CAMBRIDGE — A Harvard professor has identified what appears to be a scrap of fourth-century Egyptian papyrus containing the first-known explicit reference to Jesus as married, a discovery that could stoke millennia-old debates about marriage and sexuality in the Christian church.
The fragment, which has been preliminarily authenticated but must undergo further testing, also portrays Jesus as referring to a woman as his disciple.
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Those interested in gaining some perspective would do well to look at the books of Elaine Pagels, particulary her fascinating work "The Gnostic Gospels" which covers the wide range of early Christian teachings that were mostly expunged in the 4th century (remember that Nicene Creed you learned to recite?) in order to enforce a centralized orthodoxy. What I find most interesting are the writings that encouraged individulas to seek their own path to salvation, all very eastern philosophy sounding, and all threats to the church hierarchy, so it's little wonder they wound up on the cutting room floor.
There's no great mystery to Christian celibacy. It was all about property. In aroung the year 800 the Catholic Church went celibate to prevent incoming priests from passing down their land and property to their sons, the common practice. No wifes, no sons, all property goes to the church. Nice scam.
I wonder if she was a princess!
Fascinating and beautifully reported bu Lisa Wangsness.
And, Mr. Bill Green once again comes through with a stunning photograph. Man's a genius with a camera.
The Globe is extremely fortunate to have both of these fine journalists on its staff.
I doubt that this scrap of paper will do much to move the Vatican, but perhaps it will reenergize research into these earliest documents for more evidence on the role of women in the early Christian church.
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What difference would it make to anything or anyone if Jesus was married?? He came down to earth to live, to suffer, and to die for our sins, as a HUMAN! Guess what? Humans get married. I'm sure he also cried, laughed, ate, went to the bathroom, and slept! Why would any piece of a human life change ANYTHING about His teachings that so many people only "mouth" and blaspheme anyway??
I don't see where the papyrus or the ink was carbon-14 tested. Please don't let Annie Dookhan run those tests!
Some evidence points to the possibility that Jesus was not only black but also gay. But who cares? His message was a good one. The message has been 100 times modified, twisted and formed to support the power structures of men of the "church" but the original message was a pretty good one.
no doubt other texts were burned when the Church became an imperial ideology. there is a good reason why the Inquisition, which has its own Pope now, has been so resilient. so many crimes; so many lies.
one would be tempted to find survival of this scrap as miraculous if one did not understand the patriarchal violence unleashed during the last couple of millenia. and those are sins that the Church and its minions can not be forgiven. ever wonder why the Church is so loud in its "defense" of fetuses?? a guilty conscience and displaced morality. now, let's hear from the Catholic League and that smarmy Bill Donohue about how any evidence of early Church gender equality is bogus, forged or misunderstood. sure.