A Counterpoint

In light of the critical debate within class, I feel the need to present my side of the argument. Within the testimony of Margery Kempe their lie several debatable issues, such as the nature and purpose of martyrdom, the reliability of an author, the classification of "non-fiction," and the like. But for the sake of intellectual debate, I have to point out just a few things about Margery Kempe's divinely inspired agenda. The nature of the reader's religious views, when reading any text, may be significant, but I don't think it necessarily divides our class into two distinct categories of understanding. When reading any text that claims to be true, religious or otherwise, there should not be an instant consensus of it by any group of readers. A person should look at the logic of the text and access its claims individually. To say, "I'm a Christian, and she's a Christian, so I believe her" is vastly foolish in any situation. I'm not accusing anyone of taking this text at face value, but I feel the need to delve a bit deeper into her claims. There is a massive gap between the God she claims to be intimate with, and the God of the Bible, and any Christian who studies the Bible should be a little uneasy when reading this story as fact.
Nowhere in the Bible do Jesus or God himself make a statement that may imply any love interest in a human woman. Despite the hearsay of Mary Magdalene's role in Jesus's life, there is no textual evidence to support any intimate relationship with any woman, especially not marriage. In Genesis, and throughout the Bible, God is very clear that mankind is his creation, not his equal. The God of the Bible, although merciful toward people who have sinned or are downtrodden, would never have married a woman, especially not a woman who was already married to a man, with several children! Marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman, God would know, He invented it. I am convinced that the "persecutors" of Margery's day didn't believe her and gave her a hard time because they knew this. It is one thing to say God talked to you; that's not unreasonable. But to say God married you, and that you were still chaste? No, honey, that's not what God does.
Margery Kempe may have been visited by a Spirit, and may very well have believed this to be true, but if that is the case I do not think that Spirit or those voices were from God. His Word directly contradicts most of her claims. The genre of this book may have been intended to be non-fiction, but for a rational person to believe this really happened the way the texts says it did, requires an irrational understanding of God and Christian values.