In Theory: Would beliefs change if Jesus had been married?
A debate is raging over a small piece of papyrus that is claimed to contain evidence that Jesus was married. The document, which was allegedly written in either the 2nd or 4th century, was revealed by Karen King, the Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard Divinity School. The papyrus belongs to a private individual and its provenance is unknown. King claims the words, written in Coptic, include the phrases “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife....’ and ‘she will be able to be my disciple.’” King has said that she does not believe the words mean Jesus was actually married.
The fragment has been examined by experts who claim the language is correct and the papyrus itself is from ancient times. The director of New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World said, “It’s hard to construct a scenario ... in which someone fakes something like this. The world is not really crawling with crooked papyrologists.”
However, professor Francis Watson, of the U.K.’s Durham University, says the papyrus is just a collection of phrases from the genuine Coptic-language Gospel of Thomas, which have been copied and reassembled out of order. A forgery in the 1970s, in which a different papyrus claimed Jesus spent the night with naked youths, was put together in the same way, according to Watson.
The biblical Gospels contain metaphorical references describing Christ as a bridegroom, but in the meaning that he is married to the church. There’s no reference to a real wife, which is what King’s papyrus seems to claim.
Leaving aside the debate over whether the papyrus is a hoax, what would a revelation that Jesus had a wife mean for Christianity?
Q: There has certainly been a great deal made of the beliefs that Jesus was surrounded by only male disciples and was thought to be unmarried and celibate. Would it make a substantive difference in the beliefs of hundreds of thousands of Christians if these traditional beliefs were shown to be untrue?
The answer probably is yes. Although Christian theology is based on the doctrine that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine, I think it would be difficult to convince most Christians that Jesus was a totally sexual being, with a wife and perhaps even children. Such a break with traditional beliefs would be challenging, at best. Further, having a woman admitted to the status of a disciple would undercut centuries of male domination in the Christian church.
I remember being surprised to hear a Catholic monsignor at his retirement say that two things he hoped for in his denomination were the marriage of priests and the ordination of women. But that certainly does not seem to be the tenor of what is being decreed by the Vatican. In fact, Pope Benedict has recently been very forceful in his denunciation of both marriage by priests and women in the priesthood.
I believe that Jesus was a true exemplar of wisdom and a challenger to the status quo for the good of all. But then, we Unitarian Universalists have never forbidden our clergy to be married, and we currently have women serving as more than 50% of our clergy, beginning with the first woman ordained in 1863. It will be interesting to see what effects Professor King’s research will create. My hope is that the discovery of this tiny document will spark a re-examination of Christian theology and the opportunity for women to take their rightful places in the structure and leadership of Christian churches.
The Rev. Dr. Betty Stapleford
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Verdugo Hills
La Crescenta
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Struggling with “what if” questions can quickly lead you into a philosophical tangle. Dealing with the absolute truth is work enough, so I don’t think we should dwell on them. But for the moment, here goes. I don’t believe Jesus was married. That seems to be a relevant fact for Scripture to leave out. We know his parents’ names, and even his brothers’. We know where he grew up, and who his disciples and friends were. And there are numerous other religious texts from that time period that clearly contradict the Bible.
Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see a major effect on Christianity if Jesus had been married. Marriage is good. In 1 Corinthians 9:5, Paul wrote, “Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the lord, and Cephas?” Marriage would not have changed who Jesus was, or the work of salvation our father sent him to accomplish on the cross.
I believe it was God’s mercy and goodness that Jesus didn’t have a wife. Imagine Jesus marrying, knowing he would go to the cross in the prime of life, leaving his wife a widow. And what if he had had children? They would have literally become idols, falsely worshiped by many. Scripture teaches us that the church is the bride of Christ, and that all who believe in him have the right to become children of God.
Pastor Jon Barta
Valley Baptist Church
Burbank
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The traditional church view of Jesus is that he was the son of God and through him, mankind finds redemption from sin, eternal salvation; that he will literally return to the planet to save mankind from self-destruction and establish God’s kingdom on Earth.
