Was Jesus married?
The papyrus, written in ancient Egyptian Coptic script, containing the alleged reference to Jesus’s ‘wife’.
A Harvard University professor unveiled a fourth-century fragment of papyrus she said is the only existing ancient text quoting Jesus explicitly referring to having a wife.
Karen King, an expert in the history of Christianity, said the text contains a dialogue in which Jesus refers to “my wife”, whom he identifies as Mary.
She presented the document at a six-day conference being held at Rome’s La Sapienza University and at the Augustinianum institute of the Pontifical Lateran University.
Prof. King said the fragment of Coptic script is a copy of a gospel, probably written in Greek in the second century.
“Christian tradition has long held that Jesus was not married, even though no reliable historical evidence exists to support that claim,” she told the congress in Rome.
“This new gospel doesn’t prove that Jesus was married but it tells us that the whole question only came up as part of vociferous debates about sexuality and marriage,” said Prof. King.
“From the very beginning, Christians disagreed about whether it was better not to marry but it was over a century after Jesus’s death before they began appealing to Jesus’s marital status to support their positions.”
While several experts agree the yellowish brown papyrus is authentic, final judgement on the fragment depends on further examination by colleagues and further testing, especially of the chemical composition of the ink, according to Prof. King.
Four words in the 3.8cm by 7.6cm fragment provide the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus had been married, she said.
Those words, written in a language of ancient Egyptian Christians, translate to “Jesus said to them, my wife”, Prof. King said in a statement. She said that in the dialogue the disciples discuss whether Mary is worthy and Jesus says: “She can be my disciple”.
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H. Galea (NRK)
Sep 21st 2012, 10:52
Ever since my childhood days, I saw it strange that the figure of Jesus, whom we, as Catholics, were to hold as an exemplary figure, did not seem to bother to get married and have any children – always keeping in mind that our mission after creation, persisting to date, is that of “increasing and multiplying”.
Going through the Holy Books, as has been stated earlier in this blog, there is no mention at all about Jesus between the age of 12 and 30. Appears strange to me, and I feel that anyone has the right to query why. Was it a period which the Church authorities of the time thought best to omit from history?
Way back in Leonardo da Vinci’s time, if one would care to examine the Last Supper, one would most probably query the figure on the right hand of Jesus - Mary, Mary Magdalen or John ? Of course this is just a painting – but is it wrong to believe that Leonardo’s painting should be interpreted as a reflection of the belief as was current in his time ?
As I see it, it would have been only normal if Jesus was married. On the other hand, what I fail to understand is why the Roman Catholic Church precludes its clergy from receiving the Sacrament of Matrimony !
Peter Shaw
Sep 20th 2012, 19:32
There are books that have been left out of the bible like The Book of Enoch for example!!
A.f Ellul
Sep 20th 2012, 18:43
Jesus was not a totally human, He was not created by the human seed, but from the GOD seed, mixed with a perfect human body named Mary. So Jesus was a mule, why, because, between species, God and the human. Jesus didn’t come in the world to generate human, but to teach us how we can practice for perfection. In the Holy Bible Jesus never mentions the word wife, but woman, even his Mother called her woman. After all in those days even today, many babies are named Jesus, even Mary. so there are many marriages named Jesus and Mary.
Kurt Waschnig
Sep 20th 2012, 17:12
I am of the opinion that it is not important if Jesus was married or not. He was a great and outstanding human being.
He looked after the needy, the poor, the downtrodden, the vulnerable, he taught dignity, love, respect, tolerance, truth, mutual understanding.
Especially our globalised world needs human beings like Gandhi and Jesus.
If we took human beings like Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus as an example, our world would be peaceful and stable.
The Needy, the Downtrodden, the Poor would have opportunities to lead a better life, there would be peace among religions, no hatred, no persecutions, dignity, joy, happiness, love, mutual understanding, respect and tolerance would prevail.
Academics will have bitter arguments if Jesus was married. Global problems will not be solved.
The question is why is it so so difficult to take Gandhi and Jesus as example for our lives?
We all are different therefore it is impossible, but we shall look at Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus and appreciate what these both wonderful human beings have done for mankind.
