Dear Kimberley

In regards to (Luke 7:37-38), the main thrust of this programme that I watched was that from a historical point of view that there were a lot of women called Mary at the time and that perhaps M Mag was deliberately associated with this particular Mary who was a walker of the night (to put it politely). I am all for the idea of redemption and forgiveness though regardless of whether M Magdalene was a lady of ill repute or not and you are that right it is an excellent lesson in humility.

You said

“In the book of Genesis we read: "therefore shall a man leave his family and cleave unto his wife and the two shall become one." They are not two separate people anymore, but one.

This is why Paul said what he did. As long as there were good men to spread the Gospel, the woman were to listen and learn. This was only to avoid power struggles between men and women in the churches. There IS a certain amount of dignity in silence and "taming the tongue." For when one keeps silent, they keep from offending anyone. Very difficult to do.”

While I agree with completely with the first part, I have a problem with women roles to listen and learn. I feel that we all should listen and learn regardless of our sex and we all should be able to have a voice IMHO. I feel that God has many ways of making his voice heard through people but I do not feel that it is completely the man’s prerogative to be that mouth piece. So perhaps you could say I am not St. Pauls biggest fan on this! This again is in my humble opinion and I would not want to offend you in anyway. The trick is to know when to keep you mouth shut, as you say – something that I am still trying to get right as I can be a little on the opinionated side at times:-)

However, one other point that the programme raised was that from studying the other Gospels was that as Alatariel pointed out there seemed to be a power struggle between Mary and Peter. Mary, so the this documentary claimed, really “got” Jesus’s teachings better than perhaps than some of the other disciples and that she got one to one teaching from him and that he valued her highly. It also seems that she became a leader in her own right as did other women that followed her. This however was suppressed later in the Church’s evolution. She did meet all the criteria of a disciple in the sense that she received his teaching and was very much a part of ministry, the only thing that made her different was the fact that she a woman. I am of course taking this from a secondary source and have not read the translations myself of the other Gospels which is on my ever growing list of things to read!!!

I do like your point about the Old Testament women by the way! I also have got a lot out of talking with you about this and have really enjoyed the evidence that you have presented. You have been very generous with your time to me. I have quite a few gaps and you have really helped me fill a few in - Thank you :-)

Warm regards

Susie