-- `Abdu'l-Bah�, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 467.
I'm just wondering where 'Abdu'l-Baha might be getting the idea that Mary Magdalene went to Rome. Is this in any tradition, or is this a matter of divine Revelation? There is a tradition that Mary went to live in France, well, Gaul, and it would seem likely she would have passed through Italy on the way, or lived there for a time. There is also a tradition that she went to Ephesus and lived with John and Mary, Jesus' mother. I'm not sure how reliable these traditions are, however. The idea that John and Mary lived together in Ephesus could easily be fiction. I would explain its coming about thusly: the Gospel of John was orginally anonymous. It became attributed to John the Apostle, who became identified with the beloved disciple in that Gospel. In John there is a scene with a few of His followers standing close to the cross, including one man. This is different to the other Gospels' which say mention only women looking on from afar. Anyway, Jesus entrusts His mother to the care of the beloved disciple, which would obviously confer some authority on this disciple. The disciple then takes Mary back to live with him. The beloved disciple may not have been intended to be John, but based on this assumption, Christians could come to the conclusion that certain things happened historically which didn't. They would be creating history, saying things that they hadn't actually heard about before, but really believe that they happened, due to their understanding of John. So John the Apostle lives with Mary. In Acts Mary and John are living in Jerusalem after the crucifixion. According to tradition, John moved to Ephesus some years later. The John who lived in Ephesus was not actually the Apostle John, but that's not the point. The point is that if one believes that John lived with Mary the idea might naturally come about that John moved to Ephesus with Mary. What happened to Mary later the New Testament doesn't tell us, and we don't know what ideas were circulating early on. But it isn't difficult to imagine that the idea could come about that Mary lived in Ephesus with John. I don't think that idea came about until very late. Not long ago I visited the purported house of Mary Magdalene in Ephesus. That a house might be found that she supposedly lived in isn't enough to convince me that she lived there. I can explain the origin of the idea that she lived there from showing that the whole idea could have come about through erroneous beliefs. When I visited the house I didn't believe that it was really her house, and hadn't heard of any early tradition, so I figured that there must be a way to explain how the idea came about. The theory I have given here is something that came to me within a few days. Of course, it is *possible* that Mary went to Ephesus anyway, even if the idea came about in the way I have described here, and had not been heard of before. I wouldn't count on it, though.
I guess I'm a bit of a skeptic regarding 'Abdu'l-Baha and history. I don't think He was always so concerned with what necessarily happened, and would be happy to use an account that was believed by His audience if it would help illustrate a teaching or prove a point. 'Abdu'l-Baha said of the disciples:
Under the fiercest tortures, they did every one of these holy souls to death; with butchers' cleavers, they chopped the pure and undefiled bodies of some of them to pieces and burned them in furnaces, and they stretched some of the followers on the rack and then buried them alive.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Secret of Divine Civilization, Page: 45)
This is interesting, because if you consider the orthodox beliefs of what happened to the disciples, most were actually not martyred. You'll probably find a number of Christians who believe that they were all martyred, but that wouldn't be based on looking into the matter. 'Abdu'l-Baha uses the plural to speak of some who were burned in furnaces. That's interesting, because the only account I know related to a furnace is related to the Apostle John, but he supposely escaped alive. The traditions regarding John, as to whether he was martyred or not, are conflicting. And the tale about John in the furnace is first heard of in the writings of a Church Father who included this story amongst other fantastical and highly unlikely stories. 'Abdu'l-Baha says here, however, that some disciples were chopped to pieces, i.e., killed, and then burned in furnaces. Who was buried alive, by the way? I don't recall any such story. The Apostle James was martyred, and apparently Peter, but the evidence for any others would be quite shaky historically. So I guess the question is, do we have to believe that historically all of the disciples were put to death? I know that 'Abdu'l-Baha is always right, but I don't think history is always what He is focusing on. He often gives lessons from history, not lessons in history.
Regards, David
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