The Da Vinci Code<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=amerjesu-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0307474275\")
\u00a0<\/em>to the non-fiction section of the library, I thought it would be worth taking a moment to step back from any ensuing Jesus wife madness and call attention to a few important details about this issue.<\/p>\nTo begin, the papyrus scrap in question dates (probably, its precise date has not been confirmed) to the 4th century. For the sake of the argument let\u2019s assume that dating is correct. Personally, I\u2019m sure it probably is. A scholar like Dr. King wouldn\u2019t come forward with evidence like this if she wasn\u2019t fairly confident about her dating of the piece.<\/p>\n
However, if the dating is correct, that places the writing of the papyrus some 300 years after Jesus was alive.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a long time, meaning not only was it written by someone who didn\u2019t know Jesus, but they also couldn\u2019t possibly have known anyone who did know Jesus or even anyone who knew someone who knew someone who knew someone who knew someone who had known Jesus.<\/p>\n
This issue of authority was important in the collecting of what came to be known as the New Testament.<\/p>\n
Were there other \u201cgospels\u201d and Christian writings being produced in the first couple of centuries after Jesus? Absolutely, but texts like the Gospel of Thomas weren\u2019t excluded because of some paranoid, power hungry conspiracy on the part of the church. They were excluded for a number of reasons including theology, authorship, and use in the early church. In the case of the Gospel of Thomas it was excluded because it had gnostic undertones and offered no account of Jesus\u2019 crucifixion and resurrection.<\/p>\n
Additionally, and this is a really key point, the apostolic authority of such documents was of crucial importance for the early church. It wasn\u2019t simply what was being said, but whether or not those words, ideas, and the information in them could be directly connected, and therefore confirmed, to one of the apostles or their students. It wasn\u2019t the words or ideas that were authoritative, so much as who said them. In other words, the fact that the apostles (or Jesus) uttered the words made them authoritative.<\/p>\n
This testing of apostolic authenticity took place in the first century or so after Jesus because the actual witnesses or at least their students, family, and friends were still alive to confirm the various accounts and teaching. And by the end of the 2nd century we had definitive (but not affirmed by a formal church council) lists from early church fathers of the writings that now comprise the New Testament<\/p>\n
Now, that was definitely a trickier process than it might sound, but it does mean that the texts which were eventually cast aside were cast aside because those who were \u201cin the know\u201d didn\u2019t think those cast aside texts accurately reflected what they knew to be true (though some texts, such as 1 Clement, were in wide use because they did contain \u201ctrue\u201d teachings, but lacked apostolic authority).<\/p>\n
All that to say, the reason this newly discovered papyrus is so rare is, in large part, because the information it contains wasn\u2019t considered to be true by the people who were in a much better position than we are today to know whether or not they are true.<\/p>\n
Now, before you go thinking there was some Da Vinci Code<\/em> conspiracy to cover up Jesus\u2019 supposed marriage in a effort to maintain some sort of theological or ecclesiastical position, let me bring up another critical point.<\/p>\nThe apostle Paul was single and he wasn\u2019t a big fan of marriage.<\/p>\n
In 1 Corinthians 7:8-9 he says it\u2019s better to stay unmarried, but if a person was burning with passion (not a positive thing), then they could get married so that they didn\u2019t fall into sin.<\/p>\n
Maybe Paul was just mad because he didn\u2019t have a lady friend and wanted others to \u201csuffer\u201d with him. More likely, however, Paul was single because his Lord was single and above all Paul (like all the early church saints) tried to live a life as closely resembling Jesus\u2019 life as possible.<\/p>\n
Literally.<\/p>\n
Not the sort of etherial, metaphysical way we talk about \u201cliving like Jesus\u201d today by which most of us just mean \u201cbe a nice person.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the first followers said they wanted to be like Jesus, they meant trying to literally live like he did\u2026.and die like he did.<\/p>\n
But, just for the sake of argument, let\u2019s assume Paul\u2019s decision to not get married was his own. Even if that was the case he would never have spoken negatively, even in the slightest way, about marriage if the one he called Lord had been married. Rather, he would have been quite emphatic about the fact that everyone should be married because it would have been yet another way to be more like Jesus.<\/p>\n
Paul\u2019s idea that it would be better for the follower of Jesus to stay unmarried should speak volumes about whether or not Jesus was married.<\/p>\n
Likewise, any suggestion about Jesus possibly having a wife also has to get around, what is for me, the insurmountable problem of the Gospels.<\/p>\n
Simply put, there is not mention of Jesus having a wife.<\/p>\n
The gospels became the gospels of the Bible because they were considered the most authortitative and accurate accounts of Jesus\u2019 life. If they were missing a big detail like Jesus\u2019 marriage, those who knew him or those know knew those who knew him would have said something and, chances are, we would have 4 different gospels.<\/p>\n
But we don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t because Jesus\u2019 life was the rule of faith for the early church. Everything he did was normative for them. If he had been married, that too would have been normative and would have been mentioned in the gospels.<\/p>\n
But, let\u2019s just say for the sake of the discussion that Jesus was married.<\/p>\n
What implications would that have for the Christian faith?<\/p>\n
The answer, (if you\u2019re not a priest) not many.<\/p>\n
Jesus didn\u2019t condemn marriage, so it wouldn\u2019t be hypocritical.<\/p>\n
Marriage and the sex that comes with it isn\u2019t a sin, so Jesus\u2019 \u201cperfect lamb\u201d status wouldn\u2019t be affected.<\/p>\n
If anything, Jesus\u2019 marriage would have been a wonderful example of what a healthy and holy marriage should look like. It would have shown us what it means to be the perfect spouse (and maybe even the perfect parent).<\/p>\n
But the example isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n
Anywhere.<\/p>\n
There is no credible evidence or reasonable argument based on the evidence we have that Jesus was married and a piece of papyrus written 300+ years after the fact doesn\u2019t change that.<\/p>\n
But even if he was, it wouldn\u2019t change a thing.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grace and peace,<\/p>\n
Zack Hunt<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Jesus had a wife? According to a recently released scrap of ancient papyrus, some think that might be more of a possibility than ever. But before we go moving The Da Vinci Code\u00a0to the non-fiction section of the library, I thought it would be worth taking a moment to step back from any […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3437,"featured_media":7884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n