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 A scholarly article based on the 'Jesus Wife' fragment was delayed as researchers waited on further testing.
January 3rd, 2013
02:30 PM ET
'Jesus Wife' fragment gets more testing, delays articleBy Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Editor (CNN) - One of the most anticipated articles in religion circles will be absent from the pages of the January edition of the Harvard Theological Review. Harvard Divinity School professor Karen King's final article on the "Jesus wife" fragment did not make the scholarly journal because further testing on the Coptic papyrus fragment has not been finished. King announced the findings of the 1.5-by-3 inch, honey-colored fragment in September at the International Association for Coptic Studies conference in Rome. In a draft version of the article submitted for publication in the January edition, King and her co-author said the scrap had written in Coptic, a language used by Egyptian Christians, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife," but was then cut off. King said the fragment dates to the 4th century but could be a copy of an early gospel from the 2nd century. King and her research partners dubbed the hypothetical text "the Gospel of Jesus' Wife." Despite King's insistence, the discovery did not prove anything definitive on the marital status of Jesus. The announcement of the papyrus scrap exploded in the media. "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 [Jesus] was married or not," King told reporters in a conference call from Rome in September. 5 questions and answers about Jesus' 'wife' A dealer took the fragment to King for analysis and translation in 2011. The dealer wishes to remain anonymous, she said. "We're moving ahead with the testing, but it is not yet complete, and so the article will await until we have the results," King said in an email to CNN. "The owner of the fragment has been making arrangements for further testing and analysis of the fragment, including testing by independent laboratories with the resources and specific expertise necessary to produce and interpret reliable results. This testing is still underway," Kathyrn Dodgson, director of communications for the Harvard Divinity School, said in a email to CNN. "Harvard Theological Review is planning to publish Professor King’s paper after conclusion of all the testing so that the results may be incorporated," Dodgson said. "Until testing is complete, there is nothing more to say at this point." Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter In her original article King explained how a papyrus expert had dated the fragment to the right time frame and how an expert on Coptic linguistics said the grammar seemed to fit the time period, as well. But what was untested in the early goings was the ink used on the papyrus. Elaine Pagels, a professor from Princeton University who is an expert on gnostic writings such as this one, noted to CNN in September "You can find boxes filled with Coptic fragments," but what makes this one significant is for the first time it explicitly has Jesus referring to "my wife." Faking antiquities is not uncommon, which is part of the reason so many critics questioned the authenticity of a text that potentially went against nearly every other ancient text concerning Jesus. Other scholars refused to comment on the find until the full battery of testing could be completed. “The academic community has been badly burned,” Douglas A. Campbell, an associate professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School said in September, noting how similar discoveries have turned out to be fakes. The provenance of the document, "the history of where it came from and how they got it,” was a great concern to Campbell and other academics. The Vatican newspaper weighed in on the matter in late September mincing no words and calling the fragment “a fake.” CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories On the day King announced the fragment, the Smithsonian channel announced it had been working with King for months on a documentary about the find and the authentication process. It had been slated to air in early October but was pulled back. Tom Hayden, general manager of the Smithsonian channel, said in a statement in October the delay "will enable us to present a richer and more complete story. We will be announcing a new premiere date in the coming weeks." No announcement has been made as to when the premier will happen. |
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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.  |
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"the discovery did not prove anything definitive on the marital status of Jesus."
Just as NOTHING from biblical stories is proven because they are all made up stories from people who lived thousands of years ago and happened to write them down.
If you ever took a history class, guess what, it was because someone wrote down the history!
L.H having a hard time telling the difference between history, and myth are you? If everything writtne down is history then you should bow down before Zeus.
Another attempt by the Anti Christians in CNN to defame Christianity.. Beware of this trap
If you think this is an attempt to defame Christianity, you have lost your mind to overt defensiveness.