The metaphysical, or New Thought, view of Jesus is that he is our elder brother and way-shower. New Thought churches include Science of Mind, the Center for Spiritual Living, Divine Science, Unity and a number of independent metaphysical churches.
The metaphysical view celebrates Jesus as the Great Example, rather than the Great Exception. Yes, he is acknowledged as the son of God; but, we are all the sons and daughters of God. Jesus, the man, was able to so completely merge with his higher self, the in-dwelling Christ Nature, that there came a point when you could not tell where his human personality/ego ended and the spiritual, Christ self came forth.
In viewing Jesus as a human who developed his awareness of the father within, does it really matter if he had an earthly relationship and married a woman, as some scholars believe?
In the metaphysical interpretation of Jesus’ life that forever changed the world, the idea that he was married does not at all detract from his universal message of love, forgiveness and the Kingdom of God here and now.
The Rev. Jeri Linn
Unity Church of the Valley
La Crescenta
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Probably not a great deal. There is an old joke about some non-Christian archaeologists discovering the bones of the crucified Jesus, which would mean, of course, that he did not rise from the dead in a bodily resurrection. They call the pope and they call evangelist Billy Graham, and both tell the archaeologists not to worry because the Roman Catholics have a strong belief in the church and evangelical Protestants have a strong belief in the Bible.
The archaeologists then call a super-progressive theologian, who says, “Well, then, I guess he really did exist.”
The point is that people will believe what they want to believe, regardless of the “facts.” If you think about it, it would have been strange for Jesus not to have been married, unless, of course, he was gay, and let’s not go there. His first disciple, Peter, was married. We know that because in Luke 4:38-39, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. Gotta be married if you have a mother-in-law. So were the other disciples married? Was Jesus? We simply don’t know.
Was the Apostle Paul married? One commentator with whom I’m familiar thinks he was.
There are lots of reasons for trying to deny the possibility of a married Jesus, and the biggest one is that some believers would have a tough time imagining a savior who had sex. But as I stated above, people will believe what they want to believe. Some will accept the idea of a married Jesus and others will say, “No way!”
Ah, we do live in interesting times, don’t we — and I personally can’t wait for the next biblical controversy. I like theological controversies because they make us think, again and again, about our faith, and as we examine and re-examine what we believe, we grow in our faith.
And if such controversies make you lose your faith, in my opinion, that faith wasn’t worth having in the first place.
The Rev. Skip Lindeman
La Cañada Congregational Church
La Cañada Flintridge
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The papyrus of Professor King may neither be significant in historical Bible studies nor in the practice of Christianity. While there is a valid question to ask about the loss of many references to Mary Magdalene in the approved version of Biblical texts, a more important issue is the extent that women are described as less capable than men.
Also, most religious practitioners today are not likely concerned about whether Jesus had a wife. Most religious people are more interested in the teachings of their leaders, instead of the personal lives of those leaders.
A better question to ask in religious studies would be this: How can lessons promoting gender quality be taught in the practice of religion? Christianity is not the only religion that promotes questionable ideas about gender relation. This problem common to religious and other groups should be addressed by including teachings about the value and worth of everyone, whether they are married, single, man or woman.
Steven Gibson
South Pasadena Atheist Meetup
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Was Jesus married? Is Obama a Martian? Do leprechauns actually live in Ireland? These are but three imagined possibilities along with kazillions that could be pondered. The real question is “are they probable?” Just because things are possible doesn’t mean they’re probable, and in the case of the three questions above, they are preposterous (except maybe the Obama one).
If Jesus was married, it would contradict the Bible, 2,000 years of Christian understanding, and negate the witness of the early church theologians who affirmed Jesus’ bachelorhood. People who think a married Jesus poses no problem have a low view of Jesus and the faith he began. While marriage is a God-given institution, Jesus is the God who instituted it for his creatures. He did not descend into creation to mate with lesser beings, but to save us from certain damnation. If Jesus was only a man, then sure, get married, have sex and produce Jesus Juniors. Wouldn’t that be something, Jesus’ great-grandchildren running around today? Believe me, they’d know their heritage because nobody would let that tidbit disappear from the family conscience. Would they be sinless? Could they walk on water?
