There’s this fragment that was discovered recently that says something about Jesus having a wife, and it referred to her as his disciple. So what’s the deal here? Was there a cover up by the early Church?
Seriously?
Okay, here are the two main problems with the fragment in question: 1. It’s a fragment, and 2. It’s from over 300 years after the fact.
Because it’s a fragment, we don’t know the context of the writing. Was it obviously created to be a work of fiction? Was the author saying that some people claim Jesus had a wife, but it wasn’t true? Was the author writing what he thought was true, but it really wasn’t? Was the author a liar?
And we have 4 Gospels from the first century that don’t mention a wife–is that good for something?
If one wanted to argue that Jesus was really married then one would be accusing the Church of a cover up of the truth. But this would lead me to ask some questions: Why would the Church bother? What’s the risk, and what’s the reward? The risk of hiding the truth about Jesus being married is that if the story came out, the entire Gospel would be discredited. What would be the reward of the cover up? Abraham, Moses, and Simon Peter were all married. So what? Good for them. Why would it have been bad for Jesus to have been married? There was no upside to a cover up.
Did Jesus have a wife? It wouldn’t matter to me if He did, but the argument doesn’t seem very strong, so I’m saying it isn’t true.
good point between both your article and comments. I think people handle newly discovered pieces with such care because there obvious is alot left to be desired of a pragmatic mind that does not have faith. Instead of trying to disregard religion with new pieces work to figure out the truth which may not be for everyone but I would like to know
When he was crucified he asked for his mother to be taken care of. Would he not have requested the same for his wife?
Indeed, as several Christian apologists have pointed out, the critics are really rigourous and tough when it comes to the traditional gospels, but handle their recently discovered pet gospels and fragments with kid gloves and adoring care laced with much less skepticism.