Jesus’ wife?

By Saul Landau

“Despite all the evil that organized religion has done around the world, religions have also been a primary source of energy for better ways of doing things and thinking about them.” – Sam Smith, Undernews October 9, 2012

“Grounding ethics in religion is no longer adequate.” The Dalai Lama, Huffington Post, October 9

Much of American religion revolves around the nature of Jesus Christ, God’s allegedly perfect son who perished for the sins of the rest of us and in whose name priests offer forgiveness to confessing offenders. From time to time, facts creep into the religious realm that challenge the established doctrine. 

On September 18, at a conference in Rome, Harvard historian of early Christianity, Karen L. King, offered the audience a papyrus scrap she found, on which in Coptic script, there is reference to Jesus referring to his wife. Jesus said to them (his disciples), “My wife she will be able to be my disciple.”

In the Vatican, the keepers of the creed, reacted when they read of Karen King’s find. A lot of nuns and their supervisors, however, did some heavy thinking. After all, their Church claimed they were married to Jesus. That would make God’s son a polygamist. Catholics take the pure virgin (Mary and her son) as basic dogma. Indeed, some nuns claim they are “married to Jesus” and wear wedding rings to symbolize that unity. 

Skepticism about Jesus having been married is warranted. But the Vatican quickly denounced the document as a fake, before even looking at it. Scholars debated the authenticity of the papyrus document, and discussed tests to prove or disprove its veracity. (See The Harvard Theological Review)

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told Fox News that this discovery should not change the teachings from the altar. "This changes nothing in the portrayal of Christ and the gospels. This is not an event that has any influence on Catholic doctrine," he said. The Reverend Martk D. Roberts had previously noted that “virtually every Jewish man in Jesus’ day did marry, especially those who were considered to be Rabbis.” But no evidence Jesus ever did, said the reverend.

Instead of saying, “this note might bring into question the very foundations of Christian doctrine,” academics who study religion related their inquires to: “Who really wrote the note, when did he write it, and for what purpose?” Several fundamentalists, who still watch the Flintstones because it’s a documentary about early life on earth, dismissed the discovery of the note as yet another liberal plot.

Fox News commentators and conservative Christian clergy flew into fits of anger and denounced and dismissed the document as a phony. A married Jesus? The very notion disturbs the fundamentalists to the core – of their doctrine.

Why? Jesus married a human? “Jesus belongs to us.” How can he have shared his affections – including in bed – with a regular woman? Since much Christian doctrine defines Jesus as God’s son, who was designed to die for our sins, the emergence of a possibly married man hitched to some local Semite babe back in Century One causes ideological waves.

Ironically, the discoverer of the historical scrap stated that it "does not… provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married." In a draft of her analysis of the article on destined for the January edition of Harvard Theological Review, she wrote that "This fragment, this new piece of papyrus evidence, does not prove Jesus was married, nor does it prove that he was not married,” King said in a conference call with reporters earlier in the month. “The earliest reliable historical tradition is completely silent on that.” (By Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, Septembr 28, 2012, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editors)

“So” concluded Karen King, “we’re in the same position we were before it was found,” she continued. “We don’t know if he was married or not." The issue for the Church, which describes itself as Christ’s bride, is to show the papyrus was a fake. Even early Jesus worshippers represented their linkage as between Him and themselves – not Him with some flawed female.

In light of the importance of Jesus’ virginity has to many Christians, a document that would be otherwise exclusively for the world of scholars has taken on ideological if not theological significance. Facts and religion often don’t mix well. Start with the official beginning: The Big Guy in the sky made the world in six days and it came out perfect.

Look around, I challenge, and examine what you see: Perfect famines, wars, diseases, child suffering? Later, He gave Moses commandments for all to live by. If you disobey (sin) you go to Hell and suffer interminable and eternal pain. But not to worry, God loves you.

In the next presidential debate, will the candidates opine on the “wife of Jesus” issue? Imagine…

Romney: “President Obama has been weak on Jesus’ virginity and has not denounced the fakery of the wife and the papyrus scrap of Karen King.

Obama: “We are studying this issue carefully, and all options are on the table.”

Maintain your skepticism, I appeal, toward the document, religion in general, and the political system above all.

Saul Landau’s WILL THE REAL TERRORIST PLEASE STAND UP and his FIDEL are available at cinemalibrestore.com.