The Gospel of Jesus's Wife

[goldent]

As this topic was locked in General Discussion, I thought it would be good to post it here, for any further discussion. As was noted in a HuffPo article, the Harvard Theological Review published two articles, one claiming authenticity of the manuscript, and another claiming it is fake.

First an except from HuffPo, and then the two papers:

HuffPo:

An ancient, business-card-sized papyrus fragment that appears to quote Jesus Christ discussing his wife is real, Harvard University announced Thursday. The fragment caused international uproar when it was revealed by a Harvard historian in September 2012, with prominent academics and the Vatican swiftly deeming it a forgery.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/jesus-wife_n_5124712.html

Pro:

This article offers a critical edition of a papyrus fragment in Coptic that contains a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples in which Jesus speaks of “my wife.”1 The fragment does not provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married but concerns an early Christian debate over whether women who are wives and mothers can be disciples of Jesus. Solely for purposes of reference, the fragment is given the title The Gospel of Jesus's Wife (GJW).

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=9226238&jid=HTR&volumeId=107&issueId=02&aid=9226237&bodyId=&membershipNumber=&societyETOCSession=&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0017816014000133

Con:

The following analysis submits that it is out of the question that the so-called Gospel of Jesus's Wife, also known as the Wife of Jesus Fragment, is an authentic source. The author of this analysis has not the slightest doubt that the document is a forgery, and not a very good one at that.

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=9226260&jid=HTR&volumeId=107&issueId=02&aid=9226259&bodyId=&membershipNumber=&societyETOCSession=&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0017816014000194

I think there are two aspects to this:

1. The academic aspect of whether it is a forgery or not, and if not, what is its significance.

2. The religious aspect of what effect this would have on Christianity if it were true. It is certainly not in the tradition, but IMHO it isn't at odds with fundamental Christian beliefs. In fact, it is often stated that Jesus was a real man, with human weaknesses and emotions. So the idea of a wife seems natural.

[hrmjustin]

1. It looks like it might be 4th century but it certainly is interesting.

[el_bryanto]

2. Wouldn't really have an effect on my tradition - but faiths with a monastic tradition

might struggle with it. It depends on how your church looks at the value of some people separating themselves off from the world to focus on serving God to the exclusion of all else - some Christian Churchs - notably Catholics - have this, and might well see Christ as the prototype?

I don't know; it'll be interesting to see what happens with it.

Bryant