Posted on 11/14/2014 7:00:26 AM PST by Gamecock
Was Jesus Married with Children? Here We Go Again
Responding to claims made in the new book, The Lost Gospel: Decoding the Sacred Text that Reveals Jesus’ Marriage to Mary Magdalene
There is absolutely zero evidence from early Christianity that Jesus was married. Not a single historical source anywhere tells us such a thing. The closest any source comes to doing so is a fragmented portion of the third-century Gospel of Philip where we are told that Jesus kissed Mary “on the…”, but the text is missing at precisely this point. But, aside from being a late gospel, the context of this passage does not suggest any sexual/romantic love for Mary. Even Bart Ehrman agrees that the affection Jesus shows Mary here is not a different kind than shown to his male disciples (Ehrman,Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code, 179).
By now, most have probably heard the news splash about the forthcoming book by Simcha Jacobovici and Barrie Wilson, The Lost Gospel: Decoding the Sacred Text that Reveals Jesus’ Marriage to Mary Magdalene. If the number of emails in my inbox on this topic is any indication, then apparently the news has traveled fast.
If the title of this new book sounds like The Da Vinci Code redivivus, then you would be right. Jacobovici and Wilson are not the first to claim Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. They stand in a long line of conspiracy theorists who have claimed the same thing, including the recently debunked Gospel of Jesus’ Wife (see my articles on this manuscript here and here).
Although I have not yet read this book, it seems that a few comments are in order to help prepare people for what is coming:
1. The reader should know that Jacobovici and Wilson have certainly not discovered a “Lost Gospel” in any normal sense of the term. We know about many gospels that did not make it into our New Testament canon (e.g., Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Mary), but this newly discovered text is not one of them. On the contrary, the authors base their claim on a Syriac manuscript, dated to the 6th century AD, that contains a pseudepigraphical story entitled Joseph and Aseneth. That story has been well known to scholars for years.
2. The story of Joseph and Aseneth has nothing to do with Jesus and Mary. It does not even mention Jesus and Mary. The authors are forced to argue that the story must be read allegorically–where Joseph=Jesus and Aseneth=Mary–in order to reach their conclusions. Needless to say, this is highly speculative and subjective.
3. Jacobovici, a filmmaker known for his documentaries, has already come under fire for his previous sensationalistic claim that he discovered the lost tomb of Jesus. This claim has been widely criticized in the academic community. For more on these criticisms, see the Time magazine article here.
4. There is absolutely zero evidence from early Christianity that Jesus was married. Not a single historical source anywhere tells us such a thing. The closest any source comes to doing so is a fragmented portion of the third-century Gospel of Philip where we are told that Jesus kissed Mary “on the…”, but the text is missing at precisely this point. But, aside from being a late gospel, the context of this passage does not suggest any sexual/romantic love for Mary. Even Bart Ehrman agrees that the affection Jesus shows Mary here is not a different kind than shown to his male disciples (Ehrman,Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code, 179).
With these four considerations in mind, it seems clear that we have yet another book that is marketed to the masses who love conspiracy theories. Such sensationalistic books no doubt make good financial sense, but they don’t make good history.
Yashua is the husband of his Bride, the church.
If Jesus had been married with children, no doubt his children would have been taken care of by the new Christians, especially those of the Apostles, and ultimately would have been made part of the ‘ruling/preaching class’ of Bishops, there’s no reason to have taken this normal path. But, it didn’t because there were none.
these bastards will never stop
these bastards will never stop....................................... Off with their heads!!!~ LOL
Orson Pratt - Jesus a polygamist, God the Father had a plurality of wives. "We have also proved that both God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ inherit their wives in eternity as well as in time." The Seer, p. 172 (1853)
Every Christmas and Easter “they” have to try to disprove the reasons for...well, Christmas and Easter.
How ‘bout we do the same for Ramadan? THAT will be easy.
These people who love to portray Jesus as having been married always pick the wrong Mary.
It was Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who was to be found sitting at His feet whenever He visited their home, and this Mary who used her dowry to anointed Him in preparation for His burial, the way a wife would. That act of love signaled to the world that Jesus was HER choice of a husband, even if it wasn’t going to happen.
The people who pair Mary Magdalene with Jesus are the same people who erroneously believe she was a prostitute, although there is no Biblical evidence of that.
Yeah, sure he was.
And he had a second “secret” family in Damascus that he used to visit when he was there on business, too.
Geez. Why can’t they just leave this crap alone.
the next thing people will tell us is that Jesus was jewish....
haters gotta hate
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the secret text is said to be the long lost book of “The Letter to The Lebesians” written by pauline...
Not as long as there is a buck to be made.
here we go again, as the denigration of the Holy Bible continues on. Jesus married, right - come now. So at one time the church fathers decided to hold a series of conferences regarding holy scripture. as there were so many books written claiming to be Holy Scripture. So the church fathers discussed what was Holy and what was profane and not fit for human reading. Today there are 66 Books of the Holy Bible there are numerous other books that are considered extras but lacking backing as God inspired. The Apochrphya Books are those books - The Lost Gospels is just another view to discredit that there is God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Guess what God will have the last laugh, when he lets so many down to eternal hell, because of the easy believism that is so prevalent in todays churches. Christianity is based on faith, not easy believism, the persecution of the church continues with so many false teachings, ideas that discontent the Word of God. But God’s Word has lasted through so many years of the utter stupidity of humankind.
There is a special place for blasphemers . . .Hell
Just an attempt to distort the word of God, and money is either involved or will be.
Every Christmas and Easter “they” have to try to disprove the reasons for...well, Christmas and Easter.
Jesus ain't no bigamist.
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