| Abstract [eng] |
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the conflict in the trends of the early Christianity, which occur in the text of the Gospel of Mary. The Gospel of Mary, written in the middle of the 2nd century A. D., is an important monument of gnostic literature. The collision of Gnosticism and orthodox Christianity is pronounced in the Gospel of Mary. In order to highlight this conflict, the thesis firstly investigated the cosmology of the Gospel of Mary and found that the text is a syncretic and eclectic work characterized by influences of Platonism, Stoicism and Gnosticism. Secondly, the investigation of the roles of women in the texts of Gnosticism and Gospel of Mary led to the conclusion that the depiction of women is based on dualism inherent to Gnosticism and hence connected to myths of cosmology which employ categories like light and darkness, matter and soul, man and woman. The contexts taken from this tradition of cosmology as well as the depiction of women create an opportunity for polemics between Gnosticism and the orthodox Christianity. The controversy at first appears in the teachings of the risen Jesus in the Gospel of Mary. In his doctrine the author uses terminology taken from the texts of orthodox Christianity, however, he conceives of them in a different light: in his view the combination of soul with the matter is considered a sin; concept of law is debated in the language of Mosaic law, but what is foregrounded is the inner conflict of Christian community. The other aspect of collision between Gnosticism and orthodox Christianity is reflected in conflict of Peter and Mary. Firstly, Peter is interpreted as the symbol of orthodox Christianity and Mary is understood as a perfect disciple of Gnosticism. Secondly, these two sides represent the different perception of transmission of authority. From the perspective of orthodox Christianity the twelve apostles are the guarantors of the legitimacy of the Christian tradition. The foundation of this belief is considered the revelation of Jesus, which is unrepeatable. Gnostics rejected the idea that Christ’s revelation in restricted in time and supported the conception of ongoing revelations. Therefore Mary’s revelation is considered legitimate by the author of the Gospel. Peter who did not receive the revelation is deemed unfit to transmit the tradition and proclaim the gospel. The main objective of the text is to defend the idea of possibility to shape the individual understanding of Christianity. |
