From Holy Grail to The Lost Gospel: Margaret Starbird and Mary Magdalene Scholarship

Abstract

Although her work is little known to academics in Mary Magdalene studies, the writings of Margaret Starbird have been, and continue to be, very influential in informing popular understandings of Mary Magdalene, including her portrayal as Jesus's wife in The Da Vinci Code, and, most recently in Simcha Jacobovici and Barrie Wilson's The Lost Gospel: Decoding the Secret Text That Reveals Jesus' Marriage to Mary Magdalene. This article will trace the influence of Starbird's books on the Magdalene tradition since the publication of The Woman with the Alabaster Jar, particularly in shaping the modern legend of the romance between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. In addition, the article will evaluate Starbird's key claims and interpretations of the biblical and extra-biblical evidence, both appreciatively and critically, from the perspective of a professional biblical scholar and feminist theologian, on the understanding that, in view of Starbird's popularity, academic Mary Magdalene scholars would do well to be familiar with her work, some of her basic claims, and the religious and cultural reasons for her influence.