 |
|
|
|
September 18th, 2012
03:28 PM ET
Newly revealed Coptic fragment has Jesus making reference to 'my wife'By Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN) - A newly revealed, centuries-old papyrus fragment suggests that some early Christians might have believed Jesus was married. The fragment, written in Coptic, a language used by Egyptian Christians, says in part, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife ..." Harvard Divinity School Professor Karen King announced the findings of the 1 1/2- by 3-inch honey-colored fragment on Tuesday in Rome at the International Association for Coptic Studies. King has been quick to add this discovered text "does not, however, provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married," she wrote in a draft of her analysis of the fragment set to appear in the January edition of Harvard Theological Review. The divinity school has posted a draft of King's article to which AnneMarie Luijendijk, an associate professor of religion at Princeton University, contributed. "This fragment, this new piece of papyrus evidence, does not prove that (Jesus) was married, nor does it prove that he was not married. The earliest reliable historical tradition is completely silent on that. So we're in the same position we were before it was found. We don't know if he was married or not," King said in a conference call with reporters.
"What I'm really quick to say is to cut off people who would say this is proof that Jesus was married because historically speaking, it's much too late to constitute historical evidence," she continued. "I'm not saying he was, I'm not saying he wasn't. I'm saying this doesn't help us with that question," she continued. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter In the accounts of Jesus' life in the Bible, there is no mention of his marital status, while the accounts do mention Jesus' mother, father and siblings. The four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - tell the story of Jesus' birth and early childhood then skip to his short, three-year ministry before detailing his death and resurrection. The idea that Jesus was married is not a new one. In other writings about the life of Jesus from antiquity suggest Jesus may have been married to Mary Magdalene, a disciple who was close to Jesus. Author Dan Brown also used the idea of Jesus being married as a jumping off point for the fictional novel "The Da Vinci Code." King dismissed that notion in her call with reporters. “There’s no indication we have that Jesus was married,” said Darrell Bock, a senior research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. “One could say the text is silent on Jesus’ marital status is because there was nothing to say.” Initial dating for the honey-colored fragment by the team of scholars puts the papyrus piece coming out of the middle of the second century. King is referring to the fragment as the "The Gospel of Jesus' Wife" or "GosJesWife" as a short hand for reference, and noting that the abbreviation does not mean this scrap has the same historical weight as the canonical Gospels. Biblical scholars often use the term gospel to refer to a genre of ancient writings featuring dialogue between Jesus and his disciples, King notes in her paper. The Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Judas are just a few of the ancient accounts about the life of Jesus that Christians do not consider canonical. At the conference, King said another professor suggested the fragment could have come from the text of a homily, or sermon, where the writer was using this phrase as a literary device. She told reporters that while she will consider that as a possibility, the fragment is “probably a gospel. Probably from the second century and most close to the Gospels of Mary, Thomas and Philip.” Bock agreed with the notion that the text fragment shared similarities with those gospels, called the Gnostic Gospels, which were the writings of an early outlier sect of Christians. He said the text could be referring to a "gnostic rite of marriage that is a picture of the church and Jesus, not a real wife." But he added, "it’s a small text with very little context. We don’t know what’s wrapped around it to know what it’s saying.” Bock said it’s likely to be a gnostic text if it proves to be authentic. “The whole text needs vetting. She’s doing the right thing to release it and let scholars take a look at,” he said, adding “it’s a little bit like trying to analyze the game in the first quarter.” “It’s a historical curiosity but doesn’t really tell us who Jesus was,” Bock said. “It’s one small speck of a text in a mountain of texts of about Jesus.” CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories The owner of the fragment has been identified by King as a private collector who has asked to stay anonymous. The owner brought the fragment to Harvard have King examine it in December 2011. King then brought it to the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. Roger Bagnall, the institute's director and an expert on papyrus, examined it and determined it to be authentic, Bangall confirmed to CNN. Ariel Shisha-Halevy, professor of linguistics at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, who was asked to examine the authenticity, according to the draft of the article, told King via e-mail, “I believe - on the basis of language and grammar - the text is authentic. That is to say, all its grammatical ‘noteworthy’ features, separately or conjointly, do not warrant condemning it as forgery.” Little is known about the origin of the text. Because both sides of the fragment have writing on them, King said it could have come out of a book rather than a scroll. "Just like most of the earliest papyri of the New Testament and other literary and documentary papyri, a fragment this damaged could have come from an ancient garbage heap," the King says building on prior research by Luijendijk. King writes "the importance of the 'Gospel of Jesus’ Wife' lies in supplying a new voice within the diverse chorus of early Christian traditions about Jesus that documents that some Christians depicted Jesus as married." The Smithsonian Channel also announced Monday that it will air a special on King's findings on September 30. soundoff (4,539 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 Next »
