Posted on 09/28/2012 8:38:33 AM PDT by Steelfish
‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’ Fragment Is a Fake, Vatican Says
September 28, 2012 VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - An ancient papyrus fragment which a Harvard scholar says contains the first recorded mention that Jesus may have had a wife is a fake, the Vatican said on Friday.
"Substantial reasons would lead one to conclude that the papyrus is indeed a clumsy forgery," the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said in an editorial by its editor, Gian Maria Vian. "In any case, it's a fake."
Joining a highly charged academic debate over the authenticity of the text, written in ancient Egyptian Coptic, the newspaper published a lengthy analysis by expert Alberto Camplani of Rome's La Sapienza university, outlining doubts about the manuscript and urging extreme caution.
The fragment, which reads "Jesus said to them, my wife" was unveiled by Harvard Professor Karen King as a text from the 4th century at a congress of Coptic Studies in Rome last week.
Her study divided the academic community, with some hailing it as a landmark discovery while others rapidly expressed their doubts .
"It's really pretty unlikely that it's authentic," University of Durham Professor Francis Watson told Reuters after he published a paper arguing the words on the fragment were a rearrangement of phrases from a well known Coptic text.
Watson, who has previously worked on identifying forged gospels, said it was likely to be an ancient blank fragment that was written over in the 20th or 21st century by a forger seeking to make money.
Watson argues the words on the fragment do not fit grammatically into a larger text.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Even if it’s not a fake, it makes no difference whatsoever. Jesus is still the Son of God, He died for our sins and rose again on the third day....................
Even if it weren’t, it would simply be a text written by a gnostic or other heretic of the era.
Does anyone remember the Hitler diaries? Hugh Trevor-Roper, the most famous British historian, made a fool of himself by claiming that they were authentic. His reputation never recovered.
Was Jesus married?
Is Jesus your only way to salvation?
Let me think, which question is more important? Hmmmmmm....
Now the find of the century is shot down as a fake.
I knew it was a fake from day one, anyone who checked this gal’s background would have noticed she has a history of feminist activism.
This is “The Secret Gospel of Mark” all over again. A very poor forgery unveiled by a unscrupulous academic trying to make a name for themselves.
There would have to be a lot more to the story than the fragment tells to know what it means, if anything. It could be a fake, or it could be a Gnostic writing, or it could be some variation of Jesus discussing his Bride, the Church.
I seem to recall the Catholic church in the dark ages did believe Jesus was married. Something about the knights of Sion or some such? Isn’t that what the DaVinci Code was all about?
Whodathunk it?
An undestroyed fragment turns up after all these years in spite of the fact heaven and earth were turned over centuries ago to destroy all the evidence
http://asspos.blogspot.com/2012/09/ancient-text-reveals-false-religion.html
This one wasn’t fake *snicker*
Apparently experts no long need to actually see a document to determine authenticity.
Dear Penthousious,
I know thee shall not believe it, but yea, verily, it happened to me...
That's some funny stuff.
He's an editor. Editors are experts on everything.
Amen. But, have to say this, too. Given the credibility issue and vested interest the Catholic Church would have in this subject, would anyone expect them to react any differently? Fake! Heretic! Burn her at the stake! Hasn’t the world heard that before from the Vatican et al?
Wouldn’t matter to me. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Full stop. If He were married, I would think that would count as His support of the institution of marriage and another of HIs examples of how to live.
He's an editor. Editors are experts on everything.
Indeed! (And worth repeating!)
Then I’m surprised she didn’t try to claim that Jesus beat his wife...........
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.