"Jesus said to them, 'My wife ...'" - Possibility that Mary Magdalene Had Sexual Relationship With Jesus!

You will agree with me that the speculation that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were an item are nothing new to Christianity, but the renowned documentary titled; "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife" was cooked with new evidence to prove otherwise. This first occurred to Karen King in 2010 when she received an email from a man claiming to be in possession of a piece of ancient Coptic papyrus.

It was said that the artifact belongs to a private collector who wants to remain anonymous. It's a 1 1/2 by 3-inch fragment of a fuller document that contains 33 words written in Coptic script, and which include the translated blockbuster line:

"Jesus said to them, 'My wife ...'"...

 

Karen King is a Professor from Hollis at Harvard Divinity School and after series of testing, she confirmed that the papyrus truly originates from between the 6th and 9th centuries, the words themselves are believed to possibly have been written as early as the second to fourth centuries.

Yet, that does not stop the documentary from exploring the possibility that Jesus was more than Mary of Magdala's savior.

Even the program's narrator wondered on the show saying, "If the 'Gospel of Jesus's Wife' is genuine, what does it mean?" Then he immediately went on to caution himself saying, "From the beginning, Karen King and her colleagues strongly emphasized that this is not historical proof that Jesus had a wife."

"The implications could go wider still," the program narrator also said, referring to a scene where Jesus' actor removes his sandals, disrobes and blows out a lit candle, presumably in preparation for bed... with who, one wonders.

"If the notion that Jesus had made Mary not just a disciple but his wife had ever become the mainstream of Christian belief, it would strike at the very heart of celibacy and male control of the Church," adds the narrator.

 

Now, Christian professors and clerics are beginning to respond:

Father Henry Wansborough, a Benedictine monk and Biblical Studies professor said in an interview that... "Anything to do with sex and Jesus, is big money and big excitement,"

He went further to interpret matters differently, expressing a view held by some Christians who are reluctant to entertain the possibility that "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife" holds any significance for modern believers.
"It will not have a great deal of importance for the Christian Church," he suggested. "It will show that there was a group who had these beliefs in the 2nd century. Christians or semi Christians who perhaps had not reflected enough on the implications of the canonical Scriptures to see that Jesus could not have been married. It's a historical interest, rather than a faith interest," he concluded.

AnneMarie Luijendijk, an associate professor of Religion at Princeton University said expressly that, "We imagine Jesus as the Son of God, and the fact that He then could have sexual relationships leads us to really assess a lot of Christian theology."

Luijendijk is an expert on early Christianity and a papyrologist, who assisted Karen King with her analysis of the document.

Rev. Robin Griffiths-Jones, an Anglican priest and theologian said, "If evidence was to be taken seriously that Jesus was married, vast trenches of Christian thought and discipline, and life and observance would just evaporate."

Dr. Roger Bagnall, the director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University responded saying, "You can think the ideas are sensible. You can think they drive Christianity in a direction you'd like. You can think that these were all nutcases. Whatever. It does give a sense that the people in antiquity had a lot of different ideas,"

Dr. Bagnall actually assessed the physical condition of the papyrus and the ink to be forensic proof of the document's age.

Now, here are the many questions raised by both Christians and unbelievers:

Should the Gospels and some New Testament writings (that suggest Jesus may have been married and) that have been rejected by the traditional Church, be accepted as an accurate, historical documents?
Does "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife" documentary answer that question? Why did the documentary emphasised heavily on ancient theories and Gnostic writings that portray Jesus and Mary as being quite intimate, and the devoted female disciple as a leader with Peter and the other apostles.

Is the papyrus truly an "ancient Christian text?" Why was there no public report on the ancient document when it was emerged decades ago?

Why has Karen King's revelation and naming of "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife" caused such a massive storm? Does "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife" redeem the bad reputation of Mary, who had been portrayed by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries as a prostitute and temptress?

The biggest question, undoubtedly, is: What does "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife" mean for Christians living today?

Karen King, on the other hand, believes "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife" speaks to various issues that have affected Christians for ages, right up to present times: sexuality, marriage and women in leadership. She believes the document is part of a larger exchange between Jesus and his followers concerning the question of whether "women who are wives and mothers can be disciples of Jesus," and therefore, be leaders in His Church.

"The Gospel of Jesus's Wife" special premieres Monday, May 5, 2014, at 8 p.m. ET on the Smithsonian Channel.