I’m generally un-thrilled by our contemporary media culture’s fascination the idea that there might have been some woman that Jesus had sex with. I think, beyond being factually bullshit (and one, very late manuscript with ambiguous meaning doesn’t cancel out the overall bullshittiness), I think it’s sexist and degrading.

There were female disciples! It’s in the canonical scriptures! We know that Mary was present at Pentecost, that women followed (and funded) Jesus, that women were present at his crucifixion and that Jesus chose to appear first to Mary Magdalene. And we know that women were central in early Christianity! Lydia the Purple Seller was the first European Christian; Perpetua of Carthage was one of the first and most widely disseminated martyrdom accounts. We know there were hundreds, if not thousands of women whose Christian beliefs set them in direct conflict with their fathers and husbands and who were tortured and executed in no small part because their existence as Christians threatened the patriarchal social order.

Why do we erase or ignore these widely known, widely recorded roles of women in early Christianity and try to elevate this bullshit sexist conspiracy theory that implies the only role for a woman is as sex partner? Mary Magdalene is the Apostle to the Apostles and the First Evangelist, not Jesus’ Old Lady. Sheesh.