Jean-Yves Leloup

Joseph Rowe

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

Restores to the forefront of the Christian tradition the importance of the divine feminine • The first complete English-language translation of the original Coptic Gospel of Mary, with line-by-line commentary • Reveals the eminence of the divine feminine in Christian thought • Offers a new perspective on the life of one of the most controversial figures in the Western spiritual tradition Perhaps no figure in biblical scholarship has been the subject of more controversy and debate than Mary Magdalene. Also known as Miriam of Magdala, Mary Magdalene was considered by the apostle John to be the founder of Christianity because she was the first witness to the Resurrection. In most theological studies she has been depicted as a reformed prostitute, the redeemed sinner who exemplifies Christ's mercy. Today's reader can ponder her role in the gospels of Philip, Thomas, Peter, and Bartholomew--the collection of what have come to be known as the Gnostic gospels rejected by the early Christian church. Mary's own gospel is among these, but until now it has remained unknown to the public at large. Orthodox theologian Jean-Yves Leloup's translation of the Gospel of Mary from the Coptic and his thorough and profound commentary on this text are presented here for the first time in English. The gospel text and the spiritual exegesis of Leloup together reveal unique teachings that emphasize the eminence of the divine feminine and an abiding love of nature over the dualistic and ascetic interpretations of Christianity presented elsewhere. What emerges from this important source text and commentary is a renewal of the sacred feminine in the Western spiritual tradition and a new vision for Christian thought and faith throughout the world.

Com grande lucidez e sabedoria, da planta dos pés à cabeça, Leloup percorre o universo da corporeidade lendo-o, sempre, através de uma ótica trinitária; a somática, a psíquica e a espiritual, devolvendo-lhe a sua beleza e seu mistério. Cada parte do corpo, conta-nos múltiplas estórias, transpirando símbolos e aventuras míticas, desvelando o horizonte multicolorido da inteireza humana.

uma antropologia essencial

O corpo e seus simbolos

A radical reinterpretation of the relationship of Judas and Jesus • Reexamines the role and the purpose the key figure of Judas played in the crucifixion story • Reveals how Judas was “betrayed” by Jesus, and how, taken to the limits of his humanity, he lost everything he most cherished on the path to his true self The familiar story of Judas, betrayer of Jesus, is striking because of its incomprehensibility. Why would one of Christ’s disciples and companions of the heart deliver him up to his enemies and a barbarous, ignominious, and certain death for thirty pieces of silver? Jean-Yves Leloup’s careful investigation of the gospels, various apocryphal texts, and most importantly the Coptic codex known as the Gospel of Judas, leads him to conclude that there is more to the familiar story of Judas than a simple demonstration, viewed through one man, of humanity’s inherent failings. The betrayal of Jesus to the Romans was Jesus’s idea, explains Leloup. Jesus persuaded Judas to play the role of “evil” in humankind by telling him that this enactment was crucial to God’s plan and would set Judas by Jesus’s side for eternity: “There where I am,” spoke Jesus to Judas, “is where I wish you, too, to be.” But to get there, Judas--a metaphorical representation of the darker side present in all human beings and the “shadow” counterpart to his Messiah dying on the cross-- must first shed all his human qualities. His failings of greed, deceit, and cowardice--and even his faith and hope--are washed away in the despair that engulfs him. A parallel moment occurs for Jesus on the cross, when he comes to know the despair of separation from God. The moment Judas “loses” his life and all that gave it meaning--his God, his law, his justice, his Messiah--is the very moment he finds that which cannot be discarded--life eternal. Thus, in the moment of his ultimate extremity, Judas receives Jesus’s true message and his intended gift.

