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Gospel of Jesus's Wife: "Jesus said to them, 'my wife...' " and "she will be able to
be my disciple" written in the Coptic language of Egypt, the fragment contains the
phrases. |
In 2012 [a year of revelations], the discovery of a tattered papyrus fragment rocked the biblical studies community after some alleged its text
proved that Jesus was married.
Now tests show the fragment is not only likely legitimate -- it's also very old.
The controversial fragment known as the "
Gospel of Jesus's Wife" dates to between the sixth and ninth centuries, and could possibly date back as early as the second to fourth centuries, according to a
newly published study in the
Harvard Theological Review.
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Of course my rabbi son was married
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"The main topic of the fragment is to affirm that women who are mothers and wives can be disciples of Jesus -- a topic that was hotly debated in early Christianity as celibate virginity increasingly became highly valued," King said in a statement.
The document first came to King's attention in 2011. She had it examined by
Roger Bagnall, director of the
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. Bagnall's initial findings were that the fragment was ancient, which lead to more testing.
From Harvard University:
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Wait, my lord God made love and everything?! |
Over the past two years, extensive testing of the papyrus and the carbon ink, as well as analysis of the handwriting and grammar, all indicate that the existing material fragment dates to between the sixth and ninth centuries CE. None of the testing has produced any evidence that the fragment is a modern fabrication or forgery.
More
Prof. Elaine Pagels
Robert Siegel, All Things Considered (NPR.org, Sept. 19, 2012)
When the existence of the papyrus was announced in 2012, another scholar of early Christian texts, Princeton's Elaine Pagels
was on NPR to saying that the papyrus suggests that at the time it was written "apparently, there were stories going around that [Jesus] may have been" married.
"[It] may also suggest that Jesus is using a symbolic language as he is in other Gospels that we know of from the second century, like the Gospel of Thomas or the Gospel of Philip," Pagels told
All Things Considered.
LISTEN
Does it matter if Jesus was married?
(BDE) Professors Dr. Karen King, Dr. Bart Ehrman, and Dr. Mark Jordan address the question, "Does it matter if Jesus [St. Issa] was married?"
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