{"id":9553,"date":"2012-09-21T10:15:30","date_gmt":"2012-09-21T14:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=9553"},"modified":"2012-09-21T10:15:30","modified_gmt":"2012-09-21T14:15:30","slug":"is-the-gospel-of-jesus-wife-a-fake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/is-the-gospel-of-jesus-wife-a-fake.html","title":{"rendered":"Is the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife a Fake?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Let me start with the news that Mark Goodacre<\/a> shared a pdf of an article written by Francis Watson<\/a>, arguing that the recently-found Coptic papyrus that has been dubbed the \u201cGospel of Jesus\u2019 Wife<\/a>\u201d is a fake. He followed that up<\/a> with a second shorter pdf<\/a> on the forger\u2019s alleged technique. Some are<\/a> already<\/a> pronouncing<\/a> the<\/a> issue resolved. I would like to suggest that that judgment is premature.<\/p>\n

First, Watson emphasizes that the Gospel may be \u201cfake\u201d in more than one sense, and it may be an ancient<\/em> \u201cfake\u201d which is simply derivative of other Gospels. That, of course, is what most<\/em> of our Gospels look like \u2013 most of them recycle material found in others, known directly from another written source or indirectly through oral transmission (whether oral recitation of a written source or other forms of storytelling). When that happens early enough, we consider it useful historical confirmation. When it is late, we consider it secondary. But rarely do we simply label a work a \u201cfake.\u201d And even when popular voices or even scholars use such a label, that does not necessarily mean that the matter is settled \u2013 take the Gospel of Thomas and the divergent views about it as an example.<\/p>\n

Watson also makes what I consider an unfortunate move for his case when he compares the text to the Secret Gospel of Mark<\/em> on the assumption that the latter is clearly a forgery. That view is indeed popular in certain circles, but handwriting experts and many others consider it extremely unlikely that Morton Smith could have forged the work. And so hitching his argument to a particular view on that other text will seem to many scholars to undermine his case, not support it.<\/p>\n

Now let me turn to the heart of Watson\u2019s article, which is a line-by-line analysis of the fragment. Watson\u2019s claim that the first line matches the line division of a specific manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas is interesting, but not conclusive, I am sure most would agree. Watson highlights multiple points of intersection, often verbatim or involving minor modifications and rearrangements of words, that intersect in particular with the Gospel of Thomas. In some instances, Watson seems to be going so far as to suggest direct dependence on a very slim basis \u2013 for instance, suggesting that \u201cI will be with her\u201d is a deliberate reworking of \u201cI will be with you\u201d in Matthew 28:20b. It is easy to spot such correspondences and make much of them when dealing with an ancient language, but the truth is that in English we use many phrases repeatedly with no direct borrowing. I rarely say \u201cI will be with you shortly\u201d or \u201cI will be with them at the party,\u201d but if I do, I never have Matthew 28:20b in mind.<\/p>\n

And so Watson\u2019s article is to be appreciated for its placement of the text in its literary context. As others had already suggested, the text most likely represents a reworking of earlier texts. That should come as no surprise, since it is true of most early Christian Gospels, beginning with the Synoptics.<\/p>\n

And so I would like to suggest that nothing that Watson presents in his article indicates that the work is a modern forgery, or even that calling it an ancient \u201cfake\u201d will usefully contribute to our understanding of the text. Chemical analysis may hopefully settle the matter to everyone\u2019s satisfaction, and it may be worth the damage to the fragment that would be involved, in order to achieve that higher degree of certainty. Until then, the discussion should continue, and any pronouncement of the matter as settled is at best premature.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what others<\/a> have been<\/a> saying<\/a>:<\/p>\n

John Byron<\/a>, Joel Watts<\/a>, and others have linked to or embedded Jon Stewart\u2019s discussion. I like his suggestions about possible ways the text might have continued after \u201cMy wife\u2026\u201d Stephen Colbert<\/a> also mentions it. And the cartoon at The Sacred Sandwich<\/a> seems timely.<\/p>\n

Dan Wallace<\/a> offers what he calls a \u201creality check.\u201d Stephen Prothero<\/a> doesn\u2019t know and doesn\u2019t care whether Jesus was married. Larry Hurtado<\/a> thinks that calling the text \u201cThe Gospel of Jesus\u2019 Wife\u201d based on such a small fragment is problematic. Paul Barford<\/a> has taken<\/a> to calling it<\/a> \u201cPDodge\u201d \u2013 an abbreviation for the \u201cDodgy Papyrus<\/a>\u201d coined by David Gill.<\/p>\n

Mark Goodacre<\/a>, Jim Davila<\/a>, James Tabor<\/a>, Steve Caruso<\/a>, Joel Watts<\/a>, and Jim West<\/a> (twice<\/a>) have all mentioned Simcha Jacobovici\u2019s comments and the plans for a documentary<\/a>. Inevitably when some are inappropriately sensationalist, others<\/a> respond by being inappropriately dismissive.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Since I wrote this post, other contributions<\/a> to the discussion<\/a> have been added by Timo Paananen<\/a>, Stephen Carlson<\/a>, and Chuck Grantham<\/a>, Ferrell Jenkins<\/a>, Dirk Jongkind<\/a>\u00a0and Gavin R<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 plus a sarcastic quip from Bob Cargill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Since the last update, there have been posts by Ben Witherington<\/a> (a video<\/a>),\u00a0Allan Bevere<\/a>, Brian LePort<\/a>, Jeffrey Garcia<\/a>, James Tabor<\/a>, and Bart Ehrman<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let me start with the news that Mark Goodacre shared a pdf of an article written by Francis Watson, arguing that the recently-found Coptic papyrus that has been dubbed the \u201cGospel of Jesus\u2019 Wife\u201d is a fake. He followed that up with a second shorter pdf on the forger\u2019s alleged technique. Some are already pronouncing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":10415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,131,132,141,29,30,32,33,34,39,40,67,87],"tags":[3332,3533,3575,3994,4093,4108,7011,7716,10998],"class_list":["post-9553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archaeology","category-bible","category-christianity-religion","category-coptic","category-gnosticism","category-gospel-of-jesus-wife","category-gospel-of-john","category-gospel-of-luke","category-gospel-of-mark","category-gospel-of-matthew","category-historical-jesus","category-history","category-new-testament-bible","category-secret-gospel-of-mark","tag-fake","tag-forgery","tag-francis-watson","tag-gnostic","tag-gospel-of-jesus-wife","tag-gospel-of-thomas","tag-mark-goodacre","tag-morton-smith","tag-secret-gospel-of-mark"],"yoast_head":"\nIs the Gospel of Jesus' Wife a Fake?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Let me start with the news that Mark Goodacre shared a pdf of an article written by Francis Watson, arguing that the recently-found Coptic papyrus that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/is-the-gospel-of-jesus-wife-a-fake.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is the Gospel of Jesus' Wife a Fake?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Let me start with the news that Mark Goodacre shared a pdf of an article written by Francis Watson, arguing that the recently-found Coptic papyrus that\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/09\/is-the-gospel-of-jesus-wife-a-fake.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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