The article discussing the Gospel of Mary Magdala spends most of its pages telling the story surrounding the gospel and summarizes the gospel itself, though never directly quoting it. Not unlike the Gospel of Judas, this work spent many centuries lost to history, its story never included in the Bible, resurfacing and being further pieced together only in the last 150 years. However, despite the scrutiny the recovered text has been given, over half remains lost, its story still untold. The text itself is not included in the article, so it may not be as stitched and choppy as that of the Gospel of Judas, but the fact remains that historians cannot find the full message of such a powerful and unique early Christian writing.
The Gospel of Mary is special because it places significant weight on Mary Magdalene, its primary character, as a disciple. Other Biblical texts from this era do not have strong female characters, depicted as Mary is. In fact, Mary Magdalene is the only disciple present that understands Jesus’s teaching in this story, and the other disciples reject her for that reason, citing that Jesus wouldn’t give “this kind of advanced teaching” to her (King). The gospel also makes a significant point of the disciples’ fear, claiming that they were afraid they would “share his agonizing fate” (King). The feminist message is unique in the greater biblical context, yet, for this reason, the text was presumably put out of print due to the early Christian viewpoint that developed and eventually predominated the first millenia. The date of writing is in question as well, considering that the copies that have been discovered are presumably reprints of earlier editions. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene is a fascinating example of early Christian literature that was either been silenced or fallen out of fashion.