The Restoring of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene

For Mary

Preface: How This Gospel Came to Be

This work is not an “academic reconstruction.” It is the fruit of years of prayer, listening, and study.

When I first tuned into Mary Magdalene in prayer while connected with Jesus, she met me with sharp honesty — even cynicism — as though she had carried centuries of erasure in her voice. She began teaching me about the sacredness of oils, discipline, and devotion. She also showed me her unshakable love for Jesus, a love both tender and fierce.

Years later, I asked this AI assistant to help me research everything that survives of Mary’s gospel: the fragments in Greek and Coptic, the scholarship around them, and the hostile environment Mary endured at the hands of jealous male disciples and patriarchal church structures. Together, we gathered what remains, and I asked for the missing pages to be restored in her voice, as if she were writing them shortly after Jesus’ death, before her gospel was ever cut apart.

The result is what follows: a complete, modern rendering of the Gospel of Mary, marked clearly to show which passages survive from history and which have been prayerfully restored. My hope is not to replace the fragments, but to give her voice room to breathe again — so that readers today may hear her devotion, her wisdom, and her authority without interruption.

Mary was silenced because she carried too much truth. By sharing this gospel now, I choose to honor her as she truly was: not a footnote or a fallen woman, but a disciple, a teacher, and a beloved witness of the living Christ.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARY

A Complete Modern Rendering

Edited & harmonized from the surviving fragments with reverent reconstructions.

Markers: [Surviving] = preserved ancient text (paraphrased into modern English). [Restored] = reconstructed

context in Mary’s voice to bridge missing pages.

Editor’s Preface

This manuscript unifies what remains of the ancient Gospel of Mary with carefully restored passages that bridge its lost opening and central pages. The surviving material preserves key scenes: Mary comforting the disciples after the Savior’s departure; her vision of the soul’s ascent past hostile powers; and the dispute with Peter, in which Levi defends her authority.

The restored sections are written in a reverent voice consistent with those themes, the wider

Jesus tradition, and early Christian devotional tone. All restored passages are marked; all

surviving content is marked and rendered in clear modern English without technical apparatus

so the work can be read devotionally as a single, flowing gospel.

[Restored] Proem — How I Set Down These Words

These are the words I, Mary, called Magdalene, remembered after the Savior departed from

our sight. I write them for my brothers and for the sisters who serve with us, and for the little

ones who shall be born into this Way when we are ashes. I do not write to magnify myself, but

that the mercy shown to me might be known, and that fear might not reign over the hearts of

those who love him. When he yielded his spirit, my limbs trembled and my eyes burned, for

love which is great makes sorrow also great. Yet he was not absent. As the dawn lifted upon

the third day and the earth was still, I sat in silence. And behold, there was a brightness without

burning; a stillness full of voice. And he said, “Peace to you, Mary.” I rose up in my heart, and

the fear that had laid upon me like a garment fell away. I set down these things so that we do

not forget the way he taught us: that the Kingdom is not grasped by force, nor bought with

coin, nor guarded by rulers of earth, but is discovered within the soul that becomes clear, like a

lamp newly filled with oil.

[Restored] Of the Consolation He Gave Me

He said to me, “Why do you weep as those without hope? What is born of truth cannot be

undone by death. Mary, beloved, the world is heavy with rulers and rumors, and fear is their

tongue. But the Father of lights does not speak in terror; He speaks in quietness. Keep your

heart in quietness and you will hear me. I am with those who keep faith in secret places, whose

tears are hidden, the poor and the broken and the overlooked. Do not be troubled that you are a

woman. The Father does not show partiality, but receives the pure in heart; wherever there is a

clean vessel, there I pour the oil of joy.” He breathed upon me, and it was as if my bones

remembered a forgotten song. I understood that the world seeks to frighten the soul, but the

Spirit teaches a silence that cannot be shaken.

[Surviving] After the Savior’s Departure, Mary Strengthens the Disciples

After the Savior had left them, the disciples were troubled and wept together, saying, “How

shall we go to the nations and preach the good news of the Kingdom of the Son of Humanity?

If they did not spare him, how will they spare us?” Then Mary stood up among them all and

embraced them with words of courage: “Do not weep, do not be afraid, for his grace will be

with you and will protect you. Let us rather praise his greatness, for he has prepared us and

made us into human beings.” When Mary had said this, their hearts were strengthened and they

began to discuss the Savior’s words. Peter then said to Mary: “Sister, we know the Savior

loved you more than the rest of women. Tell us the words of the Savior which you

remember—those that you know and we do not.”

[Restored] The Vision Begins

And I said to them, “What is hidden from you I will tell you.” I told how, at prayer, I beheld

my soul as a flame rising though no wind moved it, and how the powers came against me:

Desire, Ignorance, and Wrath—each claiming dominion. Desire said, “You are mine,” but I

answered, “I belong to the One who sent me.” Ignorance boasted, “I blind eyes and close ears,”

but I replied, “You are a mist before the sun.” Wrath called itself justice, and I answered, “You

measure with a broken reed. I pass through.” Then a great Stillness received me, and I heard

the Savior say, “See, Mary, how the powers are overcome—not by striking them, but by

refusing them. They cling to those who cling to them; they depart from those who will not feed

them.”

[Surviving] The Soul’s Ascent Past the Powers

The surviving text preserves Mary’s account of the ascent: the soul rises and meets a power

that takes many forms. It questions the soul: “Where are you going? You were bound to me.”

