Professor Karen L. King, in her office at Harvard Divinity School, held a fragment of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a reference to Jesus' wife.
Posted on 09/18/2012 5:05:46 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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.
The provenance of the papyrus fragment is a mystery, and its owner has asked to remain anonymous. Until Tuesday, Dr. King had shown the fragment to only a small circle of experts in papyrology and Coptic linguistics, who concluded that it is most likely not a forgery. But she and her collaborators say they are eager for more scholars to weigh in and perhaps upend their conclusions.
Even with many questions unsettled, the discovery could reignite the debate over whether Jesus was married, whether Mary Magdalene was his wife and whether he had a female disciple. These debates date to the early centuries of Christianity, scholars say. But they are relevant today, when global Christianity is roiling over the place of women in ministry and the boundaries of marriage.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Will they never give up?
That man sure dresses funny.
In all seriousness, wouldn’t Jesus’ wife be mentioned in the New Testament? It is a fairly in-depth account of his life. You would think they wouldn’t have missed something like that.
Didn’t Father Guido Sarducci, on SNL, produce a copy of the bill from “The Last Brunch”?
The Council of Carthage's standards for authenticity were much higher than the NYT's
Nope! These "academic" attacks on Christianity will continue. And since Jesus is not going to go away, we can only hope that these "scholars" will go away.
Blasphemy! Burn the embassies!
I can only pray that I’m found worthy to be accounted the bride of Christ, and to be his faithful disciple,
These people have no spirit or understanding, and and the night is coming,
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,” Romans 1:22
My faith is utterly shattered. I must now go out and fight for “gay marriage.” /s
Nope, they won’t go away either. They just keep trying to make Jesus into what they need him to be so that they feel justified in their miserable lives.
Professor Karen L. King, in her office at Harvard Divinity School.
“Karen, I never knew you.”
I guess that would explain why Da Vinci included a woman in his painting of the Last Supper.
“Jesus said to them, ‘My wife ...take her please.’ ”
I’ll be in town all week.
“Jesus said to them, ‘My wife ..
...is the Church.’”
Really. For 1 thing, this artifact is a bit late to the discussion. It could be a copy of earlier scripts, but it could also be something made up much later.
For the other - as above, it could be the “Jesus is the husband and His bride is the Church” turned a different way.
Even with many questions unsettled, the discovery could reignite the debate over whether Jesus was married,
What questions? What debate?
There has never been any questions or debate about Jesus having a wife.
DAN BROWN’s book is FICTION!!!!!!!!!
LOL, pray for them.
It’s Greek to me.
“Jesus said to them, ‘My wife ...’ ”
Might have been a migrant crop picker from Mexico too.... ;-)
Any time you are near one of these “Intellectuals” carry a one iron. Even God can’t hit a one iron./sarc
Are you kidding? There are plenty of people out there who refuse to believe that Jesus existed. And I'm not talking about whether or not He was the Son of God, but whether or not there was a person/philosopher/teacher whose life story serves as the basis for the "stories" of the gospels.
How Peter could have founded some kind of papal dynasty with a "fable" for a central figure is beyond my reasoning.
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