ABC asks (but in the wee hours): Was Jesus married? (Christianity takes another hit.)

AP News ^

[Happy2BMe]

ABC asks (but in the wee hours): Was Jesus married?

The Associated Press

    NEW YORK -- ABC News correspondent Elizabeth Vargas concedes her network is stepping into a theological minefield with its one-hour exploration of whether Jesus Christ had a wife.
    The ABC News special, "Jesus, Mary and DaVinci," is scheduled to air Tuesday, November 3rd, at 3:35 a.m. (The prime time slot on Monday is occupied by Monday Night Football.)
    "You can't talk about this subject without intriguing people or offending people," Vargas said earlier this week. "We're trying to do it as respectfully as we can."
    ABC screened the special for some reporters and religious leaders on Thursday. The program is based on the best-selling novel, The DaVinci Code, which claims to be partly grounded in historical fact.
    The book asserts that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' wife -- not a prostitute, as in some teachings -- and that she fled Jerusalem with his child after his crucifixion.
    The story was kept alive for centuries by a secret society that included the painter Leonardo DaVinci, who supposedly inserted clues about it in his art, the book claimed.
    The ABC special speaks to several theologians who either discount the story or assert that it is possible. Vargas said ABC found no proof that Jesus had a wife, but couldn't completely discount it, either.
    Vargas, who was raised a Roman Catholic, said her own parents said to her, "Oh, my goodness, what are you doing?" when they found out she was working on the story.
    It drew some immediate criticism, particularly from a representative of the Catholic League, who said ABC News relied too heavily on the opinion of the Rev. Richard McBrien of Notre Dame, who believes Mary Magdalene's importance has been historically understated and that it's possible she was his wife.
    "The facts themselves scream out that this is a crackpot theory," said Joseph DeFeo, policy analyst for the Catholic League.

[Ciexyz]

No one has yet mentioned the celibate tradition of the Qumran community (which produced the Dead Sea Scrolls). Qumran was proof that the celibate lifestyle was operating at that time period in at least one sector of Jewish religious life.

So we must discount the statement that is being thrown around as gospel, "Jesus would not have been accepted as a Rabbi if he was not married." Such a statement would comfort only those who wish to disbelieve in Christianity.

[Allegra]

The ABC News special, "Jesus, Mary and DaVinci," is scheduled to air Tuesday, November 3rd, at 3:35 a.m.

3:35 a.m. LOL

Right? Makes you wonder just who their target audience is.

I'll bet those sponsors are just lining up on this one. LOL

[Neenah]

"Jesus wept."

[Tom D.]

It would have been unusual for a 1st century 30 year old Jewish man not to have been married. It seems a little odd to me that if Jesus was not married that there is no mention of that fact in the Gospels. It certainly does not seem that Jesus thought that there was any reason not to get married. To the extent that it matters, it might be a good idea to place the burden of proof on the side that says that he was not married since that would have been somewhat out of the ordinary.

Clearly Simon-Peter was married at some time because Jesus cured his mother-in-law of a fever (Mark 1:29-31). As far as I know there is no mention of Simon-Peter's wife, so it seems: 1) It was unremarkable that at least one of the 12 disciples was married; and, 2) If Simon-Peter was married during the time he spent with Christ, the fact that his wife was not mentioned leads me to believe that wives of the other disciples or of Jesus himself were not sufficiently important in the eyes of the Gospel writers for them to say anything about them.

One of the tenents of Trinitarian Christian thought is that Christ was truely man. That concept poses some interesting thoughts. For instance: Did Jesus know that he was God? If so, it seems to me that it that knowledge would diminish his standing: It is much easier for Jesus to come to earth, go slumming with us riff-raff for 30 or 35 years, and get nailed to a cross, secure in the knowledge (note knowledge and not faith) that he was going to be out of there pretty soon than it is to be truly human, with all of our frailties, temptations, and doubts, and still to triumph. I do not believe that God sent us a ringer.

Perhaps, I have gone far afield, but I believe that Christians of all stripes often fail to appreciate the full significance of Jesus's being truly man rather than some man-god. If you agree with that concept, then such issues as "Was Jesus married?" become an irrelevant side-show or an unnecessary distraction.

[Oztrich Boy]

John the Baptist began his ministry in 28CE

Where did you get that date from?