What's this? Fear-mongering from the religious? This is a perfectly factual article about something ACTUALLY found, whether or not it's authentic... though, what you're doing is automatically denying it, pinning blame on CNN for showing it, and ENCOURAGING a belief in a conspiracy that CNN should care more about what Christians think than what mushroom-lovers think.
So how does the testing of a manuscript attack Christianity?
Many of these posters are truly angry bitter people who say awful things about people who believe they are arrogant and full of bigotry. I used to think they were just angry and bitter over life experiences, now I see it is so much more, they are so full of self importance and off topic!!
It's a trap!!!
I think the believers should have their own thread and watch the atheists go crazy and start their rants!
@LH
Still whining about the bad, meany atheists? Poor persecuted thing!
Bet, still ranting against the believers instead of discussing with an open mind! Poor closed minded soul!
Beware of Joe. He is conspiring to make CNN a Christian network with his reverse psychology and evangelical cleverness. Do not fall for his charms nor his guilded tongue nor his golden throat, nor his improper wisdom, for he is a false prophet and a pretender to the throne of Peter. Get thee behind me Joe!
i see your persecution complex is in full stride......us poor, poor, persecuted christians
One does not have to defame Christianity, the Bible does a good enough job on it's own. A simple reading of the Bible from cover to cover is the easiest way to make someone not believe it.
Wouldnt matter if Jesus had a wife or not, not that I believe he did, I'd love him the same.
Would you love Jesus more than somebody you know being bullied in his name for their beliefs? LOTS of people 'love Jesus', and yet I'm sure you wouldn't like them very much. So the question you should consider is – what exactly do you know about Jesus; what is his influence?
And I would say that it's no one thing, he's long dead and his influence is so thinly spread that one end of his influence may not even remotely resemble another. His current reign on Earth, now, then, is complete chaos.
Having a wife doesn't change one deed or action Jesus did or who he is or the glory of what his life meant and still means!
Correct – changing the myth changes nothing.
Dustballs demanding from God? It must be pleasurable hanging out on the belief blogs for the A&A's.... "Eze 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn [yourselves], and live ye."
@tallulah13 "Actually, Chad, there is a contemporary account of the Battle of Gaugamela written by Persians, which tells of how the Macedonian Alexander the Great defeated them. This was 300 years BEFORE Christ's alleged life. I guess there really are contemporary accounts written by enemies."
@Chad "ouch, ouch.. no completely wrong.
The Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia
now, there are several historical sources:
1. Arrian of Nicomedia AD 86 – 160
2. Quintus Curtius Rufus was a Roman historian, writing probably during the reign of the Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) or Vespasian (69-79 AD).
3. Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian, who wrote works of history between 60 and 30 BC
4. Plutarch . 46 – 120 AD
now, the sharp eyed will notice that the earliest history of the battle was some 240 years AFTER the battle actually occurred. So, all this means that there are NO CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS of that battle.
in fact, 240 years after the event is some 220 years more elapsed time than the earliest accounts of Jesus after that event.
now, I dont blame you for not doing any investigation and uncovering these actual facts for yourself. Making inaccurate and unsubstantiated a-priori assumptions seems to be an atheist membership requirem ent.
You are quite an insufferable pompous little git, aren't you? It is people like you who give Christians a bad name...your rampant arrogance and prideful egotism drips from every word you write. You do nothing to further your cause.
Looks like you hit a raw nerve for ME3. It is funny how when the self-worshipers have been proven wrong they resort to insults.
It's funny how you assumed I wasn't Christian, Doug Lynn, or that I'm a "self worshipper". You'd be wrong. I just cannot stand being patronized, and as he didn't prove me wrong, as I didn't pose any questions to him, you are quite mistaken. If if postings were meant to educate, he has failed miserably. Like every self-righteous promoter, he comes off as smug. As do you.
They resort to insults much quicker than that. All you have to do is have an opinion–amazing!
On the face of defeat all that an atheist can do is resort to adhominem. So typical, oh wait! that is a sock puppet for granny13 😉
You wanted a contemporary source for Alexander the Great? Here you go, http://www.livius.org/di-dn/diaries/astronomical_diaries.html. Now how about one for Jesus....oh wait, you can't produce one.
