Emmanuel
attempting to position women permanently beneath men and Jesus
refuting this and stating that women can be positioned equally
alongside men in the Church. 6 While there is much debate over what
this meant, the essential takeaway is Jesus’ denial of a request from
Peter and Jesus’ defense of Mary’s position of authority among the
disciples.
In the Gospel of Thomas, Mary is elevated in status while Peter only
speaks twice. His status is portrayed as even less than that of Thomas,
a clear diminishment of his authority when compared with other texts
(Gospel of Thomas, Saying 113).
A “gendered curiosity” can help to understand how the narratives of women
have been viewed and transmitted in Catholic tradition.
In the Gospel of Mary, there is a direct confrontation between Mary
Magdalene and Peter. The text portrays Mary as the only recipient of
an appearance of the risen Christ; she must then comfort the disciples
and share her vision with them (Gospel of Mary, Chapters 5 and 9).
This vision and proclamation of the Good News would have Mary
categorized as an apostle, by Paul’s standards as previously discussed.
Scripture scholar Elaine Pagels interprets Peter in this text as someone
“who not only fails to receive visions himself, but who also opposes
and slanders the person gifted with visions.” 7 Another disciple, Levi,
challenges Peter’s authority after his slandering of Mary. Peter’s
authority is undermined.
In Pistis Sophia 1, Peter directly challenges Mary again, saying, “My
Lord, we are not able to suffer this woman who takes the opportunity
from us, and does not allow anyone of us to speak.” This indicates that
Peter may feel threatened by the presence of a woman speaking,
instead of him, and may interpret contributions from women as
missed opportunities for men.
Later in the text, Peter says: “My Lord, let the women cease to question,
that we may also question,” indicating a similar feeling (Pistis Sophia
4.146). Jesus directly tells Mary: “Miriam,… you are she whose heart
is more directed to the kingdom of heaven than your brothers” (Pistis
Sophia 1.17). Jesus’ preference for Mary Magdalene, who Peter is
arguably attempting to marginalize, aligns well with Jesus’ preferential
218