Papyrus Referring to Jesus’ Wife Is More Likely Ancient Than Fake, Scientists Say

NY Slimes ^ | 4/10/2014 | Laurie Goodstein

[mojito]

A faded fragment of papyrus known as the “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife,” which caused an uproar when unveiled by a Harvard Divinity School historian in 2012, has been tested by scientists who conclude in a journal published on Thursday that the ink and papyrus are very likely ancient, and not a modern forgery.

Skepticism about the tiny scrap of papyrus has been fierce because it contained a phrase never before seen in any piece of Scripture: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife...’ ” Too convenient for some, it also contained the words “she will be able to be my disciple,” a clause that inflamed the debate in some churches over whether women should be allowed to be priests.

The papyrus fragment has now been analyzed by professors of electrical engineering, chemistry and biology at Columbia University, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who reported that it resembles other ancient papyri from the fourth to the eighth centuries. (Scientists at the University of Arizona, who dated the fragment to centuries before the birth of Jesus, concluded that their results were unreliable.)

The test results do not prove that Jesus had a wife or disciples who were women, only that the fragment is more likely a snippet from an ancient manuscript than a fake, the scholars agree.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

You state what I was thinking; i.e. Gnostic nonsense. False stories and doctrines began almost immediately both during and after Christ’s death. The Bible tells us that; i.e. calling Jesus a winebibber(SP?) etc.

[varyouga]

“That the Word of God is not true due to an apparent failure of all powerful God but is somehow intelligibly OBJECYIVELY contained in all of Creation; a sign of His Power.”

No, I’m saying that the Word of God is true and is represented symbolically by everything we perceive to be the Universe. From the specs of dust circling the furthest galaxy all the way to each of us humans.

Each being that is conscious within our Universe has a limited perspective of the entire picture and can only learn/perceive so much in a lifetime. We each have a separated, timed and biased view of something that is actually singular, timeless and perfectly balanced.

We are limited by God’s imposition of time, space, energy and entropy within this Universe. Over time through language and writing, humans were able to condense knowledge gathered over many lifetimes.

The Bible is a fine example of this but it is still man’s imperfect, biased perception of the true Word of God: The Universe itself. God gave us imperfections and individual biases for a higher purpose than we may ever comprehend. The Bible itself is ultimately a human work and still subject to human imperfection.

We are still not done learning, far from it. With all the scientific breakthroughs coming together, we will hear from Him soon.

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic was posted 4/10/2014. Thanks mojito.