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ABCNews.com--An ancient piece of text is reviving an equally ancient debate: Was Jesus Christ married? Of course, most Christians believe that he wasn't. But today, Harvard Professor of Divinity Karen King presented a scrap of papyrus that dates back to the fourth century. She told a gathering of scholars in Rome that written in Coptic was this surprising sentence: "Jesus said to them, 'My wife...' " "Christian tradition has long held that Jesus was not married, even though no reliable historical evidence exists to support that claim," King said in a press release. "This new gospel doesn't prove that Jesus was married, but it tells us that the whole question only came up as part of vociferous debates about s*xuality and marriage. From the very beginning, Christians disagreed about whether it was better not to marry, but it was over a century after Jesus' death before they began appealing to Jesus' marital status to support their positions." King adds that this new gospel also tells us that some early Christians believed that Jesus was indeed married. The New York Times reports that the provenance of the fragment is not known because the owner asked to remain anonymous. Still, the Times reports, this ancient debate is relevant today: "Even with many questions unsettled, the discovery could reignite the debate over whether Jesus was married, whether Mary Magdalene was his wife and whether he had a female disciple. These debates date to the early centuries of Christianity, scholars say. But they are relevant today, when global Christianity is roiling over the place of women in ministry and the boundaries of marriage. "The discussion is particularly animated in the Roman Catholic Church, where despite calls for change, the Vatican has reiterated the teaching that the priesthood cannot be opened to women and married men because of the model set by Jesus." The Washington Post reports that in her announcement in Rome, King said that the Vatican had not yet responded to her findings. Harvard quotes two independent experts who believe the 3-inch fragment is authentic, both after examining the papyrus and the writing and after examining the language and grammar. King and AnneMarie Luijendijk, an associate professor of religion at Princeton University, will present their hypothesis in the January 2013 issue of Harvard Theological Review journal. Harvard has posted images of both sides of the fragment along with a line-by-line transcription and translation. King points out that ultimate confirmation will come from further testing, especially of the chemical composition of the ink.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Tuesday, September 18th 2012 at 10:32PM
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Well, who said we could trust ANYTHING in Church History?
Tuesday, September 18th 2012 at 10:39PM
Steve Williams
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It is quite possible Jesus was married. Jesus was often called rabbi, a title which, 2000+ years ago, only applied to married prophets of God.
Tuesday, September 18th 2012 at 10:40PM
Siebra Muhammad
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Jesus is a mystery. Was he married is a further mystery. But I would like to think he was married to Mary Magdalene.
Tuesday, September 18th 2012 at 10:49PM
Steve Williams
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Also Dan Brown's fictional novel (emphasis on fictional) The DaVinci Code insists that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and that they had several children together, one of whom included a daughter named Sarah If you do a Google search "Sarah the daughter of Jesus" you'll find images of her there, she was also a native of upper Egypt!
Tuesday, September 18th 2012 at 10:53PM
Siebra Muhammad
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It is interesting to note that Sarah is identified with The Gypsy Patron Saint Sarah La Kali, who is Honored with a Pilgrimage in May...
Tuesday, September 18th 2012 at 10:56PM
Siebra Muhammad
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The value is in the allegory. The facts cannot be confirmed, but the moral is in the sanctity of marriage. Not just that, but how could Jesus be WHOLE, without Mary Magdalene?
Tuesday, September 18th 2012 at 11:24PM
Steve Williams
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I couldn't resist the opportunity to give a spiritual version of the bridal prophecy. This is of course, referring to the new Jerusalem called "the bride and Lamb's wife." Which I so dilengtly write about and spread as much as I can with my publications, writings and poetry. It is the prophecy bride where John was given visions of in the bibical book of Revelation. By reading from Revelation 21st through 22nd chapters you'll find where it gives vivid details of the Jesus' bride, and wife. A holy city, adorned as a bride! However, I have been writing books about the bride for several years now, and this all connects me to continue. Perhaps, it is the wife in reference --just so happened to be in this latest discovery? I feel all things have and serve purpose. It can be a message that can be followed up and discussed with bibical prophecy of this bride of Jesus. Again, I do tell of the prophecy city bride--the new heaven. But then, I being a believer in Christ; I have this purpose too; "to be a bride of Jesus." Thanks for posting this Siebra.
Wednesday, September 19th 2012 at 8:48AM
MIISRAEL Bride
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Upon researching the name Sara La Kali we find the name Kali is an Egyptian name meaning "The Black One."
Wednesday, September 19th 2012 at 7:51PM
Siebra Muhammad
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Let us read over the following Bible verses (with an open mind) as it will confirm that Jesus was indeed married.
In the Book of John Chapter 2 Verse 2-8 it read:
"And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, draweth out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast."