« Previous entryBelief Blog's Morning Speed Read for Tuesday, September 18
|
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
This is the most ridiculous article I have seen. Such a typical CNN article, always attacking Christians, and worst part drawing conclusions that have absolutely no strong foundations and proofs. They take a word and interpret it as they wish. It amazes me for instance that few days ago everything they covered about the Middle East, and Lebanon, were the anti-movie protests, when something as crucial as Pope Benedict's visit to Beirut did not even make it to the news on CNN. His visit was more than a Christian mission, but also a message of peace for the Middle East and truthfully, having covered some of that would have certainly enlightened and benefited more people in the region than boosting their anger over a religiously controversial movie. CNN, quit attacking Christians and by the way, a general side note, learn to love your country, the US, a little more. It is one thing to be open to the world and learn about other religions and cultures, but it certainly is another to constantly defend them to show that you are the open minded educated American. I was born and raised in Lebanon, living in the US for quite some time now, and I truly feel I love and appreciate this country more than you do; What a shame.
"worst part drawing conclusions that have absolutely no strong foundations and proofs."
Yeah, because that's something Christians never do....
"They take a word and interpret it as they wish."
You mean like Christians have been doing for years with the word "virgin" in the New Testament?
I fully respect and support your comments. Over the generations, it has often been the immigrant American who reminds the rest of us where our perspective should be.
How in the world someone can read this article and interpret it as in "attack on Christianity" is just beyond me. Is this post a joke? Do you know what a religious "attack" even looks like? Grow up.
Uhhhhh, Leb-American, take a quick minute to actually read the article before you fly off the handle. I echo Morrison's comments: how can this be interpreted as an attack on Christians?
Did you take even a moment to read the article? The only claims in the article is that this proves or disproves nothing.
how is suggesting Jesus had a wife "attacking christianity." It doesn't change who Jesus is, was, could be and would be, if he got married.
The Catholic Church holds all of our answers. They have proof that Jesus was married. They most likely have the original "Book of Mary" but to tell us the truth would like admitting that priests molest children! Way too much hidden within the walls of the Vatican.
ok Tom Hanks......you can back down now............
It also says "CNN" in the fourth line...
I see it (in the fifth line, though)–funny!
Jesus referred to His church as "the bride" so he could of been referring to His church............we will never know.....
Using big words doesn't make you any less irrelevant and ignorant. Typical religious person, can't come up with an original thought. What book did you get all that garbage from?
So it is OK to bash Christians. I am all for resurrecting the Crusades. Yes and exercise out second amendment rights against those that continue to offend our religion(s). I have had it with the media that think this is a joke.
Keep trying to turn our secular nation into a perverted theocracy, and you will get the bloodbath you desire. Do not expect us to go quietly though.
You people really are impossible you realize that? All you idiots have done for centuries is kill people simply for not believing your religions lies. So what you're saying like most religious hypocrites, is it is ok for you to do whatever you want as long as you say it is in the name of God but heaven forbid someone doesn't agree and you want to whine like you're the ones being persecuted for your beliefs. You all, and by you all I mean christians, are what is really wrong with true peace and advancement of society.
You idiots have never been quiet. Why would we think you'd start now?
@dumb: "but as the day when the atheists declared in one voice, 'We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on, we're going to survive."
i will be leading that charge to protect this great SECULAR nation our forefathers built.
speech by president whitmore from ID4.
come and get us, you inbred fvck
More probable is that you're the inbred one, sam, with language like that intended solely to offend.
libdumb: get off your knees, slaveboy
LOL: you are a diseased gash. go play in traffic
How truly inbred of you, Sam.
libdumb is right, but really dumb fits better. You might get your wish for a blood-bath, but you'll never hear the shot that gets you.
