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-So The ‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ May be ‘Authentic’ But The Story Really Isn’t
by Dr. D ~ April 10th, 2014
In 2012 the main stream media went crazy over a ancient papyrus fragment that indicated that Jesus had a wife. Now experts are saying that the document appears to be authentic. Here’s the story from the Blaze:
Karen King, a Harvard Divinity School professor, sparked debate and intrigue in 2012 when she unveiled what was believed to be a centuries-old papyrus fragment that referred to Jesus Christ having a wife.
Now, scientists who analyzed it are saying that the text, known as the “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife,” is more likely to be ancient than a modern forgery, leading King to believe that it is in fact a genuine document.
Despite seemingly agreeing that the papyrus is likely hundreds of years old, the historian has maintained her belief that it does not definitively prove Christ was married.
Response: Here’s the part that the broadcast media substantially ignores since it does not fit their secular template and agenda. The document might be an ‘authentic’ papyrus written between the 4th or 8th centuries but the story and message it portrays merely reflects the teaching of a group of folks also from the era. It is overwhelmingly doubtful that the document records any real events or facts from the First century when Jesus actually lived.
So did Jesus really have a wife? If so, this document which was written at least 400 years after Jesus lived does not prove it and the Gospels and letters written during the lifetime of the Apostles and disciples who actually knew and walked with Jesus say otherwise. *Top
April 10th, 2014 at 11:17 pm
[…] does not prove it in spite of all of the press. Read the whole article and my complete response on the Apologetica page. […]
April 11th, 2014 at 7:13 am
We have a massive quantity of manuscripts dated between about 100 to 500 AD, and none of them are copies of this document. By some estimates, we have 26,000 manuscripts or fragments of manuscripts of the canonical New Testament alone from that era. Likewise, we have an abundance of commentaries written by the “church fathers” from about 100 (Clement of Alexandria) up to about 400 (Augustine of Hippo), and none make reference to this document. Note that the church fathers make numerous (negative) references to gnostic or other non-canonical writings, but never mention this one manuscript. Thus, the alleged Gospel of Jesus’ Wife must be a very late document, probably closer to 800 than to 400. The lack of other extant copies or references in secondary sources suggests that, even then, it had only limited circulation.
I find it odd that the secular left asserts (contrary to considerable evidence of early authorship) that the canonical gospels were written about 125 AD, and can therefore not be deemed “reliable” or “authentic” evidence of the “true Jesus”, but they have no difficulty endorsing later gnostic writings, or, in this case, an eight century fragment of a manuscript.
Brian
July 18th, 2015 at 10:28 pm
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