The programme should be seen alongside Melvyn Bragg’s article in the Daily Telegraph. This is entitled ‘”Bride of Christ or enemy of the Church?” and is supposed to be a preview of the programme (in the print edition of 23 March 2013). Given the approach of the Easter holiday and the need to act pre-emptively, Christian Concern had no option but to alert its supporters on the basis of this preview and the programme certainly bore out some of its concerns.
This is a subtle attempt to sully the purity of Jesus by the use of highly dubious ‘evidence’ and without sufficient recourse to what sensible scholars have to say. Whilst a few such scholars are given ‘sound-bites’, this does not alter the main thrust of the programme which is to heighten and to sexualise Mary Magdalene’s relationship with Jesus and to use it to foster a feminist agenda about Mary’s leadership in the Church and how misogynist males suppressed it. It is offensive for Christians that a programme of this kind should go out on Good Friday at noon – the very time that Christians are thinking about the terrible suffering of Jesus on the Cross.
The attempt to question the reliability of the Bible by a highly inaccurate portrayal of how it was formed and the giving of unmerited authority to obscure material is also unacceptable and fosters the sceptical attitude to the Scriptures in the culture. The Church was not controlled by a ‘Christianised’ Roman Empire as the programme suggests, but resisted it when it tried to foist various false beliefs on the Church. This is true, for example, of the struggle against Arianism.
To suggest a sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene on the basis of these outlandish documents while ignoring the witness of the Gospels about her true place amongst the disciples is simply irresponsible. The constant testimony of the Church and the views of mainstream scholarship must also be taken into account. It is not much improvement to say that the credibility of the Resurrection is enhanced by having a woman witness when Bragg does not believe in it anyway!
We need a proper debate regarding the responsibilities of a public broadcaster to provide overall balance, especially on such a sensitive subject. At the very least, reputable Christian scholars should have the opportunity to question the BBC and Bragg’s groundless assertions face to face.
Bishop Michael commented last Friday (29 March) in The Telegraph:
“This is going out at 12 o’clock on Good Friday which is exactly the time that Christians are thinking about Christ on the cross, this highly provocative stuff that really encourages a sexualisation of Christ with references to him being kissed on the mouth by Mary Magdalene and it refers to her being his wife.
“I am concerned about the misuses of very obscure Gnostic gospels to impugne the integrity of the Bible.
“It is highly provocative in terms of its content for Christians on Good Friday and it attempts to sexualize Christ in the most offensive way.
“Biblical Christians are not given any kind of response to this.
“They can say whatever they like on Good Friday and nobody it seems is going to put the Biblical point of view about who Mary was and what her relationship with Jesus was.
“Why is the BBC doing this on Good Friday and why is it doing it in such a provocative way.”
“There will be huge offence, here must be some way of putting the other point of view across.”
Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, added:
“Noon Good Friday is the precise time Christians are remembering Jesus' crucifixion.
“To air a programme which questions the purity of Christ is at best insensitive and at worst offensive.
“Who is making such bewildering decisions in the BBC's religious programming department?
“A programme redressing the balance based on sound scholarship - rather than pseudo-scholarship popularised by Dan Brown novels - needs to be broadcast.”