I sure wish I knew the secrets of the world and universe like all these posters do. I mean, you guys must be massively super intelligent with knowledge surpassing what most humans can even comprehend. I also like how folks tend to summarize 100s of years of research that validate the bible and it's historical accuracy. Amazing, the brain power here. You all should start a university and educate us.
Hahaha! How true! : )
I bet you do wish you were smart, so let's get you educated!
Todays lesson is as follows: To make claims of "100s of years of research that validate the bible and it's historical accuracy" and not provide references is intellectually dishonest.
Now, please go watch TV with the other kids while the adults talk.
You mean like you are trying to educate us??? Goes both ways sweetie.
The stories found in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 1-12, such as the flood story, the record is quite different: the time period under consideration is much more ancient. The factual bases of the stories are hidden from our view archaeologically. The stories remain a part of folk traditions and were included in the Bible to illustrate and explain theological ideas such as: Where did humans come from? If humans were created by God (who is perfect and good), how did evil among them come to be? If we are all related as children of God, why do we speak different languages? It must be remembered that the Bible is primarily a book of religion, a guide to faith. it was not a book of history, poetry, economics, or science. It contains all sorts of literary genre, which are used to teach about the relationship between God and mankind. Even biblical history is edited history: events were chosen to illustrate the central theme of the Bible. The Biblical writers did not pretend they were giving a complete history; instead they constantly refer us to other sources for full historical details, sources such as "The Annals of the Kings of Judah" (or Israel).
It is therefore not possible to try to "prove" the Bible by means of checking its historical or scientific accuracy. The only "proof" to which it can be subjected is this: Does it correctly portray the God-human relationship? In the best analysis, the Bible is a religious book, not an historical document.
Lets all RIOT!!!!!!!
Because it's an insult to our religion LOL
If I became president I would put all atheists in concentration camp
Not necessary. We concentrate in places of higher learning, medicine and high technology. You know where to find us.
How come fundiot nutters hate the constîtution?
I'm sure Jesus would agree.....
And it would be easy to sort them out too.
Line everybody up and start clubbing and stabbing babies and baby animals.
The ones that scream HOLY S&%T are the atheists and the ones that yell OH MY GOD get to go back to their miserable lives
Few 100% true Reasons why Atheism is TERRIBLE and unhealthy for our children and living things:
† Atheism is a religion that makes you angry, stupid, brainwashed, ignorant & blind..
† Atheism is a disease that needs to be treated.
† Atheism makes you post stupid things (90% of silly comments here on CNN blogs are posted by closet atheists)
† Atheist are satanic and have gothic lifestyle.
† Atheists are misguided and causes problem in our religious & public society.
† Atheists are mentally ill, that's why they have no faith.
† Atheism won't take you to kingdom of heaven and paradise.
† Atheism making you agree with Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler (denied his faith later), Mao, Pol Pot & other terrible mass murder leaders who killed religious people because of their religious cult!
† No traditional family lifestyle, no holidays, no culture, boring and feeling 'outsider'
† Atheists are angry, drug additcted and committ the most crime.
† Atheist try to convert people over internet because they feel "safer" behind closet.
† Atheists do not really exist, they just pretend that they don't believe in God and argue with religious people.
† Atheists have had terrible life experience, bad childhood and not being loved.
† Most atheists are uneducated... No atheists could run for presidency.
† Atheism brought upon the French Revolution, one of the most evil events of all of history.
† Atheism cannot explain the origins of the universe, therefore God exists.
† All atheists believe in evolution, which means they don't believe in morality and think we should all act like animals.
† The Bible says atheism is wrong, and the Bible is always right (see: Genesis 1:1, Psalms 14:1, Psalms 19:1, Romans 1:19-20)
† Countries where Atheism is prevalent has the highest Suicide rate & Communist countries = Atheism!
**Only 2-3% of the U.S. are atheists/agnostics VS. over 90% who believe in God (80% Christians) in the U.S.**
† † Our Prayers goes to atheists to be mentally healthy and seek their creator † †
PS! the USA is a † nation and will always be. You know it's true and stop being ignorant and arrogant!
