Book contents
- Eschatology and the Saviour
- Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series
- Eschatology and the Saviour
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I
- Part II
- 3 The Narrative Frame of the Gospel of Mary
- 4 The Cosmos and Its Undoing
- 5 The Journey of the Soul
- Conclusion
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - The Journey of the Soul
The Individual Eschatology of the Gospel of Mary
from Part II
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 August 2019
- Eschatology and the Saviour
- Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series
- Eschatology and the Saviour
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I
- Part II
- 3 The Narrative Frame of the Gospel of Mary
- 4 The Cosmos and Its Undoing
- 5 The Journey of the Soul
- Conclusion
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 5 analyzes the individual eschatology of the Gospel of Mary: the revelation of Jesus to Mary regarding the ascent of the individual and paradigmatic soul to its heavenly ‘rest’. It is argued that this revelation is based on the reference to Jesus’ ascension in John 20.17, which he instructed Mary to disclose to his ‘brothers’. The basic message of the later gospel is not dissimilar to what we find in John: Jesus is Saviour – he has descended – he has ascended – his disciples can follow. In the Gospel of Mary the ascent narrative acts as a didactic story for the disciple's salvation: through Jesus’ ascension he has paved a way for the ascent of the disciple’s soul, and here we find instruction on how to follow him. The characterization of Mary suggests that she is already free from the influence of passions, sin and death and has already partly followed Jesus into eternal ‘rest’. Therefore, for the disciple, the ascension may be post-mortem, when the soul frees itself from the bodily passions, or realized in the present, as exemplified by Mary.
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- Eschatology and the SaviourThe 'Gospel of Mary' among Early Christian Dialogue Gospels, pp. 198 - 228Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019