Two Faces of a Single Revelation

Judas and Jesus

An examination of how the teachings of Jesus reveal the essential role of sexuality in spiritual growth and transformation • Shows that Jesus did not come to redeem humanity from the life of the flesh, but to honor it as a spiritual path • Uses Hebrew, gnostic, and early Christian source texts to reveal the true context of the words attributed to Jesus • Explores the spiritual and physical relationship shared by Jesus and Mary Magdalene Of all the major religions, Christianity is the only one that has utterly rejected sexuality as one of the many paths that can lead to enlightenment and salvation. But if Jesus was indeed “the Word made flesh” and serious consideration is given to the mystery of his Incarnation, is it reasonable that physical love would have been prohibited to him? Drawing from the canonical and apocryphal gospels, the Hebrew esoteric tradition, and gnosticism, Jean-Yves Leloup shows that Jesus did not come to save humanity from the life of the flesh but to save the life of the flesh so that it would truly transfigure all people. Leloup explains that when Saint Paul said it was good to be without women, he did not cite any words of Jesus in support of this contention. In fact, Paul’s statement utterly contradicts the words of God in Genesis: “It is not good that man should be alone.” Leloup argues that the elimination of the divine feminine and sacred sexuality set in motion by Paul’s words does not reflect the true teachings of Christ, and that the transformation of Jesus into a celibate is the true heresy. His research restores Christ’s true human sexuality and shows it to be a vital part of humanity’s spirituality. Leloup contends that by understanding the sacred nature of the embrace shared by man and woman as a true reflection of humanity made in God’s image, Christianity can again become the powerful path of transfiguration Christ intended.

The Sexual Mystery at the Heart of the Christian Tradition

The Sacred Embrace of Jesus and Mary

A new translation and analysis of one of the most controversial of the apocryphal gospels • Emphasizes an initiatic marriage between the male and female principles as the heart of the Christian mystery • Bears witness to the physical relationship shared by Jesus and Mary Magdalene • Translated from the Coptic and analyzed by the author of the bestselling The Gospel of Mary Magdalene (over 90,000 sold) The mainstream position of the Christian church on sexuality was perhaps best summed up by Pope Innocent III (1160-1216) when he stated that “the sexual act is so shameful that it is intrinsically evil.” Another Christian theologian maintained that the “Holy Ghost is absent from the room shared by a wedded couple.” What Philip records in his gospel is that Christ said precisely the opposite: The nuptial chamber is in fact the holy of holies. For Philip the holy trinity includes the feminine presence. God is the Father, the Holy Ghost is the Mother, and Jesus is the Son. Neither man nor woman alone is created in the image of God. It is only in their relationship with one another--the sacred embrace in which they share the divine breath--that they resemble God. The Gospel of Philip is best known for its portrayal of the physical relationship shared by Jesus and his most beloved disciple, Mary of Magdala. Because it ran counter to the direction of the Church, which condemned the “works of the flesh,” Philip’s gospel was suppressed and lost until rediscovered at Nag Hammadi in 1947. Orthodox theologian Jean-Yves Leloup’s translation from the Coptic and his analysis of this gospel are presented here for the first time in English. What emerges from this important source text is a restoration of the sacred initiatic union between the male and female principles that was once at the heart of Christianity’s sacred mystery.

Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the Gnosis of Sacred Union

The Gospel of Philip

Marie Madeleine à la Sainte Baume

"L'anamnèse, qu'on traduit généralement par souvenir ou par remémoration, est une pratique qu'on retrouve différents domaines. En médecine, il s'agit de retracer l'histoire d'une maladie. En psychanalyse, c'est l'histoire même du sujet, des traumatismes des symptômes et de leur résolution aléatoire inaccomplie. Dans la liturgie chrétienne, il s'agit du moment où l'on fait mémoire de la passion, de la mort et de la résurrection du Christ, et de sa présence réelle et vivante." Dans ce texte, Jean-Yves Leloup nous invite à comprendre comment l'anamnèse peut s'avérer une voie thérapeutique. Il ne s'agit pas de se remémorer seulement les chocs émotionnels ou les troubles de notre petite enfance ou de notre vie d'adulte, mais plutôt les moments numineux où nous avons été touchés par une autre dimension, une aube conscience, un tout autre Amour.