@rabidatheist "You wanted a contemporary source for Alexander the Great? Here you go, http://www.livius.org/di-dn/diaries/astronomical_diaries.html. Now how about one for Jesus....oh wait, you can't produce one."
@Chad "the requirement that @tallulah13 levied was that it be "contemporary and non-biblical", which stated plainly means:
1. written at the exact same time the events being recorded occurred
2 be written by a person who was an enemy of the person whose activity is being recorded (non-sympathetic)
there is also a third requirement that atheists continually levy, namely that they not be
3. hearsay (account must be a authored by a direct witness)
unfortunately for your astronomical diaries, they failed #3, and as a consequence #1 (since they did not directly witness the events they only heard about them at a later date, they by definition added the accounts of the battle to the earlier observations of the celestial positions).
You're right, Me3. Daddy told me there were Christians would love you one day and hate you the next. So true. But he didn't tell me there were some that would want to reveal their own stupidity over and over again.
So Chad, you get to set your own rules for what consitutes a contemporary account? So, by your definition, not a single writing, by someone that lived at the time,and in the area that the event occurred, but did not actually witness the events unfold themselves do not apply? I would give the mythical Jesus a little more credit if it could rise to that standard alone, and it can't.
The problem is these idiots didn't do their homework Jesus didn't have a wife, It's evident in the word of God people will do anything including blaspheming the Lord Jesus Christ. These folk are sick to put something out there like because you don't believe that He is THE SON OF GOD AND THERE IS NOTHING THEY COULD DO ABOUT IT.
I'm sorry, "tarrancarter", but "God", "SON OF GOD", "Lord", "Christ", and "Lord Jesus Christ" are all elements of mythology, therefore all of your assertions are unfounded. Using my Idiomatic Expression Equivalency module (IEE), the expression that best matches the degree to which your assertions may represent truths is: "TOTAL FAIL".
Hal – Switch off. DBAG POTENTIAL HAS REACHED CRITICAL MASS. Just because you don't have faith doesn't mean you should mock others' faith. Funny you use Arthur C Clarke as your username as he was a deist (they believe God created everything and left it behind)
@tarrancarter: Why is it "sick" to suggest Jesus might have had a wife?? The Bible talks about Jesus answering the Pharisees' question about divorce by saying that God made male and female, and a man shall leave his parents and become one with his wife...that seems to say Jesus saw marriage as something sacred. And the highest authorities in many of the churches, from the earliest ones (like the students of John, the apostle) have always maintained that Jesus had a fully human nature. So, are you saying, then, that marriage is "sick" and that for Jesus to be married would make him less godlike? And when did God come down and give you this interpretation, making your opinion correct and anyone else's wrong??
Seems that many christians can't handle the idea that their leader liked a piece of azz every now and then. I guess they prefer that he just gave himself a tug to relieve the back pressure.
hal and the other atheists actually believe they are the supreme beings and man is the most superior life forms!!!!LOL
This is where Henny Youngman stole the joke from, but the Roman Catholics didn't think it was funny and tried to destroy the scrolls
Come on People.Jesus obviously DID have a Wife!Enough said.
he is my great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather.
Many pages are missing from the bible.
prove it
pictures too,,,and the FAQ page~
And the references and bibliography.
There have been partial books for years that strongly suggested Jesus was married to Mary Magdelene. Take for example the Gospel of Mary, heavily censored and found buried with other texts banned by the early Catholic church following the Council of Nicaea
Its also obvious that he must have been married to someone, it could only have been his wedding for which he performed magic tricks and it was unheard of for a rabbi or religious leader to be unmarried- had to have one's own house in order to preach.
I am sure if Jesus was married that it would have been mentioned in one of the Gospels.
If Jesus was married, he wouldnt have been able to hang out and drink with his buds on Good Friday. If so, he would have been crucified by her Saturday. That would have been mentioned in the Gospels.
