I find the news striking that our favorite former Jew, Jesus Christ, was, in fact, married, and we have the paper to prove it!  The papyrus tells us so, and if we believe in one Holy papyrus, then we must have enough faith to believe in other verified bits of writing, right?

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …’ ”

The faded papyrus fragment is smaller than a business card, with eight lines on one side, in black ink legible under a magnifying glass. Just below the line about Jesus having a wife, the papyrus includes a second provocative clause that purportedly says, “she will be able to be my disciple.”

I find it a great human relief that the Baby Jesus grew up to be just like the rest of us — and I’m sure there’s some hackneyed joke in there somewhere about him having to suffer just like the rest of us… by being married! — but I digress from the wholesome and welcoming news that Jesus really was just like us and that he cast around some sin with the best of us.

Of course, public believers who make money on the virgin meme are now saying, “Don’t believe that Word over there, only believe our Word over here,” and that enriches the drama to an even deeper level of human erosion and envy:

Jim West, a professor and Baptist pastor in Tennessee, said: “A statement on a papyrus fragment isn’t proof of anything. It’s nothing more than a statement ‘in thin air’, without substantial context.”

Wolf-Peter Funk, a noted Coptic linguist attending the same conference as Prof King, said there were “thousands of scraps of papyrus where you find crazy things,” and many questions remained about the fragment.

I’m sure Catholic Nuns and their wedding rings are upset about this news that Jesus had a real life wife since they’re all already virtually married to Him, but I say, “So what?”  There’s enough of Him to go around for all of us, right?  Isn’t that the whole idea behind this Christendom thing anyway?

6 Comments

  2. David, as you point out, Christians seem to be experts at selecting which parts of their version of the bible they choose to follow. I guess it’s easy if you know which parts are “correct” and so which parts apply to you. Everyone has the right to believe and worship, but please leave the rest of us who are on a different tack out of your drama.

    1. I think that’s Right, Tom. I say, let people believe what they wish — just keep the worship private so it only affects your life and those around who you choose to participate. The rest of the world really doesn’t care about your religion — and the trouble happens when you try to make everyone care to believe as you do.

      1. Unfortunately that goes both ways and can also say “DON’T believe and DON’T practice what you want, just keep it private so it only affects your life and those around who you choose to participate.” I tire of the popular pastime of criticizing and making fun of religions – and by that I mean ALL religions. Just as all Jews, Muslims, Christians, Wiccans, Buddhists, ect etc. should, by social etiquette, keep their opinions to themselves, so should atheists keep their opinions to themselves or else why should the first camp keep their mouths shut? I don’t broadcast what I do or do not believe, and I grow weary of everyone else – both the “religious” and the atheists alike – forcing their messages down my throat. It’s like they’re all desperate to “prove” their belief – or non belief, as it were – by belittling someone else, just like a playground bully picking on the smart kids to hide his own feelings of inadequacy. I can’t even enjoy YouTube without running into a bunch of hate mongering comments attacking religions – most notably Christians (not a lot of popular songs have much fodder in them for picking on the other groups). It’s ridiculous. If they want to believe in “nothing”, more power to them, I couldn’t care less, but just as the religions should keep their beliefs to themselves, the atheists should keep their non-beliefs to themselves, too.

        as to the post, had not heard about that so off to google – thanks 🙂

        1. I’m not sure I understand your point, Joleene. If you believed what you were arguing, you would not have bothered to post your comment.

          To argue that the atheist minority should remain silent in the midst of the Christian minority is puzzling. You may not believe in dissent, but change never happens if the power majority are able to set the public agenda just because they have more voices to force their religious beliefs in the mainstream public square. If we truly had “separation of Church and State” in the USA, this would not be a problem, but we, in practice, do not.

          How many atheist syndicated television shows and magazines are there blaring at us every day?

          How many atheists have started wars or persecuted people for not believing as they do? What invisible higher being do atheists invoke to get their way and excuse inappropriate individual behavior?

          Every war we’ve had in the history of the world has been started because of a belief in religious superiority — “My God is Better than Your God!” — and the deadly dogma that follows.

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