Karen L. King’s Gospel of Mary of Magdala, Chapter 9: The Controversy over Mary’s Teaching
The first church fight was about a woman with a vision.
This is the next installment in Virgin Monk Boy’s commentary series on Karen L. King’s The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle. Each post walks through a chapter of King’s work, teasing out both the radical theological implications and the modern-day echoes of ancient spiritual resistance. Chapter 9, Controversy over Mary’s Teaching, is where things finally explode.
They asked her to speak.
She did.
And it broke the church in two.
At the start of Chapter 9, the disciples are huddled in fear. The Savior has just departed, commissioning them to go forth and preach. But instead of charging forward, the male disciples freeze. They weep. They despair. They’re terrified of martyrdom. They can’t even speak without spiraling into anxiety.
And who comforts them?
Mary.
She calls them back to the Good. In the Greek version, she even kisses them all tenderly—a moment of radical intimacy and healing. Only after this does Peter invite her to share what the Savior told her privately.
And what she shares is not a recap of stories they missed around a campfire.
It’s advanced mystical teaching. Visionary revelation. A full dialogue with the risen Christ.
And that’s when things snap.
The Meltdown
Andrew speaks first:
“These teachings are strange. I don’t believe the Savior would say such things.”
Translation: I asked for it, but I didn’t expect her to bring the whole transmission.
Then Peter escalates:
“Did he really speak with a woman in private, without our knowing about it? Are we to turn around and listen to her?”
It’s not just disbelief. It’s an existential threat.
Because if Mary speaks truth from a direct encounter with Christ—
Then male privilege isn’t the foundation of the Church.
Spiritual maturity is.
And that… wrecks the franchise.
The Real Challenge: Vision, Not Genitals
King makes it clear: Peter’s problem isn’t just that Mary is a woman—it’s that she’s a woman with revelation.
Not a helper. Not a witness. A teacher.
One who didn’t just hear the Savior’s words, but embodied them.
“She had received a vision of the Lord… it is not a matter of chance that she knows things they do not.”
Mary’s authority doesn’t come from bloodlines or books.
It comes from clarity of heart, steadiness of mind, and the kind of soul that can face the Powers and not flinch.
The “controversy” isn’t just a moment of personal jealousy—it’s a theological war over who gets to define truth.
Levi’s Intervention
Then Levi speaks—not just to defend Mary, but to expose what’s really happening:
“Peter… you contend against the woman like the Adversaries.”
Let that land.
Peter, the supposed rock of the Church, is acting like the very hostile powers Mary described in her vision.
Levi doesn’t just say Mary’s right.
He says her authority is rooted in the Savior’s love and trust for her.
He calls Peter out as a threat to the gospel itself.
This is more than a clash of personalities. It’s a rejection of inherited spiritual hierarchy in favor of awakened understanding.
Practice: Criteria for Authority
The Gospel of Mary flips the table on every top-down model of leadership.
So today, ask yourself:
Who taught me to distrust my own inner experience?
When have I dismissed truth because it came through someone unexpected?
What do I still believe makes someone “qualified” to speak for God?
Sit in silence for ten minutes.
Let these questions come and go.
You don’t need to answer.
Just recognize what still governs your listening.
Dedication of Merit
To the ones who were asked to speak
but punished for their clarity—
May your words still echo.
To the ones who saw through the system
and held the vision anyway—
May your courage be remembered as gospel.
To the teachers who never needed robes or pulpits or footnotes—
Only fire in their chest and truth on their tongue—
May your line of succession be soul to soul,
not bishop to bishop.
In the name of the one who taught beyond the rules—
and the woman who remembered.
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Spiritual authority, not male hierarchy...this is a position that is still being debated in the church 2,000 years later. I loved reading what you had to say. The blessing of the end is beautiful.
You've convinced me - I'm heading to the closest library that has King's book! ;-)