That statement is so naive that I'm not even sure if you are joking or not. Seriously Franco?
the gospel according to Mary (Magdelin)
This has already been decided a forgery by some scholars. http://ntweblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-jesus-wife-fragment-how-forgery-was.html
Jesus was too married. I should know. I was his best man.
It's NOT a forgery!!Just because a few ignorant People believe it's a forgery does not make it true.Those People that claim it's a forgery are just making stuff up to get attention.
Of course they would say he was not married, they have to stick by the charade that has gone on with all that nonsense.
Biff: a nod to Christopher Moore! Well done!
Jesus' married life or non married life is something I don't truly know if any of us could know. We know he and Mary Magdelene had a very intimate relationship, whether or not they were married is something Car Jung debated. He said there was a missing link in the puzzle. He felt you could not have a trinity and have wholeness, that the Holy Spirit was female and therefore the missing link to a quaternity would be the wife or female counterpart of Jesus.
The Knights Templar believed that Jesus and Mary Magdelene were married and had a son. They took a vow to protect the seed of Jesus. There is much shrouded mysteries of the Knights Templars and their crusades.
"This has already been decided a forgery", yeah by people that haven't been examining it, and that have an agenda to discredit anything that goes against their faith.
Dark matter. Quantum physics, all myths created by scientists to get grants. If it can not be seen or measured, it does not exist. An invisible force can not move from one object to another and affect it. All myths.
Stan: You said " If it can not be seen or measured, it does not exist. An invisible force can not move from one object to another and affect it." Really? What about Magnetism? Radiation? (Feel free to go dancing at Fukushima...) There is more out there than just your philosophy- just be a little more open minded, and you will be a much more "centered" person.
Stan, when you die [hopefuly not too soon] you will ask for God's forgiveness, only to find out that its too late
I'm going to use "If it can not be seen or measured, it does not exist" the next time I pass gas near my wife.
BTW, when you close your eyes, does the world cease to exist?
All myths, but a god, having himself born to a virgin, dying on a cross, rising from the dead three days later, talking snakes, men living in fish for three days, and Jewish zombies with not a shred of evidence to back any of this up, are not mythical?
ageecee: your empty prxy threats are laughable. i suppose it's time for you to get back on your knees and start begging again
Sam Kinison discussed this subject in some detail, concluding that it was not psooible for Jesus to have a wife. A correct conclusion.
I guess someone like you would hear what one man has to say and believe it. After all, you believe one god created everything in existence.
Patch,.....You cannot POSSIBLY be anymore WRONG!!Why are You talking such nonsense?Lay off the Peyote cactus buds,dude.
Sam Kinison? The comedian?
@Stephen Lang, Peyote makes you believe in a god/the gods. Not dismiss reality, even under the influence. To the Native American Church it is god in consumable cactus flesh form. Though they tend to prefer the generic term "the creator" or "creation" for reference to a supreme being.
This is for those who believe a force, power, or deity is a possibility, but have rejected the God of Christianity for several reasons. If you are convinced there is no such thing, then please don’t bother reading further.
The garden of eden is on the prior page and creation on eleven, if you have an interest in those.
Some say the old testament God was just too mean and is not worthy of worship. Why would he create humans knowing they were going to rebel and then kill them wholesale? There are several examples in the bible, the most extreme is the flood.
It is not believed because we do not see evidence of a worldwide flood and if there was one, the God who did it could not be a good God worthy of worship. Not only that, but the idea that humans and animals developed to some point then were all but eliminated from the earth just does not line up with what we think we know of the history of the earth, at least as far as timing.
First, let’s look at what we do know, there are in modern times examples of huge catastrophic floods. There is evidence from ancient times of floods. Now, could Noah’s flood have been a local or regional flood? Could one family have built a boat similar to the dimensions recorded in the bible? Would a boat of this size be adequate to hold a family, their livestock, a collection of local wild animals, and all the food and water the group would need to survive for a long time? If you can accept that all this is possible, then the story, parable, or allegory also seems to be a reasonable possibility.