Anamnèse essentielle

L'évidence de l'invisible

"Jean-Yves Leloup explores the writings of many spiritual masters from across the centuries, in particular the Desert Fathers, the fourth-century monk Evagrius, St. John Cassian, and the anonymous nineteenth-century author of The Way of the Pilgrim." "Drawn from the experience of the monasteries of Sinai and Mount Athos, here is a clear and practical presentation of the spiritual art of arts: stillness in the face of interior pain and confusion." "These spiritual riches, refined and developed by the Orthodox tradition in Christianity, can also be recognized in the teaching and practice of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islamic Sufism. The fundamental truth of one tradition is to be found under its own proper forms and nuances in others. Far from diminishing the unique value of this hesychastic way of prayer, the most developed spiritual traditions of humanity affirm it as one of the great forms through which humanity reaches out to embrace Infinite Reality."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Reflections on an Ancient Mystical Tradition

Being Still

Dans notre monde soumis à des bouleversements intenses, les prédictions « apocalyptiques » sont à la mode. Pourtant la plus célèbre des apocalypses, celle de Jean, que les prophètes de malheur aiment à solliciter, a-t-elle pour visée de nourrir nos angoisses et nos phobies ? Pour Jean-Yves Leloup, la révélation de ce qui arrive, de ce qui vient, peut être vue dans différentes lumières, et c'est à un regard ni résigné ni effrayé devant les événements que nous invite l'Apocalypse de Jean. Elle situe la réalité actuelle et future du monde dans la lumière de Dieu et dans la lumière de l'Agneau, vision à la fois de justice et de miséricorde. Plutôt que de faire de l'Apocalypse l'annonce d'une destruction nihiliste, il est possible de lire à travers sa symbolique si riche la « révélation » de l'ultime Réalité : tout s'effondre, sauf la Vie. À travers une traduction inédite et un commentaire abondant de ce texte fondamental de la spiritualité universelle, Jean-Yves Leloup, à qui l'on doit déjà une remarquable traduction de l'Evangile de Jean et des Evangiles apocryphes de Thomas, Philippe et Marie, nous fait porter un autre regard sur le monde présent et à venir.

L'Apocalypse de Jean

Catherine Bensaid

On parle beaucoup d'amour, on le cherche, on l'attend, on le fuit. On espère pouvoir dire "je t'aime" à celle ou celui dont on rêve, on le murmure déjà à la compagne, au compagnon de sa vie. Mais sait-on vraiment ce que signifient ces mots : "je t'aime" ? Qui est ce "je" qui aime ? Et de quel amour s'agit-il ? Prenant tour à tour la parole, Catherine Bensaid et Jean-Yves Leloup portent un double regard sur cette quête éternelle qui nous concerne tous. Ils nous invitent à grandir ensemble vers un amour qui ne se vit plus dans la demande mais dans la plénitude du don.

Qui aime quand je t'aime ?

Un uomo tradito. Il romanzo di Giuda

From the Utopia of Rave Parties to the IPod Generation

Digital Magma

Jean-Yves Leloup nos convida a dar um passo consciente em direção a uma vida plenamente assumida. Fala daquilo que está dentro de nosso ser, no mais profundo de nós - o amor -, e vai lançando luzes para permitir que cada aspecto aflore, que tomemos consciência e que nos rendamos à proposta de mudança que a vida nos faz.