(Take a look at our federal/state holidays, 99% of our presidents, blue laws in parts of the nation, name of some cities/counties/streets, the majority of people, some laws, calendar, culture, etc.)
http://rightremedy.org/tracts/7
¦There is only one God and it is to Him that you pray. All others pray to false gods and idols. Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist are all lost unless they know Jesus as their Lord & Savior.¦
/
Hey idjit, How can a person be a athesit and Satanic at the same time, if you don't believe in the Lord, you wouldn't believe the other way either. Get a life
Don't feed the troll.
Wow, you are an idiot. What is so funny is that you all believe your own crap. How disappointed you all will be when your time on earth is done. There are so many facts that contradict the entire belief structure your religion is based on and you still hate on all others who believe something different.
The Lord God hates "A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren"
Proverbs 6:19
Do you understand what this means?? This means that God hates it when people spread disagreement amoungst their fellow man.
Babycakes....it's to him that YOU pray....I'm taking a pass....not wasting my time on that....gonna enjoy life and have some fun!!! No one knows with absolute certainty what will happen when you die....why not enjoy life and people and everything there is to see and do??? I SERIOUSLY doubt there's a heaven or hell....or a God for that matter. Just thinking about the God of the Old Testament. He was a really vindictive God. Always came down and took care of those bad children of his...smiting them left and right....destroying their cities, reigning down fire and brimstone....so what's the deal now? Is the world we live in WAY better than that of biblical times? I don't really think so. Vegas has been a pretty wild place for some time now....don't you think if your god didn't like what was going on he'd bring some plague upon them or open the earth and swallow them whole or something like that? Where IS your god when all this pain and suffering is happening on this earth? He was ALWAYS around back in the day, and now? Nuthin. So please, don't tell me that God works in mysterious ways, or that god has a plan or that i should believe "just in case"....bully on that. I'm grabbing life by the.....well nevermind....I'm just gonna be my fun self and have a great time and meet great people and do all sorts of fun things!! You go ahead and live to die. I'm living to live thank you. =)
Few 100% true Reasons why Christianity is TERRIBLE and unhealthy for our children and living things:
† Christianity makes you angry, stupid, brainwashed, ignorant & blind..
† Christianity is a disease that needs to be treated.
† Christianity makes you post stupid things (90% of silly comments here on CNN blogs are posted by Christians)
† Christians are satanic and have gothic lifestyle.
† Christians are misguided and causes problem in our religious & public society.
† Christians are mentally ill, that's why they seem ignorant.
† Christianity won't take you to kingdom of heaven and paradise.
† Christianity makes you agree with Palin, Beck, Bush, Perry, Bachman & other terrible leaders that can destroy a country.
† No original traditional family lifestyle, all of thier holidays were stolen from other religions
† Christians are angry, drug additcted and committ the most crime.
† Christians try to convert people over internet because they feel "safer" behind closet.
† Christians do not really exist, they just pretend that they believe in God.
† Christians have had terrible life experience, bad childhood and not being loved.
† Most Christians are uneducated...
† Christianity brought upon the war on terror, one of the most evil events of all of history.
† Christianity cannot explain the origins of the universe, therefore God exists.
† † Our thoughts goes to Christians to be mentally healthy.
PS! Unfortunatly, the USA is a † nation and will always be. You know it's true and stop being ignorant and arrogant!
(Take a look at our federal/state holidays, 99% of our presidents, blue laws in parts of the nation, name of some cities/counties/streets, the majority of people, some laws, calendar, culture, etc.)
http://rightremedy.org/tracts/7. In other words...Christians don't think for themselves.
¦There is no God. All pray to false gods and idols. Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist AND Christians are all lost.
Bwilldrd. Are you single?? If so, marry me.
