Mary Magdalene, Holy Hooker

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the symbolism surrounding Mary Magdalene's hair color. But I knew I had more to write; I want to share my thoughts on Mary herself. It's not surprising, given that Mary Magdalene is  a fascinating biblical figure that has stayed in public consciousness for about two thousand years.

I was raised in a Jewish home, and it was only around the age of twelve or thirteen that I began to learn more about Christianity. At some point, I learned about Mary Magdalene. First, I learned that she had been a prostitute saved by Jesus. Soon, I started to hear snippets about Mary Magdalene as an ancient Goddess figure and High Priestess defamed by "The Patriarchy" (which is to feminists what "The Man" is to African-Americans).  And finally, as Jesus' wife and possible divine consort.

Mamzerim : Real People, Real Problems

The title of this blog , "Mamzer Hakodesh", literally means "The Holy Bastard", or even, "The Holy Abomination". I used it for several reasons, one is about being a Jewish-born Christian, one is about looking at the Torah and Bible with fresh perspectives, another about being from an inter-faith and interracial family. One is about the idea of Jesus himself as a bastard; also the idea that sacredness is found in profanity.

Book Review of "Rabbi Jesus; An Intimate Biography", by Bruce Chilton; Part 2

There were so many interesting ideas in Chilton's book that I've wanted to really explore in this review, but I can't spend the next five weeks writing about it!!! So here are some of the major, and most interesting perspectives from "Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography".


Between his childhood and emergence in adulthood to begin his own ministry, a big blank spot appears in the gospels.

There are many ideas of what happened during this time, including a sojourn to India to learn from spiritualist masters there. But have you ever considered this - what if Jesus was a teenage runaway? That's exactly Chilton's idea based on the gospels. Jesus made a pilgrimage with his family to Jerusalem one year. He disappeared, and his mother had to go back to the temple to find him teaching there. He give her a little bit of teenage sass before going back home with her. But what if that last part about going back home was just a resolution tacked on in later years to excuse Jesus' unpredictable behavior? For after this incident, nothing more is heard about Jesus until he is well into adulthood. What if, instead of going back home, Jesus RAN AWAY from home? What if he couldn't take local life as a mamzer after his father died and escaped at the earliest opportunity? What if he was drawn to the holy city as some children are drawn to the nunnery?

Book Review of "Rabbi Jesus; An Intimate Biography", by Bruce Chilton; Part 1

So, I wanted to write a book I recently finished reading about Jesus and second temple Judaism. You could classify it with all of the "Historical Jesus" books out there on the market today. I'm not sure I believe in a historical Jesus to be start with. After all, jesus' story had been told countless times in the religious cults of Mithra, Dionysus, Osiris and Horus, Buddah, and Krishna, to name a few. Sometimes the parallels between these deities are absurdly common. In fact, religious research on the Internet has shown me two different "truths" - one, that there is absolute proof and historical documentation (outside of the Bible) confirming the existence of a historical Jesus. The other "truth" is that there is absolutely NO proof or historical documentation (outside the Bible) confirming the existence of a historical Jesus. This is a very controversial issue and it seems I'm going to have to do the research for myself one day.

A Book Review - Coming Soon!!!

Today, I have finally finished reading "Rabbi Jesus; An Intimate Biography", by Bruce Chilton.