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar> Luke 3:1

Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, Luke 3:23

Luke screwed it up by dating Jesus's birth to the time of the Census of 4CE. Which is not compatible to a time of birth under Herod the Great. On Luke's mistake that would make him about 30. Luke got it wrong.

[Oztrich Boy]

No one has yet mentioned the celibate tradition of the Qumran community (which produced the Dead Sea Scrolls). Qumran was proof that the celibate lifestyle was operating at that time period in at least one sector of Jewish religious life

The Qumram community were Essenes. From his teaching, Jesus was of the Pharasee tradition.

[theFIRMbss]

>I have not heard the "Jesus was gay" thingy yet, but it does not surprise me since they claim that everyone from Abe Lincoln to the Pope

This is one of the
oldest heresies, and has
ancient documents

that well-meaning folk
tried to "hush-up" as basis.
An "alternative"

Gospel of Mark has
a strange passage. Here's the text,
and a background link:

The first fragment of the Secret Gospel of Mark, meant to be inserted between Mark 10.34 and 35, reads:

They came to Bethany. There was one woman there whose brother had died. She came and prostrated herself before Jesus and spoke to him. "Son of David, pity me!" But the disciples rebuked her. Jesus was angry and went with her into the garden where the tomb was. Immediately a great cry was heard from the tomb. And going up to it, Jesus rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb, and immediately went in where the young man was. Stretching out his hand, he lifted him up, taking hold his hand. And the youth, looking intently at him, loved him and started begging him to let him remain with him. And going out of the tomb, they went into the house of the youth, for he was rich. And after six days Jesus gave him an order and, at evening, the young man came to him wearing nothing but a linen cloth. And he stayed with him for the night, because Jesus taught him the mystery of the Kingdom of God. And then when he left he went back to the other side of the Jordan.

[Ogmios]

Jesus was called Rabbi, you figure it out.

[Slings and Arrows]

Why is this such an outrage? A Jewish Rabbi is usually married.

LOL! Got flame suit on! He was a Rabbi, folks...

I'm peeved, but not for the reason you're thinking.

< rant >
WHY must people insist on using the redundant abomination "Jewish Rabbi?" It's not like using "Catholic Priest" or "Episcopal Priest" - there are many religions with priests. But name me ONE religion other than Judaism that has rabbis! The ONLY time "Jewish" should precede "Rabbi" is in identifying which denomination or division of Judaism the rabbi belongs to; e.g. "Orthodox Jewish Rabbi." ARGH!

Okay, I'm done.
< /rant >

[Slings and Arrows]

LOL! Got any candidates for the Freeper?

[theFIRMbss]

>We should start our own
Jesus Theory: Ours could be
that Jesus really

was a Freeper who
went back in time to derail
the Roman empire...

>>Got any candidates for the Freeper?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I'd like to think
LaBelleDameSansMerci is
doing good some where...

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

But Herod the Great reigned until 4BCE. Which does fit.

[Oztrich Boy]

not by a minunum of 8 years

[gitmo]

Which prophecies would have been invalidated if Jesus had married? I can't think of any.

[searchandrecovery]

And on Thanksgiving Day ABC will present "Moses - A Black Homosexual Cross-Dresser?".

Vargas said ABC found no proof of this, but couldn't completely discount it, either.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

Jesus was at the wedding, but he was a guest, not the bridegroom. Here's the source:

John 2

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. [NIV]

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

You assume it was the one in 4CE. But there was also one in 8 BC which makes it all fit.

[StupidQuestions]

The people who want to find Biblical support for the marriage of Jesus have an answer for that and it involves the translation of the Bible. Apparently they find the word 'invited' is an inexact translation. They think the word 'called' is more exact than 'invited'.


Traditional Jewish records explain that a "call" is usually made to the Bridegroom and his groomsmen when the wedding preparations are complete. Jewish traditions explain this call was made in the evening. They note, according to other translations of John, that Jesus was "called" to the wedding.

It seems to me to be slim evidence of Jesus' marriage but I'm hardly a Biblical scholar.

[NeoCaveman]

Does McBrein harbor a secret wish to be Episcopalian?

He might. But he likes the prestige of Norte Dame. Maybe that's the only only reason he doesn't leave.

[nightdriver]

"Which prophecies would have been invalidated if Jesus had married?"

Isaiah 53:8, "..and who shall declare His generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living:"

and Dan 9:26 "...And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off,..."

for starters.