Harvard Univeristy: The 'Gospel of Jesus' s wife' papyrus is real, not fake

The document, written in Coptic, a language of ancient Egyptian Christians, is made up of eight mostly legible dark lines on the front and six barely legible faded lines on the back. Scientists have concluded after examining it that the fragment dates back to at least the sixth to ninth centuries, and possibly as far back as the fourth century. 

The legible lines on the front of the document seem to form a broken conversation between Jesus and his disciples, including the phrases "Jesus said to them, my wife.", "... she will be able to be my disciple”, "Mary is worthy of it", "As for me, I dwell with her in order to ...".



The document was never meant to prove Jesus was married, Harvard Divinity School professor Karen L. King emphasized. But, instead, it's meant to highlight that some early Christians may probably believed that Jesus was indeed married. "The main topic of the fragment is to affirm 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" Karen King underlined.

And she added that "This gospel fragment provides a reason to reconsider what we thought we knew by asking what the role claims of Jesus' marital status played historically in early Christian controversies over marriage, celibacy, and family." 

 Front of fragment


Back of fragment