The Gospel of the Beloved Companion: The Complete Gospel of Mary Magdalene Paperback – November 9, 2010

I have read many books over the years starting with the Holy Bible, the Gnostic Bible and too many to name here. I ordered this book and couldn't put it down. I appreciate that it was written and written so well, it felt like something I had been searching for a very long time. Thank you

I will preface this by admitting I have always had issues with the scriptures presented to us over the previous two millennia and felt they were manipulated and edited to control us into believing whatever `they' want us to believe for whatever purpose. The fact there are so many other scriptures that have been obliterated and considered blasphemy, as well as the dating of the scriptures written decades and centuries after the attributed author's demise - I approached this book with the same skepticism.If I accept this book as legitimate, then I say this document proves what I have been arguing for decades: Jesus did not die virgin because he was married and that wife would have been Mary Magdalene. Based on the Jewish traditions of proper burial, if Mary Magdalene had been a prostitute, then she NEVER would have been allowed near the body of such an esteemed and spiritual rabbi as Jesus/Yeshua. She also would NOT appear in the scriptures listed before all others, especially the mother of Jesus/Yeshua. That would be the most inappropriate of all.The text of this gospel also supports another of my points. Jesus/Yeshua was not claiming to be the only son of God, but that we are ALL children of our Divine Creator and that it was only through Jesus/Yeshua that we could obtain all the information necessary to achieve everlasting life. It was not through his death that we are all saved, but through the message of his words that provides us the OPPORTUNITY to save ourselves from death and be freed to eternal life ever-after.The chapters following the actual Gospel of the Beloved Companion are dedicated to the author's detailed research and astute comparative of the only four gospels included in the "Holy Bible" plus the gospel of Thomas. While she leaves it up to the reader to draw their own conclusions, her deductions lead a clear path to the truth of the matter.Finally, I admit that I never accepted (and still do not) that Jesus/Yeshua is/was THEE Messiah - unless I take on the Chassidic belief that every generation has a Messiah Potential, in which case I would say Abraham, Moses, Noah and Jesus were the Messiah Potential of their time. And this book, especially the content of the scripture's chapter 42, provides the most critical evidence that Jesus/Yeshua was the Messiah Potential of his era. If we accept this information, learn it and APPLY the content to our life . . . then Jesus/Yeshua will become the actual Messiah of all time.It is time for the churches and its leaders to wake up, be honest and start telling us the TRUTH of his words. And that can only begin by each of us spiritual facilitators reading this as a textbook for learning the truth of what Jesus/Yeshua was teaching, learn it and help others to learn as well.

I encountered the Gospel of the Beloved Companion though a women's group exploring spirituality. Decades in the Baptist church had taught me that at least half the human population was unfit and unworthy of consideration, merely because of having been created female. Scripture said it was so.I did not find that teaching intellectually satisfying, nor was it consistent with a loving God who created the human family - all of it - and called it good. Based on the Scripture I had, unfortunately, that irreparable flaw seemed an inevitable conclusion.We had Father, Son, and "It" the Holy Spirit. Where was the Mother?This book includes the complete text of a first-century gospel known as the Gospel of the Beloved Companion (GBC,) as well as significant supporting documentation. In the text of the GBC, the author identifies herself as Miryam of Bethany. She is elsewhere identified as Mary Magdalene, a disciple present at the foot of the cross of Jesus, and the first witness of the resurrection. The author of the book, Jehanne de Quillan, lays out a careful comparison of the GBC with material both from the Canonical Gospels as well as the so-called Gnostic writings, demonstrating deep threads of connection between them. Importantly, we find that the GBC includes chronistically-important detail that anchors it in the life and culture of first-century Judaism, in contrast with other Canonical Gospels which include language and points of reference which clearly developed many decades later. The book's author explains how this Gospel came to reside in France, and why it has not been published until now.The Gospel at the center of this book is unique in at least three aspects: first, as an account by an eyewitness to the life and death of Yeshua the Nazorean, whom tradition has come to call Jesus of Nazareth. Second, it is an original text preserved from the ravages of mistranslation, additions, cross-cultural misunderstandings and effects of doctrinal bias that so plague what we refer to as Scripture. Third, it is an account stated to be written by a woman, clearly with full stature as a disciple.This latter point alone should cause each of us to sit up and take notice of this Gospel. Any honest inquiry into the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, from this point forward, must include study of The Gospel of the Beloved Companion.

This is work appears to be the source for the Gospel of John. Perhaps the Gospel of John was actually written by Mary the Migdalah (faithful tower). She was there during Lazarus' resurrection, during the crucifixion, and during the resurrection. When all the others ran away, she remained (Migdalah). This book also explains why two of the Gospels attempt to slander Mary by claiming she had 7 demons removed from her. She was not a prostitute or a demoniac. Enjoy!

Where has this been and why didn’t anyone tell me about it before now?? Life changing