Atheism is a religion that makes you stupid, ignorant & blind. -LIE
Atheism is a disease that needs to be treated. -LIE
Atheism makes you post stupid things (90% of silly comments here on CNN blogs are posted by closet Atheists) -LIE
Atheist are satanic and have gothic lifestyle. -LIE
Atheists causes problem in our religious society. -LIE
Atheists are mentally ill, that's why they have no faith. -LIE
Atheism won't take you to kingdom of heaven and paradise. -LIE
Atheism making you agree with Stalin, Hitler (Denied his faith later), Mao, Pol Pot & other terrible mass murder leaders. -LIE
No traditional family lifestyle, no holidays, no culture, boring and feeling 'outsider' -LIE
Atheists are angry, drug additcted and committ the most crime. -LIE
Atheist try to convert people over internet because they feel "safer" behind closet. -LIE
Atheists do not really exist, they just pretend that they don't believe in God and argue with religious people. -LIE
Atheists have had terrible life experience, bad childhood and not being loved. -LIE
Most Atheists are uneducated... No Atheists could run for presidency. -LIE
Atheism brought upon the French Revolution, one of the most evil events of all of history. -LIE
Atheism cannot explain the origins of the universe, therefore God exists. -LIE
All atheists believe in evolution, which means they don't believe in morality and think we should all act like animals. -LIE
The Bible says atheism is wrong, and the Bible is always right (see: Genesis 1:1, Psalms 14:1, Psalms 19:1, Romans 1:19-20) -LIE
Countries where Atheism is prevalent has the highest Suicide rate & Communist countries = Atheism! -LIE
It just goes to show that Christians can’t even follow one of the basic Ten Commandments by posting all these lies. What a hypocrite
How about CNN posting the entire transcription? No better yet I will do it for you. This is what Harvard Univ. transcribed it as;
1: not to me. My Mother gave to me life
2: The disciples said to Jesus “
3: deny. Mary is worthy of it
4: Jesus said to them, My wife
5: she will be able to be my disciple
6: Let wicked people swell up
7: As for me, I dwell with her in order to
8 an image
I really liked line 7, it seems to go for modern online posts as well.
Thank you for being ad rem, unlike most here who are just out for blood sport posting.
You forgot the other side, though there isn't much there admittedly.
Love it!
"7: As for me, I dwell with her in order to"
"8 an image"
Genesis 1:26-27
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let THEM have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he THEM."
I've always believed that "man" as referenced in the Bible meant mankind. In fact, after further study, the word man was actually gender neutral until the 1300's
Reblogged this on lava kafle kathmandu nepal.
If your Christian God a/k/a Jesus has always had the final plans for humanity solidified, then why did it take billions of years before "he" was even born? Why wait until (what we know as) the year "0" to introduce him to us? And I *have* read Revelations. You must be a Christian Jew with a specific mark in order to be one of the 1440 who will be chosen to live in the 'hereafter' with the 'saviour'. But then again, the bible was written very cleverly. Knowing that it was all about interpretation, hence the number of Christian off-shoots that have sprung up since Constantine created and put the Bible together back in the 4th century. The Bible (as it is known today) was created so that Constantine could gain social control. Please read up on your history folks. The concept of a child born of a virgin birth, on or near the 25th of December, with a bright star in the east, including the three kings, who died and was resurrected three days later, is a story that has been told numerous time BEFORE the story of Jesus was even a thought in anyone's head. This concept has been born from the earliest days of the people on this planet who understood the importance of the movement of the sun, moon and stars in relation to the seasons, hence their ability to harvest food and survive. Gods and stories of faith were sprung from the farmer's of old. Without the "sun" or "son" (as people of faith know it) life would not exist. It really is ironic that the story of Jesus, of Moses, of any prophet or god really, have been taken out of context and used as a weapon against those who do not believe. How sad that many, if not most, wars that have occurred in this world have happened because of differences of opinion when it comes to religion. Don't you see? As long as you keep in-fighting, we will NEVER have peace on earth! It's not about "I'm better than you, so you should die" – it's about "I'm different and unique and so are you and I embrace that" – isn't that was Jesus' message really was??? Believe me, I have read myriad books on religion, and not just Christianity. This IS what the bottom line is. Christianity was created to bring social order to a then disorderly society. And what has happened? That social order has turned into insanity. Thank GOD I'm not a Christian, or a Catholic, or Jewish, or anything like that! I am quite content being the happy non-God believing spiritual person that I am. In fact, I'd say I believe in people and their ability to rise above adversity and make the best world they possibly can. I only hope there will be a time in history where everyone will be able to accept everyone else and behave as their designated "God" has asked them to behave. Do not hurt anyone else....LOVE mankind, for all their faults. Embrace the uniqueness that his humanity. We are better than we give ourselves credit. Rather than having faith in the invisible guy in the sky, try having a little faith in humanity. After all, we ARE here, right now. Have faith in the ability for mankind to help himself and do the best he can do in this crazy and chaotic world we live in. Maybe then we'll find the peace we've all been striving for. Take care all....I welcome all your comments!!! =)
It wasn't year 0 when he was born. It was something like 28 BC, although I'm not sure exactly.
