A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus' Wife

NY Times ^ | September 18, 2012 | Laurie Goodstein

[Altariel]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife ...’ ”

The faded papyrus fragment is smaller than a business card, with eight lines on one side, in black ink legible under a magnifying glass. Just below the line about Jesus having a wife, the papyrus includes a second provocative clause that purportedly says, “she will be able to be my disciple.”

The finding was made public in Rome on Tuesday at an international meeting of Coptic scholars by Karen L. King, a historian who has published several books about new Gospel discoveries and is the first woman to hold the nation’s oldest endowed chair, the Hollis professor of divinity.

[djf]

Possibly.

But Christ was, more than just about all else, one who knew and paid attention to natural law and the universal order of things.

It would have been very unusual and probably unacceptable for a single man to hang out with twelve guys who didn’t have the best reputation on the block...

And no doubt he was closer to Magdalena than just about any other person on Earth.

Any time things like this come up, I just sit here drooling thinking/wondering about what they might have in the Vatican library!!!

[A CA Guy]

Someone could have said they thought it would have been good to write that Jesus had a wife four hundred years after his death. So we are to take that as Gospel or one of the many false writings?

[plain talk]

Yes ... And also highly unusual for him too be nailed to a cross, die and come back to life. Highly unusual.

[Fiji Hill]

Had Jesus married, he would have sinned by willingly going to the cross and leaving his wife behind.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks Altariel. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. Suggestion of a married Jesus -- Ancient papyrus shows that some early Christians believed he wed To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[Sequoyah101]

meh.

[Kenny Bunk]

The Papyrus was date-stamped, "350 AD." It was also countersigned by Mary Magdalen, whom this idiotic woman also believes to have been JC's GF.

What is really suspicious here is, that as any fool knows, Jesus was at this time proselytizing among the American Indians (to whom Elizabeth Warren is genetically linked) in the Four corners Region around Wolf Creek Pass.

The only theological question I have here is, Did this happen during that strange, but oft-quoted period when "Christ was a Corporal?"

[bigbob]

So what? Faith is based on...faith. Not scraps of paper or “proof”.

[Marcella]

Both his mother, Mary, and Mary Magdalene were at the cross when he died. She could have been the wife and that doesn’t bother me. It was common for men to marry and would have raised eyebrows if he hadn’t been.

[pallis]

In symbolic terms, if Jesus has a bride, he has a wife, the Church.

[longtermmemmory]

The real payoff line is:

The owner will “donate” this if Harvard buys the rest of his collection. IE a salted gold mine.

How many of these have been faked?

[Texas56]

First, Jesus didn’t come here to get married. He had a greater mission on his mind.

Second, there were other prominent Biblical persons who were not married: John the Baptist, Stephen the first martyr, the Apostle Paul, John - the brother of Jesus, Lazarus, Daniel, Elijah, and Elisha to name a few.

Moses didn’t marry until he was 80!

So a 30 year old unmarried male in Jewish culture was not so unsusual.

Third, I highly resent an agnostic/atheist/religious professor relying on a 4th century papyrus writing to try to negate my faith.

[jeffc]

1) Jesus referred to the church as his bride.

2) Oh, so now all those saying He never existed will jump on this "proof" (proving their hypocrisy)?

[Crapgame]

Wolf Creek Pass? The 37 miles of hell way up on the Great Divide? No wonder He was proselytizing there....(with apologies to C.W. McCall....)

[Mach9]

Obviously from a relative of Elizabeth Warren, one of the Galilee Cherokees.

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

"It was common for men to marry and would have raised eyebrows if he hadn’t been."

But then, Jesus was an uncommon man, to say the least. Remember Mary was overshadowed by The Holy Ghost before being married? That certainly raised Joseph's eyebrows, but God didn't mind, did He.

And I know others have said this, but...It also raised eyebrows that He healed the sick, forgave sinners, cast out demons, died and then rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven.

[trailhkr1]

Myself, I think Jesus was married for the simple reason that for Him not to have been married in His time would have been remarkable enough that one of the Apostles would have mentioned it.

I've also always thought he was married..and why the care if he was???? I could never understand that.

Of course I have always thought he was just a man(a good man that did incredible things), not anything spiritual with special powers and the biblical writers of the day just exaggerated his abilities abit to score points.

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Don't the mormons believe in a tribe of Israel called the mormoni who made their way to America, buried some stuff in NY, and built mounds?

Perhaps Lizzy Warren is related to them.

[Venturer]

No mention of a wife anywhere duting his lifetime.

She finds a scrap of papyrus 400 years later and she touts it as truth.

BS.

[GeronL]

blasphemy

we need to burn down Harvard

/s