Would a God who would destroy a bunch of extremely mean people and preserve some good ones still be unworthy of worship? If so, then what would be the lesson or message of such a parable? It seems very simple to me, God is demonstrating his intention to create, allow people the opportunity to choose good or bad, allow the ones who have chosen evil to change their minds, and then ultimately, eliminate evil and preserve good. What could possibly be wrong with that?
Lofty speech....lacking in evidence. That which is claimed without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.
Rabidatheist,
It wasn’t meant to be lofty, just trying to help.
I think I have heard the rest of your post somewhere before.
Robert Brown, gobble the fertile gravel. There is no caveat to the Klein bottle, and there will be no gold watch for the unspoken zero.
Focus your nose on the test tubes. Stay succulently upon yourself and fear not the coming of the essential kangaroo. Strawberries are your incidental chemistry. Present the fulcrum in advance of the gypsum cookie, for as the tree is combed, so goes the predicate. Expand quietly but do not relish.
Whether or not you agree with the plumber, harvest away ye hearties. Kalabash in Friebourg but not in spanners while it's raining. Bring out the mustard but flap flap flap until takeoff. Why would you say such a thing in the presence of the substrate? 64. 1112. Welcome to the new sandwich lumberyard. Bus stops follow movement, or do they?
The impediment to your posterior is large but can be dissected with chestnuts. Obermeyer. Glasnost and shallot cookies will do the main job when a steamshovel is too distant for pomegranate.
And remember, never ever miss an opportunity to watch an elephant paint Mozart.
Hi Jill, how are you this evening?
Jill,
I know you don’t like what I am posting and I want you to know it is ok with me. That is the reason I prefaced them with “if you don’t…” Peace.
First of all,what type of People are You calling EVIL?Are You saying that People are Evil just because they don't subscribe to Youre biggoted and narrow minded Christian Beliefs?If so,than YOU are the EVIL one,Sir!!By the way,have You ever thought about converting to Hinduism?
Stephen Lang,
All people are sinners or evil in the eyes of God, until they are reconciled to him, so I am not calling anyone evil, God is. Even those who are reconciled to him, sin, we can’t help it because we still have the flesh.
I haven’t considered converting to Hinduism.
What is written in the bible is nothing more than a poor re-telling of the life of Mithra (Mithras, Mitra,Mitu) whose name appears in Vedic texts at least 3,500 years old. Jesus (Yesua, Joshua) i.e. Mithra, was born in a Cave on Dec. 25, had a circle of 12 friends who represented the signs of the Zodiac, is sometimes shown with a lamb on his shoulders,had midnight dinners,etc. He was the first man called 'son of god' but more correctly, sun god. Every time you shake hands you do the same thing his followers did 3,500 years ago. Every church in the world build with a central aisle and raised seats on each side and a nave at the end opposite the entrance is a direct copy of a Mithraeum. One was dug up in London in 1946 during reconstruction after the war. My July 2006 National Geographic shows the location of 2 Mithraeum on pages 94-5. It would help if every one commenting here would read these 2 books cover to cover 3 times as I did: "In Search of Zarathustra" by Paul Kriwaczek and "Spirituality in the Land of the Noble" by Richard C. Foltz.
Yep, it's the late great Christophe Hitchens, and it is as true today as the day he said it.
"All people are sinners or evil in the eyes of God"
you have no authority to speak for god
pir-faqir
“What is written in the bible is nothing more than a poor re-telling of the life of Mithra”
What you have expressed is opinion, I respect you and your right to your opinions, but I don’t believe it. You will notice the bible does not date the birth of Christ, based on the description it was more likely to have been in the spring. December 25 was selected for several possible reasons, I like the one where the early church leaders selected the date to quell a popular pagan feast.
