Draft:Antti Marjanen

Antti Sakari Marjanen (born 1952 in Helsinki) is a Finnish theologian and professor emeritus of Gnosticism and early Christian literature at the University of Helsinki. He worked at the University of Helsinki's Faculty of Theology in teaching and research positions since for almost 35 years. In 2015, he was on the editorial board of the journal New Testament Studies.

Marjanen's specialties are the Nag Hammadi library in Coptic, Gnosticism, and the roles and status of women in early Christian texts. After his retirement, the book Women and Knowledge in Early Christianity: An Introduction was produced in honour of his 'lifetime of scholarship'. Within this book, Professor John D. Turner suggested that Marjanen may be 'the only Professor of Gnostic Studies in the modern academic world'.

His book The Woman Jesus Loved: Mary Magdalene in the Nag Hammadi Library and Related Documents studies Mary Magdalene's role and representation in the Nag Hammadi texts and related documents. In it, he argues that Mary traditions do not always utilise her character in the same way. R. McL. Wilson described the book as an extensive and careful consideration of questions raised about Mary Magdalene in relevant texts. In the same review, he stated that those 'who turn to this book in hope of sensational revelations, on the strength of its title, are doomed to disappointment.' Professor Janet A. Timbie strongly reccomended the work as 'a model for the next stage in studies of Gnosticism and women in the early Church'.

Alin Suciu stated that Marjanen was 'among the first to argue systematically that the ”Mary” who features in the Gnostic texts is indeed the Magdalene and not the mother of Christ'.