The earth-shattering news, in a document written in Coptic, is that it appears to mention Jesus having a wife, subject to all the gaps in the narrative. Obviously, this document fulfils all the necessary criteria for being an earth-shattering challenge to Christian orthodoxy.
That is, in line with the "Hermeneutic of Saleability":
a) It's not referred to by any other contemporary document.So here's the fragment as we have it reported:
b) We don't know which community produced it.
c) It's written 300 years after the original Easter so almost completely irrelevant as a source.
d) You can make out it's a challenge to what Christians believe.
"not [to] me. My mother gave to me li[fe]
The disciples said to Jesus,
deny. Mary is worthy
of it
Jesus said to them, “My wife she will be able to
be my disciple
Let wicked people
swell up
As for me, I dwell with her in order to
an image"
Thankfully, we have the original, which I picked up on a Nile cruise a few years ago. I'm glad to fill the document in for you, to explain the context. The text above is in black - the missing words in red.
"James and John - they're handsome single blokes. Women pay a lot of attention to them," said Jesus, "but not [to] me. My mother gave to me li[fe] and now Joseph's gone I need to look after her."
The disciples said to Jesus, "you have a great mum - that's something you can't
deny. Mary is worthy to be counted blessed by all generations. That's the end
of it."
Jesus said to them, “My wife, if she existed, would be a very disappointed woman. If any woman thinks I'm a good catch, let her look at the way I live. Then
she will be able to to see that anyone wanting to
be my disciple has to be a bloke. Mary Mag is just a good friend.
Let wicked people in later years try to overturn the truth, as written by young Mark here in what he seems to be calling his "Gospel".
Their heads may well swell up when they grab a few verses of an obscure document and try to make something special of it - when it's just talking about how I look after my mum.
As for me, I dwell with her in order to look after her - until John has to do the job for me.
In years to come, my mother will be the most famous woman in the world. There won't be a Catholic church without an image of her."
The troubling thing about the Blessed Virgin Mary is that some of the Gospels mention Jesus's brothers?
ReplyDeleteSo, how does that fit in with the Virgin Mary theory or Roman Catholic dogma concerning her?
Are we saying that Jesus was Mk1 and because he succeeded, Mk2 and Mk2 were also Virgin Births but were made redundant once Jesus was done away with and surprised the lot of them by getting up again on the third day?
So many questions, so many mysteries. It's all a bit 'headachey' so I'm going to take a bottle of paracetamol and have a lie down.
Catholics, holding to the Perpetual Virginity of the BVM, believe that Jesus's "brothers" were his half-brothers through a previous marriage of Joseph's.
DeleteC of E people, Methodists and other such liberals believe Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived, but after Jesus's birth she and Joseph probably had a more conventional life.
Mr Wesley says: "I believe that [Jesus] was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin." [Letter to a Roman Catholic]
DeleteMr Wesley says: "I believe that [Jesus] was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin." [Letter to a Roman Catholic]
DeleteWhy is it so taboo to think that Christ could have been married? I think that would be a beautiful concept to believe. If Christ were married that would not diminish his divinity. If anything to me it would make Him even more amazing. To know that He lived as we live and experienced our trials in every way, including marriage. That I can turn to Him for council in my marriage, knowing that He too was once married. Isn't marriage and family one of most central purposes of this life? Why does the catholic church forbid some to marry? In Timothy 4:2-332 it say's it is wrong to forbid others to marry. It say's, "Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
ReplyDelete3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created (marriage and meat) to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."
Christ ate meat, does that diminish His divinity? So if Christ were married, why would that diminish His divinity either? I say it magnifies His divinity.
Sorry typo on the bible verse....it's Timothy 4:2-3
DeleteIt will be awhile before it is common knowledge And if we wait for The Church to announce it, awhile longer, But: The Church (Roman Catholic) already acknowledges that, The image of The Trinity is a family, with a woman in the center of it. The model for this image is The Holy Family. Look up, OUR LADY of AMERICA.
ReplyDeleteI further believe, from hematidrosis, that Jesus never went through puberty, until after crucifixion. Hematidrosis is a syndrome where-by hundreds of men have been known to sweat blood (as Jesus did in the agony in the garden) under high duress. They were all male and they were all impotent,sexually dysfunctional.
All that we have from scripture that Jesus said on the subject of Celibacy is, "Some are born that way, some are made that way by other men and some will give it up for the sake of the kingdom.".
That does not mean Jesus could not have had a wife.