When people say stuff about this Mithra, I go and read some, but I don’t get it. You said he was in the Vedic texts, do you know the volume of material you’re talking about. You want to tell us which Vedic text and the page, or scripture and verse if you please, quote it.
You should read the bible cover to cover 3 times, you might come to believe the truth, instead of every weakly supported excuse not to believe in God.
sam stone,
Good morning sam!
You are correct, I don’t have the authority to speak for him. I am just repeating what he said.
Robert Brown, what pir faqir said about Mithra is NOT opinon it's a fact. There are ancient Christian churches in the Middle East that have Jesus on the main floor for the masses to worship, and altars to Mithra downstairs for the elites to worship. Constantine built an arch to commemorate his battle for the Milvian Bridge, the bridge where he allegedly had his vision of the cross. On this arch is the god Mithra, and Apollo, interesting though, for such an important moment in Christianity there is no images of Jesus or a cross. That's because Eusebius added the cross story years after the battle.
I know that many people called their children Jesus after Jesus. They keep on finding things which contain Jesus and then they say it belongs to our Lord. There are somethings I still don't understand why people play with the dragon which spit fire from it's mouth and others like crosses. I know that Jesus sees the world and wonder because if anyone steps on a nail does it mean the nail is holly? "Our God said, Be Holy because I am Holy" The history shows that they used to put 500 people on crossed until one day our Lord too was killed. Please forgive me for the way I think or the way I use my faith to thank our Lord for his kindness. God Bless.
Shall we forgive you for your seventh-grade writing skills too? Typical religie, so easy to spot.
Athy, ever consider that the poster's primary language is not English?
In that case I sincerely apologize.
King finds a 4th century scrap that speaks of a non-existent wife and even King declares the piece to be any other than definitive but the press (and plenty of commenters here) make wild speculation based on appalling ignorance?
Say it isn't so!
Who is speculating, Jim?
This is a repost of a story originally written six months ago. The "artifact" was completely debunked and declared a hoax. It will not be making its way into any museum. This non story was thoroughly exhausted. Are you running out of new material, CNN?
People DO realize that Jesus often referred to the entire Christian church body as his "bride", right? Not that it matters, because when this turns out to be nothing, it'll be swept under the rug and forgotten about, just like every other piece of "evidence" created to somehow discredit Christianity.
As opposed to all the "evidence" that proves christianity, right?
As opposed to all the other "evidence" that proves Socrates, that proves Plato, that proves Julius Caesar. Wait, that's right they were all literary devices invented to tell a story and so are you nothing but a story.
"Jesus often referred to the entire Christian church body as his "bride","
Please list one example of this, also the total number of times. Here's a hint, the christian church did not exist until after the crucifixion
and how would being married "discredit" Jesus? Dumbness.
You know why it is so easy to accept the theory of gravity, and other scientific theories, because they DO NOT convict you of your sins, and DOES NOT ask you to change the way you live. Nobody questions the existence of Julius Caesar or Alexander, or anything about their life facts, for the same reason.
Who cares if Jesus was married with kids and had a secret gay lover from Damascus? It doesn't change anything.
You're an idiot. We accept the theory of gravity because it's obvious, and because denying it as you jump off a tall building isn't going to change the outcome which is then obvious to everyone. When any "sin" or "sin convicting mechanism" is that obvious, there'll be 100% acceptance of that, too.
God was made in the image of man. Book of elvis 1:16
jesusmypimp: free people do not need to be saved. gravity is testable. "sin" is entirely a man made concept
@Robert Brown
"Ok, I received some good responses to my ideas on creation for those who have objections to the God of Abraham. No agreement whatsoever, but some good responses anyway. If you’re interested, it is on page 11. Next in our objection series is the Garden of Eden."
Blah, blah, blah dee blah blah. Blah blahblahblah. Blah dee blah dee blah blah dee blah.
"Next we will consider the flood".
Great balls of fire, you are a pompous ass.
Oops, wrong spot.
It may be the wrong spot, but it still applies.
@Max
That's what SHE said! 😉