As excitement mounts among scientists and scholars over a piece of papyrus which very much suggests that Jesus Christ was married, Conan O’Brien has found much less cryptic proof. Papyrus is good, but video is better. In the ancient film Conan shows, it appears that the Christ family lived much like any other Judean sitcom family on TBS. You be the judge.
If you absolutely insist upon proof written on papyrus, the Harvard Theological Review has exciting news for you, and why shouldn’t Jesus have been married? An eligible bachelor would have to be fleet of foot to make it to 33 years old without being caught, and there are societal norms to be considered…And we know he had a mother, it would be downright unnatural if she didn’t encourage him to marry and produce grand babies.
The Harvard Theological Review said Thursday new tests show the so-called ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’ is not a forgery.
Recent tests show a small piece of papyrus containing the words “Jesus said to them, my wife” is an authentic document dating from A.D. 659 to 859.
Analyses of the papyrus and carbon ink determined its origin date, the Harvard Divinity School said in a statement Thursday. “None of the testing has produced any evidence that the fragment is a modern fabrication or forgery,” the divinity school said.The scrap, about the size of a business card, was revealed in 2012, creating an uproar among religious experts and church leaders because of its reference to Jesus’ “wife.” Its existence was announced by Karen King, Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School. But King says the fragment does not mean Jesus had a wife, but rather is an affirmation that “that women who are mothers and wives can be disciples of Jesus — a topic that was hotly debated in early Christianity as celibate virginity increasingly became highly valued,” King explained in the statement.
The recent tests included radiocarbon dating done at Harvard University and a microspectroscopy performed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The latter test helps assess damage caused by time as well as authenticity.