But Jesus came for a purpose. He came to die on a cross, and that wouldn’t be very thoughtful of him to start a human family with full knowledge of leaving them widowed and fatherless. Besides, what would he do with his wife when she finally dies and goes to heaven, say to The Father and Holy Spirit, “move over, the missus is here”?
The Bible names Jesus’ disciples (many are women), it names his apostles (all men), and it names his half-siblings and parents. If he had a wife, wouldn’t she be more than worthy of mention? He does have a bride, though; us, his church (2Co 11:2-4; Rev 21:2-3).
The Rev. Bryan Griem
Montrose Community Church
Montrose
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This little piece of papyrus said to be written in the 4th century CE, copied from a 2nd century text, has engendered much scholarly and religious discussion. I’ve avidly read about the discovery, but as a non-believer I don’t have standing to hold forth on what it means for Christianity, other than this: Jesus regarded women not as weaker vessels, but as worthy, life-giving, disciples.
I appreciate anew that our knowledge of the past depends on studying the extant physical record.
Looking as far forward as this fragment is old, imagine that 17 centuries from now one of today’s obscure religious sects has become dominant. (This isn’t necessarily an unlikely scenario — Christianity started out in the margins.) Will artifacts and texts from today exist for historical research in the 38th century?
It seems unlikely to me that the cultural data now housed increasingly in vast energy-eating and pollution-producing heaps of hardware euphemistically called the “cloud” will be readable for as long as this document has. Ditto the contents of our PCs, laptops and other electronic storage.
I look around at the words, pictures and objects in our homes and institutions and contemplate what will survive, for how long, and what people (or robots?) in 3712 will think our fragments say about us.
Roberta Medford
Atheist
Montrose
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The essential premise of Christianity is that Jesus atoned for sin, opening the door to eternal life for humanity. Whether Christ was married or not really has no bearing on this fundamental truth. The question is interesting, but not pivotal.
Faith is based on a spiritual witness of Christ’s divine nature and the reality of the atonement. I believe that for most believing Christians, this faith can accommodate the surprises that scholars occasionally present to us.
According to news accounts, the few lines of text on the papyrus don’t provide enough context to draw conclusions about their meaning, even if the document is authentic. As some of the articles point out, the metaphor of marriage is used frequently in the scriptures, so we must be careful about taking the statement literally. Likewise, the reference to the wife as a disciple is open to interpretation. A disciple can be defined as a follower or an adherent, and the New Testament mentions several women who were devoted followers of Christ. However, the title doesn’t necessarily infer ordination to the clergy, as some of the articles suggest.
There is still considerable mystery surrounding the papyrus. The owner hasn’t been identified and its provenance hasn’t been revealed. I’m hopeful that we will learn more as additional scholars are allowed to study it.
Michael White
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
La Crescenta
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I find the idea a little endearing — and possible, I suppose. No one knows how Jesus spent the years between the ages of 12 and 30; and that’s a long time to sit alone in your room and think holy thoughts. Religious leaders of the time weren’t called to celibacy, so there’s nothing to say he wouldn’t have married; and marriage at a relatively young age was the cultural norm.
He doesn’t seem to have traveled with a wife during his itinerant ministry — if the Gospel manuscripts ever mentioned a wife, those references were deleted early, and thoroughly. But life expectancy being as short as it was then, he could easily have had a wife who died before he began his public career. (Probably he hadn’t divorced a wife, since he speaks adamantly against divorce in Matthew 19.)
Also, the fact that there’s no reference to a wife in the Gospels could be some combination of patriarchal bias — women just didn’t get mentioned in the history books — and the genre of gospel, which is completely unconcerned to relate biographical details. We have no idea, for instance, if Jesus took up his father’s carpentry business or not.
So it might be possible that Jesus married — but for all our sakes, let’s hope not.
The problem isn’t sexual squeamishness, or even theological import (though there’d be plenty of that); the problem’s the potential nightmares of history.
