Page 19 of The Sinner and the Scholar
“Theyusually have a penis,” Leila adds dryly.
“It’s long been surmised the Savior had secret conversations with Mary Magdalene,” I point out. “They even hint at a marriage between them. There’s only ahintof this in the codex. But this…” I flip the pages, scanning the recounts. “This is proof. This is…”
“Probably worth a shit-ton of money,” Raven points out.
“Probably going to get us killed,” Mercy adds. “I mean, this changes everything, right?”
I see what she means. The simple fact this gospel exists proves that Christ treated women as equally as men. No, more than that. It proves his highest of confidants was female. Today, this would mean the church should allow women into the seminary. It proves that the backbone of their male-dominated institution was built on lies. Scandal. Sin.
I pause at a paragraph recounting Mary’s visions and glance at Raven.
“She’s psychic. Like you.”
Her eyes harden. “So what does this mean?”
“I don’t think this is just a gospel. I think this is a prophecy. Look.” I point at a page set apart from the usual recounts of her talks with the Teacher. “Her visions.”
Five points of the star will make
Five cracks in the brave so that
Five relics of the divine borne by
Five sinners of saints to mend
Five heralding horses
The first is the last
The enemy is within
To sin is human
To forgive is blest
One heart to bleed
One body to heal
One soul to sacrifice
One broken exile
One stone freed
It shall be on this day when one crack becomes many, and many become one, the disagreeing savior shall usher forth an age of sin.
“I’m a little rusty. I don’t think I have that right,” I mumble, losing the translation.Disagreeingsounds like the wrong word. And divine might be holy or heavenly. Blest could be the archaic form of blessed or something else. There is more, but I lose the flow.
“Yeah, that’s weird.” Tawny nods.
The prophecy goes on for multiple verses. Some of it looks like the inner workings of a mad woman’s mind. It doesn’t make sense, but the fact that it mentions both sinners and saints makes my skin crawl. This means something to ustoday.
But it’s gibberish until I can translate the entire book.
“We can’t let them know about this,” I announce. “We found it first. Men discredited Mary.”
“Fuck them,” Raven spits. “They come here all high and saintly, thinking they know better than us.”
