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A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus' Wife
NY Times ^ | September 18, 2012 | Laurie Goodstein

Posted on 09/18/2012 2:35:59 PM PDT by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: arielsabar; christianity; epigraphyandlanguage; faithandphilosophy; godsgravesglyphs; gospelofjesuswife; gospelofjohn; harvard; hewasarabbi; jamescameron; jamesossuary; jesus; jesustomb; jesuswife; karenking; letshavejerusalem; losttombofjesus; mariame; mariamne; marriageatcana; marymagdalene; rabbismarry; sectarianturmoil; simchajacobovici; talpiot; talpiottomb; veritas; weddingatcana
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To: iowamark; Morgana; Salvation

I knew that from seeing “Harvard”

Absolutely nobody at the Harvard Divinity School is going to believe in Jesus Christ.


41 posted on 09/18/2012 3:35:01 PM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
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To: Wyrd bið ful aræd

I’ve studied the Bible since I was a child and I don’t care if Jesus had a wife. One of these days we will know.


42 posted on 09/18/2012 3:36:09 PM PDT by Marcella (Republican Conservatism is dead. PREPARE)
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To: Altariel

Beyond the completely lack of authority for this scrap as a source of anything, even had Jesus said, “My wife...” he could well have finished with “My wife is the church”, or “My wife is my father’s will.”

The scrap is worthless on the face of it. Then consider this could be anything from satire to miscommunication on the part of the person penning the text on the scrap.

If Christ had a wife, we would most CERTAINLY know it. He would not have hidden it and his followers would not have hidden it.


43 posted on 09/18/2012 3:38:05 PM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (REPEAL OBAMACARE. Nothing else matters.)
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To: djf
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.

Is that a joke? Now, we are supposed to believe he was just a normal guy. Those twelve believed him to be the Son of God, he proved it through his actions and his life. If he acted like everyone else he would not have been believed.

44 posted on 09/18/2012 3:42:59 PM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free
If Christ had a wife, we would most CERTAINLY know it. He would not have hidden it and his followers would not have hidden it.

Not so fast...we live in the information age and things still get covered up or mislead today. Pretty simple to cover up Jesus marriage back then...cake walk actually...especially when very little was written and the biblical writings were for the most part "censored/approved" by the early Catholic church who as controlled by a small select group of men.

45 posted on 09/18/2012 3:43:27 PM PDT by trailhkr1
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To: MeganC

The church is the bride of Christ.


46 posted on 09/18/2012 3:45:18 PM PDT by freepertoo
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To: AppyPappy

Indeed, Yeshua was a common name in those days.


47 posted on 09/18/2012 3:49:23 PM PDT by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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To: djf

So he chose the beginning of his three years of ministry which would culminate in his brutal slaying to get married?

That’s ridiculous.


48 posted on 09/18/2012 3:50:20 PM PDT by Politicalmom (Liberalism. Ideas so great they have to be mandatory.-FReeper Osage Orange)
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To: Altariel

“Jesus Christ became man.”. I would think Christ was married, love and sex are as natural as food and water. I wish it could be proven, because the implication is huge. Among many things, it would make marriage that much more sacred between a man and a woman


49 posted on 09/18/2012 3:50:59 PM PDT by Toespi
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To: All

My apologies for not capitalizing the pronouns referring to Jesus. I goofed.


50 posted on 09/18/2012 3:51:26 PM PDT by Politicalmom (Liberalism. Ideas so great they have to be mandatory.-FReeper Osage Orange)
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To: scbison

Amen!


51 posted on 09/18/2012 3:53:33 PM PDT by fortheDeclaration (Pr 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation:but sin is a reproach to any people)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free
Beyond the completely lack of authority for this scrap as a source of anything, even had Jesus said, “My wife...” he could well have finished with “My wife is the church”, or “My wife is my father’s will.”


It was a note to his apostles concerning his wireless connection. Here it is with the missing parts (in parenthesis).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(Contact verizon.)

My Wife...

(...Fi isn't working and I want to watch Netflicks tonight.)

52 posted on 09/18/2012 3:59:32 PM PDT by Rides_A_Red_Horse (If there is a war on women, the Kennedys are the Spec Ops troops.)
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To: scbison
"It is from 4th century, enough said."

It wasn't Jesus. It was Henny Youngman, and he was saying: "Take my wife...please."

53 posted on 09/18/2012 4:12:23 PM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Altariel

I question jumping to conclusions with one small reference but I would have no issue if it was shown he was married. In fact I would like it. There is no reason to think he would not be married.


54 posted on 09/18/2012 4:14:54 PM PDT by Proud2BeRight
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To: Altariel

The false myth of a wife of Jesus is to validate the blood line for King and Queen (the real Illuminati). It is a trick of Satan.


55 posted on 09/18/2012 4:23:19 PM PDT by bmwcyle (Corollary - Electing the same person over and over and expecting a different outcome is insanity)
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To: Altariel
Pauls instructions in Ephesians 5 makes it just about impossible that Jesus was married. For Paul outlines the instructions to husbands and wives ... and his comparison is to Christ and the church ... not Christ and His wife, which would be the logical contrast if Jesus WAS married.

Liberalism is a mental illness ... none more evident in the so-called Religious Studies departments at any secular university.

56 posted on 09/18/2012 4:23:55 PM PDT by dartuser ("If you are ... what you were ... then you're not.")
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To: Altariel

There’s no reason Jesus Christ couldn’t have taken a wife. It’s entirely possible that He did, since I see nothing in scripture which would preclude it...


57 posted on 09/18/2012 4:26:13 PM PDT by sargon
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To: Altariel

There are many other academics who have propounded that Jesus was married, that Mary of Magdala was his wife, and that there are references in ancient documents to the effect that she was the head of the Christian group in Jerusalem after the crucifixion.

I don’t know why this would create a problem within the Christian community if it were true other than it would overturn some Church rules that were made up by men many years after the events.

Can’t be proven; can’t be disproven.


58 posted on 09/18/2012 4:34:21 PM PDT by wildbill (You're just jealous because the Voices talk oMnly to me.)
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To: Altariel

If it was proven, it wouldn’t bother me to learn that Jesus had a wife.

As a matter of fact, it would actually fit in with God’s plan that His Son would experience all that we experience, feel all that we feel, suffer all that we have suffered.

(All the men say, “and boy do we suffer!”)
(All the women elbow their man in the ribs OWW)

But the fact is, there are so many well preserved and complete manuscripts from that time that are total fabrications and legends and crazy stories about Jesus; many of them read like revamped Greek legends or the Arabian Nights.

This scrap of a story is just that...a scrap of a story. It smacks of tabloid journalism to so overblow it before the jury is in, and yes, the timing is a little suspect.

If it actually turned out to be something, I don’t think so many Christians would be offended. But good sense and scholarship seem to indicate that this more points to the popularity of Jesus in this era, leading to popular rumor and a market demand for supposed secret manuscripts during a time of fervor for religious discussion and rampant cultic activity, rather than the testimony of a witness of Jesus Christ Himself.

My view from the cheap seats...


59 posted on 09/18/2012 4:53:20 PM PDT by Tuanedge
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To: wildbill

It seems unlikely to me that the Romans, knowing that Mary Magdalena was associated with Christ, would have allowed her to the crucifixion and not apprehended her UNLESS she was his wife, in which case it would have stood for a kind of in-yur-face moment.


60 posted on 09/18/2012 5:00:59 PM PDT by djf (Political Science: Conservatives = govern-ment. Liberals = givin-me-it.)
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