Para que cada um de nós transforme seu destino em um projeto consciente

Amar... apesar de tudo

Quelle fut la nature des relations entre Jésus de Nazareth et la grande figure féminine que la tradition chrétienne a nommée Marie Madeleine ? Si « le Verbe s'est fait chair », s'il faut prendre au sérieux le mystère de l'Incar-nation, peut-on imaginer que le Christ se soit interdit tout amour charnel ? L'histoire, les Évangiles canoniques, les apocryphes et la théologie ont-ils quelque enseignement à nous livrer à ce sujet ? L'auteur dUne femme innombrable, spécialiste de ces questions et traducteur notamment des Évangiles de Marie et de Thomas, aborde la relation « amoureuse » de Jésus et de Marie Madeleine à la lumière de la parole de Paul : « Tout est pur pour celui qui est pur ». Son propos précis et sans tabou n'entend pas scandaliser, mais stimuler notre étonnement face au « réalisme de l'Incarnation ».

Jésus, Marie Madeleine, l'Incarnation...

"Tout est pur pour celui qui est pur"

Qui était Marie Madeleine, la Myriam de Magdala des Évangiles ? Une provocante et innocente beauté ? Une femme paradoxale, initiée et prostituée sacrée ? Une amoureuse et une mystique ? Rien de tout cela et tout à la fois. Myriam de Magdala est la femme archétype, dans toutes ses dimensions, des plus charnelles aux plus spirituelles : elle est la femme éternelle. Jean-Yves Leloup mêle histoire et fiction, poésie et théologie, pour embrasser les infinies facettes de Myriam, dans un livre foisonnant et lumineux. Une femme innombrable rappelle une très ancienne mémoire ou une urgente prophétie, esquisse d'un autre christianisme ou d'une autre humanité...

Le roman de Marie Madeleine

Une femme innombrable

Quelle fut la nature des relations entre Jésus de Nazareth et la grande figure féminine que la tradition chrétienne a nommée Marie-Madeleine ? Si " le Verbe s'est fait chair ", s'il faut prendre au sérieux le mystère de l'Incarnation, peut-on imaginer que le Christ se soit interdit tout amour charnel ? L'histoire, les Evangiles canoniques, les apocryphes et la théologie ont-ils quelque enseignement à nous livrer à ce sujet ? L'auteur d'Une femme innombrable, spécialiste de ces questions et traducteur notamment des Evangiles de Marie, de Philippe et de Thomas, aborde la relation " amoureuse " de Jésus et de Marie-Madeleine à la lumière de la parole de Paul : " Tout est pur pour celui qui est pur. " Son propos précis et sans tabou n'entend pas scandaliser, mais stimuler notre étonnement face au " réalisme de l'Incarnation ". Ce livre est paru en grand format sous le titre Tout est pur pour celui qui est pur.

"tout est pur pour celui qui est pur

Jésus, Marie-Madeleine et l'Incarnation

A new translation and analysis of the gospel that records the actual words of Jesus • Explores the gnostic significance of Jesus's teachings recorded in this gospel • Explains the true nature of the new man whose coming Jesus envisioned • Translated and interpreted by the author of the bestselling The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and The Gospel of Philip One of the cache of codices and manuscripts discovered in Nag Hammadi, the Gospel of Thomas, unlike the canonical gospels, does not contain a narrative recording Christ's life and prophecies. Instead it is a collection of his teachings--what he actually said. These 114 logia, or sayings, were collected by Judas Didymus Thomas, whom some claim to be Jesus's closest disciple. No sooner was this gospel uncovered from the sands of Upper Egypt than scholars and theologians began to bury it anew in a host of conflicting interpretations and polemics. While some say it is a hodgepodge from the canonical gospels, for others it is the source text from which all the gospel writers drew their material and inspiration. In this new translation of the Gospel of Thomas, Jean-Yves Leloup shows that the Jesus recorded by the "infinitely skeptical and infinitely believing" Thomas has much in common with gnostics of non-dualistic schools. Like them, Jesus preaches the coming of a new man, the genesis of the man of knowledge. In this gospel, Jesus describes a journey from limited to unlimited consciousness. The Jesus of Thomas invites us to drink deeply from the well of knowledge that lies within, not so that we may become good Christians but so we may attain the self-knowledge that will make each of us, too, a Christ.

Jean-Yves Leloup

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