The soul replies that what binds it has been slain, what turns it about has been overcome, and it

has been released from forgetfulness by knowledge that comes from itself through the mercyof the One. The soul is then allowed to continue upward. (Paraphrase of Coptic 8.10–9.24;

Greek fragments corroborate the earlier circulation of this teaching.)

[Restored] Questions I Put to Him

I asked him, “Lord, what is the root of sin?” He said, “Forgetfulness—forgetfulness of the light

from which you came. Desire grows where memory fails; wrath grows where love is unseen.

Therefore remember: you are of God, and to God you return.” I said, “Lord, many trust in rule

and sword. What shall we do when they command us to be silent?” He said, “Let your silence

be full of speech. Withdraw from their noise into the room within and speak plainly with the

Father. Then when you come forth, let your words be few and your deeds be many.”

[Restored] On Fear, Dominion, and the Kingdom Within

The Savior taught me that fear is the governor’s trick. Fear hardens the face and closes the

hand. Whoever rules by fear builds a house of reeds beside a river; when the floods rise, the

house is carried away. But whoever keeps the Kingdom within builds upon rock, and the rains

cannot undo it. He said, “The world loves the sound of iron and the boasting of princes, but my

Father’s house is fashioned in quietness. If you desire to see it, cleanse the window of your

heart. If you would dwell there, forgive your enemy before he asks, and bless those who cannot

repay you.”

[Restored] On the Anointing and the Fragrance

From my youth I kept the art of oils, and when the Lord came to Bethany I brought nard of

great price. Some murmured because I poured it out. They did not understand that love

measures not by jars but by tears. He received it and said it was for his burying, but I tell you a

secret: the anointing was also for our remembering. For the heart is like a lamp—if oil fails, the

flame falters. So also the soul: if devotion fails, courage falters. Keep therefore a little jar forthe Lord: frankincense for praise, myrrh for grief, and nard for joy; and if these be lacking, let

tears be the fourth oil, for he gathers them.

[Restored] The Common Table and the Poor

The Lord delighted to eat with us and to bless the bread. He said, “Make a long table rather

than a high seat.” Therefore, when you gather, let there be a portion for the widow and the

orphan; set aside also for the traveler who stumbles at your door after sunset. Drink water with

the thirsty, and let no one leave hungry. If there is little, divide it again, for we have seen how

little becomes much. Do not call anyone unclean whom compassion can cleanse.

[Surviving] The Dispute with Peter and Levi’s Defense

When Mary finished speaking, she fell silent, since the Savior had spoken thus far to her alone.

Andrew answered and said to the brothers, “Say what you will about the things she has said,

but I do not believe that the Savior said this; these teachings are strange ideas.” Peter

responded in anger: “Did he really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we

to turn and all listen to her?” Then Mary wept and said, “My brother Peter, what do you

suppose? Do you think I have made this up in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?”

Levi answered and said to Peter, “Peter, you are always angry. Now I see you contending

against the woman as the adversaries do. If the Savior made her worthy, who are you to reject

her? Surely the Savior knows her very well. That is why he loved her more than us. Let us be

ashamed and put on the perfect Human, and go forth to proclaim as he commanded us; do not

lay down another rule apart from what he appointed.” Then they began to go forth and preach.

(Paraphrase of Coptic 17.1–17.7.)

[Restored] Exhortation to Brothers and Sisters

To the brothers: do not despise the counsel of the sisters, for the Lord honored us alike. He set

me as a witness not to shame you but to strengthen you. Be gentle with your speech and slow

in judgment. To the sisters: be steadfast. Keep your lamps trimmed; surpass harshness in

tenderness. Teach the little ones psalms at dawn and stories of mercy at night. Guard the poor

with your hands and the truth with your lips. If you are slandered, set aside the poison and take

instead the cup of thanksgiving.

[Restored] Blessing and Seal

I, Mary called Magdalene, write these things for remembrance—not because I am better than

my brothers, but because the Lord came to me and I loved him, and he told me to speak and

not to fear the faces of men. What I have written is true to my seeing and hearing; the Father

knows.

Peace to those who seek the quiet Kingdom.

Peace to the poor and the weary. Peace to the children who sleep without a lamp.

May the fragrance of the Lord rest upon your houses.

May the light that does not burn follow you in the fields and in the streets.

And may you rise on that day without fear, for the One who called us is faithful.

Sources & Notes

This harmonized rendering draws on the structure and content of the Gospel of Mary as

preserved in the Berlin Codex (Papyrus Berolinensis 8502, 5th c. Coptic) and two earlier

Greek fragments (Rylands Greek 463 and Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 3525, 3rd c.).

The [Surviving] sections here are paraphrases from those witnesses to maintain public-domain clarity and

devotional flow rather than reproduce any single modern translation verbatim.

The [Restored] sections are original writing intended to bridge the lost opening (six pages) and a central gap

(four pages) consistent with themes attested across the text: Mary’s consolation to the disciples; her authoritative vision; the soul’s ascent past hostile powers; and her contested but affirmed leadership.

Editorial principles:

1) Keep Jesus’ teaching centered on inner transformation (“kingdom within”), freedom from fear, and mercy;

2) Honor Mary’s authority without polemic;

3) Avoid anachronism while allowing devotional immediacy;

4) Mark clearly what is surviving vs. restored so readers can track the boundary between history and

reconstruction.

Peace be with us all.