Torch, Summer 2006

Elevating Mary Magdalene as Jesus’ wife and head of the church is based on wishful thinking by some, but certainly not on the historic documents. T he E arly C hurch: W hat R eally H appened ? In The Da Vinci Code , the description of the early church so radically differs from what has been historically accepted that it is startling. According to the book, early Christianity was steeped in the worship of the sacred feminine, complete with mystical doctrines and sexual rituals. The book claims, “Constantine and his male successors successfully converted the world from matriarchal paganism to patriarchal Christianity by waging a campaign of propaganda that demonized the sacred feminine, obliterating the goddess from modern religion forever” (p. 124). The charge is that the entire body and soul of the early church was the complete opposite of what has been passed on in the centuries since Constantine. According to The Da Vinci Code , early Christians did not gather in catacombs and grow in personal holiness, rather they gathered to celebrate mystical union with God through sexual acts. The divine feminine has been left out, The Da Vinci Code claims, even from the Old Testament where God’s name “Jehovah” is a combination of the Hebrew idea of the male God “Yahweh” and the first woman “Eve.” This revelation that the very name of God is a combination of the male and female makes many slap their heads and say, “I never knew that!” However, it is both wrong and silly. Even the most basic student of the Bible knows that the English name “Jehovah” is a combination of the consonants of “Yahweh” and the vowels of “Adonai” — both Hebrew names for God. This truth, however, does not fit in with the story, so history must be changed. The idea that Constantine could completely and forever eradicate these centuries of history is incredulous. The truth about the early church is not all that difficult to discover. Early Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire since they followed an outlawed religion. Christians were brutally executed by wild animals or gladiators in arenas for the entertainment of the Roman populace. Many were crucified. Others were drenched with fuel and lit as street lamps. In spite of the horrible persecution of the early church, Christianity not only survived, but flourished. There is no historical evidence that Christianity ever practiced matriarchal paganism or worshiped the sacred feminine. In fact, early Christianity was careful to separate itself from the mystical beliefs and practices of the mystery religions of the first few centuries. Women not only played a key role in the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles, but Christianity raised the status of women in a particularly male-dominated Greco-Roman culture. The Apostle Paul makes it clear that there is an equal standing among all believers, regardless of sex, social standing, or ethnicity (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11). 10 TORCH / Summer 2006