RELIGION - Who is this a painting of? Is it Mother Mary, Jesus, his brother and an angel.Or, depending on who you talk to... is it Mary Magdalene and the descendants of Jesus Christ? The painter Leonardo da Vinci was reputed to be a member of the Priory of Scion, a secret society which protects the direct descendants of Jesus Christ.
It doesn't really matter, we will never know the truth on this matter.
What is known however is that Mary Magdalene, the wife of Jesus Christ, did indeed have children and there has been a whole secrecy and mythology following that ever since... and a long list of conspiracy stories, dating back to the Knights Templar, the Free Masons... etc. A big long list of conspiracy theories and conjecture. All of that is "true" but can never be proven beyond the fact of mere hearsay.
According to Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant and Islam Mary Magdalene was a Saint. She was the first to witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to all four gospels. She "was loved by Jesus more than the other disciples", a church leader and an apostle that the other apostles looked up to. According to Luke, Mary Magdalene accompanied him on all his journeys and according to Matthew was there at the crucifixion.
Right: Leonardo da Vinci's "Mary Magdalene" - 1515.
The word Magdalene in Aramaic means "great" or "magnificent", suggesting this was not really her name but a title bestowed upon her.
What is also known is that Mary Magdalene also wrote "The Gospel of Mary", a document which does not appear in any version of the Biblea and was only discovered in 1896 in a fifth-century papyrus codex. All other copies had been destroyed or lost.
Part of the text gets into spiritual transcendence, an idea not really covered in any part of the Bible. Mary asked Jesus about her ability to see him (his spirit) and how a soul ascends to Heaven.
This idea however didn't really fly with Peter however, who had a different idea of how people enter Heaven... this schism between him and Mary Magdalene led Peter to found the beginnings of male-dominated Catholicism... (For fun, check out Peter in The Last Supper... he's the old guy who looks like he is arguing with Mary Magdalene whilst holding a knife in his spare hand.)
Mary Magdalene meanwhile had children to raise, and the political tensions in Jerusalem were becoming worse so she left the region and according to various religious historians went to France (and from this point on it gets into a lot of conspiracy theories, with the followers of Peter / the Catholic Church [the creation of the Catholic Church dates back to the Confession of St Peter, which claims Jesus instructed him and his successors to lead the church] seeking to eradicate Mary Magdalene and her children, and the creation of the Priory of Scion to protect the descendants of Jesus Christ)...So what is the truth?
In this case there isn't any to be found. Some things really come down to faith and what you believe. Do you honestly think Jesus wanted a church that excluded women from becoming priests? Or was that all Peter's doing since he was apparently jealous of Mary Magdalene?
I personally can't believe in any church that excludes women. The truth is the Catholic Church hasn't just excluded women, its persecuted them under the disguise of witch hunts and bloody Inquisitions. To this day the Catholic Church continues to hold contempt for women, despite revering Mary Magdalene as a Saint.
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