What has Jesus’ Wife to do with Christopher Rollston?

What has Jesus’ Wife to do with Christopher Rollston? October 18, 2012

Having referred in my previous post on this subject to an “obituary” for (the Gospel of) Jesus’ Wife, I am running out of possible humorous references. I can still offer a further update at some point that utilizes the Dead Parrot Sketch, once it becomes absolutely clear whether the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife is nailed to its perch. As for the title of this post, read on to find a link about who connects Mrs. Jesus and Christopher Rollston, and to learn (to no one’s surprise) that there is no real connection, other than of the sort made in my ridiculously sensationalist headline.

Among those who’ve posted updates about the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife are Mark Goodacre, Bob Cargill, and Tommy Wasserman. Loren Rosson has responded to Hershel Shanks’ piece, while James Tabor agrees with Shanks.

On a related note, Alin Suciu reblogged a post at Faces and Voices about an authentic fragment among the Rylands Papyri, of the Gospel of Mary. And Timo Paananen posted a review of Klauck’s Apocryphal Gospels.

On another topic I’ve blogged about several times recently (and which Simcha Jacobovici has tried to connect to the topic of the authenticity of the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife – to which see Joel Watts’ response), Fred Clark has mentioned the case of Christopher Rollston in a post on how evangelicals pick and choose in seemingly bizarre and inconsistent ways which issues to ignore and which to focus on. And last but not at all least, Thom Stark has posted a series of letters from students of Rollston’s to the administration at Emmanuel Christian Seminary, as well as some statements from that administration which seem not to bring clarity to what is going on, or why.

UPDATE: There is relevant discussion of the evidence for plagiarism, and what it does and does not prove, on the Gospel of Thomas discussion group list-serv. Bob Cargill discussed the way Emmanuel Christian Seminary apparently first tried to release a statement about Christopher Rollston. And finally, Joel Watts has a live interview with Jesus’ wife – who reminds me in certain respects of both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama…


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