Best regards
Kurt Waschnig Oldenburg Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
Joseph Borg
Sep 20th 2012, 15:58
In the Holy bible nothing is mentioned that Jesus was married and another point nothing is mentioned about the missing years of Jesus life between his age of 12 to 30. If you read and study the bible well you will notice that In the 4 gospels Jesus is mentioned up to 12 years of age and then skipped from the age of 30 at the beginning of His ministry. No one can know about these missing years of Jesus.
Peter Galea
Sep 20th 2012, 15:05
whether jesus was married or not has nothingto do with what he taught us. I believe in Jesus. when we were young we went to school. Did the teaching has different meaning if the teacher was married or not?
Charles Grima
Sep 20th 2012, 14:45
Who cares about what happened all those years ago! Many catholics don't even know we are supposed to be christians first.
The books in the bible were selected by a bunch of old folks around 310AD... with their preference...
As for me, I am so glad I got no part in this!
Mr Anthony Zarb
Sep 20th 2012, 14:37
And so if Jesus was married. Would that make him a sinner?
Jo Meli
Sep 20th 2012, 14:27
For a Jew, at the time of Immanuel bar Joseph, known as Jesus [the] Christ, was not a option but a MUST in fullfilment of יהוה command "Go forth and multiply".
joseph cassar
Sep 20th 2012, 14:03
Married or not it does not make any difference.
Charles Grixti
Sep 20th 2012, 15:19
It makes a difference to the Church on two fronts - the probibition of priests marrying and women as disciples/priestesses.
Charles Grixti
Sep 20th 2012, 13:38
Well, if one knows anything about Judaism (and Christ was a Jew) it is that marriage was very important to them and every man was expected to marry early. No one could be called 'rabbi' as he was if he was a single man or even have much status in Jewish society.
Laurence Muscat
Sep 20th 2012, 13:19
if Our Lord Jesus Christ was or was not Married, for me it makes no difference at all.
This would not effect a bit his Divinity and would not even effect my way of looking at Jesus, the Son of God.
Liz WallikerG
Sep 20th 2012, 13:05
And the da Vinci code book was attacked for being fiction with no basis on fact........
Mark A. Sammut
Sep 20th 2012, 12:57
Before the usual onslaught sets in, this is the crucial sentence:
“This new gospel doesn’t prove that Jesus was married but it tells us that the whole question only came up as part of vociferous debates about sexuality and marriage,” said Prof. King
Francis Sammut
Sep 20th 2012, 12:46
Even though there is no proof one way or the other, the Church keeps insisting that Jesus was not married! I heard the other day on radio by a priest. It's as if if it was the case, Jesus is going to be relegated to someone less divine. The best option I can see for the Church is to say it as it is, namely, that she don't know!
Francis Sammut
Sep 20th 2012, 12:46
Even though there is no proof one way or the other, the Church keeps insisting that Jesus was not married! I heard the other day on radio by a priest. It's as if if it was the case, Jesus is going to be relegated to someone less divine. The best option I can see for the Church is to say it as it is, namely, that she don't know!
paul camilleri
Sep 20th 2012, 17:02
the problem is the church cannot say it as it is because it would upset the teachings of hundreds of years.. just as if Aliens were to become public would disrupte the Catholic faith. because the catholic belief is that god aka Jesus was made in our image. so would this mean that aliens do not have a God? or shall we say that they also have a God but with different understandings to that of chatholics, like muslim, buddist etc
Mariella Farjallah
Sep 20th 2012, 12:45
Jesus peace and blessing be upon him could have been married as when one gets married he or she fullfills half of the religion if its done in an honest way. Intercorse in marriage is blessed by God and humans are rewarded by God for this. Jesus was lifted by God to the heavens with the body and soul at the age of 33 so he could have been married like many of the other prophets peace and blessing be upon them all. Jesus peace and blessings be upon him was not crusified. Not even for our sins cos every individual has to repent for his or her own sins and we are all born pure without any sin. Not marrying is not something God told us to do.
stephen koludrovic
Sep 20th 2012, 12:43
, it would be more than probable that he was married, and yes to Mary Magdalene.
Please choose the reason of your report below: