Christians around the world are going bonkers over a 4th Century papyrus that points to evidence that Jesus may not have been a bachelor after all.
Last week, Karen King, a professor of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School, announced the finding of the papyrus at an international congress on Coptic studies in Rome. The text, written in Coptic and likely translated from a 2nd-century Greek text, contains a segment in which Jesus refers to “my wife,” whom he identifies as Mary. The finding coincides with last year’s reexamination of Jesus’ Last Supper, which some theologians say contains the image of a woman in the background.
Christian tradition has long been under the assumption that Jesus was unmarried, although there’s no reliable historical evidence to support that theory. So why is everyone going crazy over this potential news?
When asked about the finding, one prominent Catholic bishop went on the defensive, saying there were many men named “Jesus” during biblical times, so the papyrus is identifying the wrong “Jesus.” HUH?
With Christianity holding marriage in such high regard, it’s almost odd how defiant the church is against the idea of Jesus possibly entering into holy matrimony. So at some point, it’s valid to wonder if Christians are holding on to this unproven theory because they genuinely believe it to be true, or because they simply need to be right?
A married Jesus could throw quite the monkey-wrench into Christianity, particularly the Catholic faith. Catholic priests are not allowed to marry, under the belief that it makes them more like Jesus. Also, women are not allowed to be priests, under the belief that women were not part of Jesus’ inner circle. But a married Jesus would force the church to accept centuries of erred thinking and a change in catholic doctrine. For a church steeped in tradition and extremely closed to change, this would be monumental.
Is this papyrus the real deal? Was Jesus married? And if he was, does it really matter?