Jesus being married means Jesus might have fathered children — and what crackpot dictator wouldn’t try to claim divine right, as the great-great-great-great grandson of God? What religious wackos wouldn’t start a cult of supposed family lineage, with a souped-up picture on the mantel, of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit, smiling arm-in-arm? What would the world be like, if people could justify their latest crazy agenda by tracing it back to God’s own bloodline?
No, this is one instance where I’d say, if the early church fathers hushed up a sex thing, they were way, way smart in doing it. Thank you, repressive church fathers.
The Rev. Amy Pringle
St. George’s Episcopal Church
La Cañada Flintridge
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Maybe I missed something, but I don’t see how the connection has been made between this piece of papyrus and Jesus of Nazareth. As I understand it, the name Yeshua was common in first-century Galilee. Certainly not every Yeshua would be speaking of his disciples, but still, the question must be asked.
If Jesus were to have had a wife, this does not necessarily change the nature or purpose of his life, death and resurrection. Christians are, of course, attentive to Jesus’ life. When he heals people, we see God’s intention for wholeness. When he teaches, we understand that the law of God must be lived with love or not at all. When he eats, we find out that everyone has a place at the table. In everything, Jesus models a God of abundance, of forgiveness, of love. We spend our lives following this example, which we can do with or without information regarding Jesus’ marital status. I have to think that we have missed the point when we decide that the central elements of Jesus’ life to be emulated are his gender, apparent marital status and assumed sexual orientation.
More importantly, the quest for the historical person of Jesus is only part of the story. The ongoing significance of Jesus is found in who he is as the Christ, crucified and resurrected. You have heard that Jesus Christ “saves.” For centuries and around the world, people have come to Jesus Christ looking for freedom, but the bondage looks different in each context, and so therefore does the face and function of the Christ. For people in slavery and oppression, this Christ who dies on a Roman cross is a human-divine bridge to a God who would liberate all people from state-sponsored torture and death. For others, the Christ is a human-divine connection to God’s desire to remove the guilt of destructive actions, allowing for new life and new possibilities. Around the world, you can find every face of Jesus — African, Chinese, Indian, Native American. While there is a movement claiming Jesus as ethnically black, the majority of these renderings are not claims to the ethnicity of the historical Jesus, but claims of his significance to a people who have found in the risen Christ their path to God.
After all this time, the idea of a wife for Jesus is interesting, but pales in power next to these stories of divine connection and freedom.
The Rev. Paige Eaves
Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church
Montrose
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First, I would like to wish my Jewish friends locally and the Jewish community around the world a blessed Yom Kippur.
In Islam, if an authenticated historical discovery that Jesus had a wife occurred, it would not be significant or surprising from a theological perspective. While Muslims wholeheartedly revere the Prophet Jesus, along with all the other prophets of God, they believe that Jesus was simply a historically great human being without the divine attributes of God.
“Say we believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to all Prophets from their Lord: we make no difference between one and another of them: and we bow to God in submission.” (Koran 2:136)
Although, similar to the New Testament, the Koran does not mention anything about Jesus’ wife or family life; from an Islamic point of view, there would be nothing wrong if Jesus was married or had children.
“God did send Messengers before you, and appointed for them wives and children: and it was never the part of a Messenger to bring a Sign except by the permission of God, for each period there is Book revealed. (Koran 13:38)
The style of the Koran is not to offer a detailed historical record, but to highlight certain aspects and features of the Prophets’ life stories with the aim to give life lessons and universal wisdom.
Muslims believe in all the previous authentic revelations, so the New Testament is a source of knowledge. The four Gospels as canonized at the Council of Nicea around the year 325 CE makes no mention whatsoever of Jesus’ wife. Also, the nature of Jesus’ ministry was such that from a relatively young age, he was dedicated to service to the poor and to reforming a very materialist society. Hence, another Muslim opinion may be that Jesus could not have been married. In the face of such uncertainty, I will say what Muslims often say, “God knows best.”
Levent Akbarut
Islamic Congregation of La Cañada Flintridge