly to questioning whether Mary should be trusted as a woman, given Jesus surrounded himself by men he trusted, men he told everything else. Therefore, I think it would be interesting to look into the translations of the Gospel of Mary of Magdala, and how else the original text could be interpretated.

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