The Inside Story of a Controversial New Text About Jesus (Married!)

Smithsonian Magazine ^ | 9-18-2012 | Ariel Sabar

[Renfield]

Harvard researcher Karen King today unveiled an ancient papyrus fragment with the phrase, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife.’” The text also mentions “Mary,” arguably a reference to Mary Magdalene. The announcement at an academic conference in Rome is sure to send shock waves through the Christian world. The Smithsonian Channel will premiere a special documentary about the discovery on September 30 at 8 p.m. ET. And Smithsonian magazine reporter Ariel Sabar has been covering the story behind the scenes for weeks, tracing King’s steps from when a suspicious e-mail hit her in-box to the nerve-racking moment when she thought the entire presentation would fall apart. Read our exclusive coverage below....

[hapnHal]

Married? I want to see the marriage certificate. What, “NO” paper work, records sealed....kind of reminds me of someone else.

[passionfruit]

Was there only one guy named Jesus back then? I had once read that it was fairly common. Why do they believe this refers to Jesus Christ?

[longtermmemmory]

It is still just a money scam. In order for Harvard to own this one item they have to buy the whole collection from the anonymous owner.

Too many prior frauds, too many people consider this a fraud all by itself, too much inconsistent with other actual history.

the only people who seem to buy this without question are those who believe the previous fakes are not fake.

[mkleesma]

“Harvard researcher Karen King...”

OK, you lost me after those first four words.

[MichiganCheese]

The church is Christ’s bride.

[SubMareener]

Exactly! The Church is the bride of Christ.

[Red Badger]

well, if he was married, that just means he suffered a little more than we thought...........

[Red Badger]

Papyrii....

[GJones2]

>”well, if he was married, that just means he suffered a little more than we thought...........<

:-)

[FredZarguna]

[Red Badger]

Jesus said there is no marriage in Heaven.

Thats why the call it ‘Heaven’........

[Coyote Choir]

The next extraordinary discovery will be a partial text which seems to indicate Jesus was against global warming.
Topicality is always suspect.

[GJones2]

> "Who exactly ever called Jesus rabbi?"<

I had a vague recollection that Jesus was called Rabbi in the Bible, and see from a Bible site that it happened several times in John. (In Matthew 23, though, Jesus preaches that people ought not to want to be called by an honorable title such as 'Rabbi'.)

I'm skeptical of the significance of the papyrus find, though. If Jesus had a wife and children, it's likely that it would have been mentioned somewhere in the Bible.

[GJones2]

I see you’ve got lots of them. :-)

[FredZarguna]

Because it's Harvard, and the "researcher" doesn't know the difference between Jesus and this guy:

[righttackle44]

I am a layman. But because the size of the fragment, according to the NY Times is smaller than a business card, then we have no context. (1) Who don't know who this Jesus was, but it wasn't Jesus Christ. (2) Jesus Christ had a wife--a bride. In the New Testament, his wife is called The Church of Jesus Christ. In Tanakh (the Old Testament), his bride is the Jewish people. In only non-canonical works (usually gnostic gospels) is there any hint that Jesus the Messiah (the Christ) had a human spouse. That means, discount this story in its entirety.) (3) Context is king. Without context, we have nothing on which to base any interpretation.

Liberal theologians would like nothing better than to lower the Lord Jesus Christ to the level of human being. They are playing with their eternal destinies in doing so. (Yes, Libertarians, that means I believe there is a Hell.)

[Nervous Tick]

>> Papyrii....

Huh? As in, “Whenever I cook chicken livers, Mrs. Tick burns papyrii in a little ceramic thing on the kitchen counter, to counteract the smell.”

No, I’m not sure that’s it. Anyhow, I thought it was spelled “potpourri”. :-)

[FredZarguna]

He had a Jewish mother, so none of the girls he brought home was good enough for him.

Donning flame suit.

[Nervous Tick]

>> Thats why the call it ‘Heaven’........

BAD BOY!!! :-)

[Revolting cat!]

He could’ve been married during those missing years, before she divorced him and kicked him out of the house!