Now at a Jewish wedding the guests cannot give orders. By Hebrew law and courtesy only the groom, the grooms mother, and the governer can give orders. The servants should have ignored Jesus's mother and Jesus. The groom should have been asked to allow them to do this and He would order the servants. For Jesus to do this before he became a well known miracle worker would have been unheard of. As well it is unlikely that Mary would have heard of the lack of wine before anyone else, again it would go against custom. But if Jesus was the groom and it was his wedding than this would have been perfectly alright. And throughout the entire chapter the groom is only asked by the governer why he hid the best wine until the end and to give it to the guests. So Jesus could be the groom at this wedding. It doesn't prove it but it definitely opens up the possibility. Jesus might not have been mentioned specifically as the groom because later when people wrote about Jesus they wanted him to appear pure and unmarried. But since they needed to show Jesus miracle they had to leave this part in. But they left it ambigous enough that no one would really question it.
Throughout the bible Jesus is called a teacher. By Hebrew law only married men may be teachers. So depending on how closely Jesus followed Hebrew law this could be a sign that Jesus was married. As for teaching people about religion again he would have to be married by Hebrew law. The moment any Jews heard Jesus wasn't married but was trying to teach them they'd all leave.
REMINDER: to be a Rabbi a man has to be married. So while Jesus would not HAVE to be married, it would be considered bad form for Jesus to teach children. Now people have stated that Jesus didn't follow all the laws, and quite rightly stated that people were uncomfortable at FIRST with this. Now we can take this as meaning Jesus was never married and people just stopped caring. Or we can think that at first people were uncomfortable but something Jesus did shortly afterwards made them allow Jesus to continue teaching to the children. This could have been marriage. So we have a question mark here. Did the Jewish people just decide to ignore law and tradition for Jesus, a possibility. Or did Jesus get married and people didn't have a problem anymore. Like so much with the bible and religion in general it comes down to faith.
The most critical part comes about after Jesus is crucified and it shows us who Jesus may have been married to.
In the Book of Mark Chapter 16:1 it read:
"And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him."
Now by Hebrew law the ONLY women who can anoint a man are family members. For Mary Magdalene to even attempt to anoint Jesus would be unthinkable under Hebrew law, unless she was married to Jesus. So it seems much more likely through this one verse that Jesus and Mary were married.
Now I know the bible doesn't come right out and say Jesus was married. But if Jesus was known to be married would he be seen as pure as he is made out to be? It is very likely that Jesus was not acknowledged as being married because the writers of Jesus did not want it known. As many christians say the people who wrote about Jesus saw it from different perspectives and some were nowhere near Jesus when Jesus lived. So after the fact it would be easy to leave out certain parts that did not match up with what they wanted. And until some writing from Jesus or his disciples is allowed to come out of the vatican vaults there is always the possibility that some parts of Jesus life was left out by the known writers who were not close to Jesus!
My friends and I who have been reading and researching the Quran have been aware of the following verse in the Quran. In The Holy Quran Chapter 13:38 it read:
(13:38) We did send apostles before thee, and appointed for them wives and children: and it was never the part of an apostle to bring a sign except as God permitted (or commanded). For each period is a Book (revealed).
So Allah has sent messengers before and they all had wives and children. Jesus was certainly among the messengers or rasoolan sent by Allah to teach mankind the Book and Wisdom. So certainly Jesus is not exempted from Surah 13:38.
The Quran came to us over 500 years later after the Bible, after the seventh century AD. The Quran came to confirm what came before it.
Thursday, September 20th 2012 at 10:44AM
Siebra Muhammad
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church history got us all messed up smdh
Thursday, September 20th 2012 at 11:03AM
Kemetria 'Kim' Smith
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When God chose to create man in His own image, He created a marriage, a family. So if Jesus had a wife or wives I have no problem accepting it.
Friday, September 21st 2012 at 11:47AM
Truth B. Told
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There is also the incident told in Luke 10:39 when Mary Magdalene sat at the feet of Jesus. In 1st century Judaism it would have been considered scandalous for any woman other than a wife to do this...
Friday, September 21st 2012 at 11:52AM
Siebra Muhammad
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As I shared earlier in my "BANNED GOSPELS OF THE BIBLE" post, what many people don't know is that there is so much more to the Four Gospels than Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There was also The Gospel of Peter, The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and other gospels that were banned from the Bible.
Let's review the Gospel of Philip, one of several gospels banned from the Bible. In it are more surprising interactions between Mary Madgalene and Jesus.
