14. Mary Magdalene Was Not Married To Jesus
The boldest claim of The Da Vinci Code, the application on which the entire book rests, is that Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus and was worshipped as a goddess by the early church. However, that reality was hidden by the church to protect power structures, particularly patriarchal systems that discredited the “sacred feminine.” The two had a child together, a daughter named Sarah, whose descendants are waiting for the appointed time at which the truth about the real Jesus and Mary Magdalene can come out. The problem is that there is no reason to believe that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married.
Textual evidence can be seen within the canonical gospels, which routinely refer to women through their relationship with men (Mary the mother of Jesus, Martha, the sister of Lazarus). If Mary Magdalene and Jesus had a relationship beyond companionship, surely the gospels would have said so. Considering the novel’s assertions that the church manipulated the doctrines, one could consider the fact that there is textual evidence dating these books to the first century before the church had any established power base. Additionally, the novel builds heavily upon the Gnostic gospels in making its claims. However, there is nothing in the Gnostic gospels to suggest that the two were married.
In 2012, nine years after The Da Vinci Code, a papyrus fragment was found that says, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife…'” However, scholarly analysis has shown that it was likely a forgery during the Middle Ages. While there are references to “the bride of Christ” in the New Testament, these are all understood to be referring to the Church.