Assumptions, assumptions.
@ Rational Libertarian...yes, you are correct....it's just that the "Christians" all know it as year 0. I didn't want to confuse them. =)
Jesus was not just introduced in the new Testament. He appears repeatedly in the Old Testament known as the Angel of the Lord and Commander of the Lord's Armies. Jesus has always been. John 1: 1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created." Even the Holy Spirit was there. Genesis 1:1-2 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." The Holy Spirit is also known as the Spirit of the Lord. The Holy Trinity is everpresent.
You know it is really sad how in the belief part of cnn it seems like the majority of the comments about articles that are specific to a certain religion that athiest are the ones that comment the most... Really people this is why the majority of the world sees America as an evil nation because so many american's are all about being negative and finding the negative in anything or taking something and finding a way to make it negative or instead of discussing something like civil people and calmly discussing something it ends up being full of comments that are just trying to tear eachother down sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if the internet was never invented
Hey! Stop being negative and trying to tear us all down! You're giving Americans a bad name.
The bible is like a "Nigerian Email" from the bronze-age.
@Dyslexic
Great news you have just won the Vatican City lottery, Hallelujah. For a small handling fee we will send you confirmation of the Grand Prize, a meeting with His Holliness and tour of the the treasures of the Vatican and of course upon your death a seat beside our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, (Airfare and hotel fees not included)
You made my day.
@Dyslexic
Fine Print for Vatican lottery winners.
1, Fee required for confirmation, US $1,000.00 money order or by wire.
2. Meeting with His Holliness is only based on availability, a bishop may stand in for Him.
3. Tour of the treasures of the Vatican are for one person, additional persons US $25.00 available every half hour 8AM to
6PM daily. except Sunday and Holy Days.
4. For reasonable airfare, accomadation and meal packages (5***Rating) contact the Vatican Travel Agency @....
The Christian congregation that is made of those who are selected as "heirs of God, but joint-heirs with Christ"(Rom 8:17), those who have "received a spirit of adoption as sons" by being anointed with holy spirit (Rom 8:15) for the "heavenly calling" (Heb 3:1) are spoken of in the Bible as Jesus "wife."
The apostle Paul wrote that "I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I personally promised you in marriage to one husband that I might present you as a chaste virgin to the Christ."(2 Cor 11:2)
In the Bible book of Revelation, Jesus "wife" is seen as a "holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."(Rev 21:2) And at Mathew 22:1-13, "a king (Jehovah God)...made a marriage feast for his son (Jesus)".
Hence, Jesus is spoken of as having a symbolic "wife" of 144,000 individuals chosen from the earth (Rev 14:1) that make up God's heavenly kingdom (which also includes Jesus as its king) and that Jesus taught us to pray for at Matthew 6:9, 10 in order to bring genuine peace to the earth forever.(Ps 37:11, 29)
How blindly you follow a religion that has done nothing but keep you in the dark about the truth is absolutely hilarious. To so blindly follow a bible(and kill in the name of it)when said bible wasn't even made by a christian is insane. You do realize a Pagan made the bible you fools so blindly follow? Tsk Tsk Tsk silly christians.
Amen!
You should sue whoever it is you think educated you.
How was your last concert, anyway?
@Bill
The arrogant prophit for profit, yet again, looks down from his perch and claims anyone that does not believe as he does is uneducated. Pompous in the extreme but isn't that what all religions are about.
Once again, Bill Deacon offers no proof of anything, just his cheap shots. So xtian of him, eh?
I wonder, why do athiests even bother with CNN's Belief page? I mean they don't belive in God, so why bother with a page that deals with peoples faith?
Because I have a belief that people with belief in deities are mentally deranged.
That's like asking why don't theists all just kill themselves if the afterlife is so brilliant.
Why do Mormons knock on my door.
They should file this next to Obama's Kenyan birth certificate.
(Alright, Henry the young man, you stole my line. I'll also contribute:) What the full text said was, "My wife is sooo fat..."