The Gospel of Philip claimed that Mary Magdalene had a special, even intimate, relationship with Jesus. Gospel of Philip 63, “The companion of the savior is Mary Magdalene…he loved her more than all the disciples.” But the words that followed were even more surprising. Throughout Chapter 63 it is suggested that Jesus loved Mary more than the other disciples, and in verse 35 it reads:
Gospel of Philip 63:35, “…and used to kiss her on her…”—and then unfortunately there is a HOLE IN THE TEXT! And of course, it’s in that hole that various people have filled in all kinds of imaginable options!
The word mouth fits in there very nicely, and that’s usually how it’s stored. Jesus used to kiss Mary Magdalene often on the mouth. For a man to kiss a woman who is NOT his wife or mother or something like that, in traditional Judaism is actually forbidden!
Friday, October 5th 2012 at 12:05PM
Siebra Muhammad
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The Gospel of Phillip and other banned gospels of the Bible were discovered in Egypt in 1945. Of course these Gospels were questioned by many scholars and may have been the first century version of the National Enquirer, for all we know.
My point is this, if Jesus was indeed a man blessed with a special mission by God, then his intimacy with Magdalene may have been instrumental in his fulfilling that mission.
I have long accepted the idea that Jesus was married and had at least one child, if Allah sent messengers before thee and they all had wives and children, according to the Holy Qu'ran.
Just so we know, the banned gospels were found by an Arab peasant from the village of Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt while collecting manure as fertilizer for his fields.
We also have to consider why these banned gospels were "banned" in the first place. Could it have been because the doctrines they promoted were regarded as threatening????
Friday, October 5th 2012 at 12:08PM
Siebra Muhammad
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Yes beloved I would say the banned books were a threat. But why and who banned them? They were banned at the Council of Nicea in 325 CE. These banned books were held in high esteem by the so called Gnostic Christians who saw their Jesus as a human being.The Roman church wished to consolidate it's power and that of Rome.The council sought to eliminate competition from any doctrines that did not agree with the deification and son of godship of Jesus. At the council all books which portrayed Jesus as a man and not divine were ceremoniously burned.
Friday, October 5th 2012 at 12:25PM
Truth B. Told
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Quite correct Truth. And Matthew and Luke have a common source, the Gospel Q. The Gospel Q consists of the sayings of Jesus, with nothing about virgin birth, death and resurrection, or his divinity. There was also a long chain of transmission of the canonical gospels, during which the opportunity arose for omissions and deletions, and were certainly made, along with the banning of the "heretical" writings, their burning, and the persecution of the "heretics". By the time of Constantine, who could be sure what the Truth was? But we do know that Constantine was told in a vision, the story goes, "by this sign conquer", the sign being the cross. It's not to hard to connect the dots, but very unfortunate that we have so few of the other writings. Add to that, it wasn't until Nicea that the doctrine of the trinity was formalized.
Friday, October 5th 2012 at 7:19PM
Steve Williams
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Oh, and another thing that is commonly overlooked is the role of the Alexandrians and other Egyptians in the formation of Christianity. Remember, Jesus went down to Egypt?
Friday, October 5th 2012 at 7:52PM
Steve Williams
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...oops, sorry, the person sitting at teh right dise of Christ in that picture. therefore the Book O mm could not remain in the Bibvle!!!(smile)
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
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@ Siebra and Steve...
remember the Pope is N-O-W against virgin birth...
and the way I look at it is both Eve and Mary Magdlene would have been th ehead of their househods and you both know this is not going to play will in Christianity, now don't we?(rotfl)(smile)
They don't speake of Eve as having monitary wealth , but it you ever see the series on the education channel on "The Lost Books of the bible left out by the "males" Mary like Eve was independant and Mary was independant, and rich too boot as she and her money keep Jesus able to keep his missionary going. There is also another on going debate about it is MM that is the person sittling to Christ's left at the last supper picture...do tell...it is also said the golden chalice is related to their girl child as a code...the beauty of th eopen mind to "seek and ye shall find", huh? (smile)
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
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@Bride you are not alone, because one may not notice that CAtholic Nuns wear a wedding band on theier ring finger as they take a vow to be Brides of Christ. (smile)
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
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Mom takes the 5th on this and will allow Mother Nature to continue her prefect granting mankind to help not only keep the human race going, but to have other devises to help keep the poulations down so it can be able to not run our of natural resorces, again required to keep the human race going. (smile)
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
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WELL, WELL WELL, SIEBRA...
IT IS SO GOOD TO LEARN MORE SCIENTIST ARE NOW LOOKIING INTO THIS...
PLUS IT REMINDS ME OF WHAT BROTHER COW SAYS ABOUT THERE ARE STILL COUNTLESS TREASURES STILL TUCKED AWAY IN ATTICS AND BOXES SOME PLACE RELATING TO HISTORY (SMILE)
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
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...Is this in any way being seen as an 'attack' on Christianity? (smile)
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
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