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Title: Origins of 'Gospel of Jesus's Wife' Begin to Emerge
Source:
Live Science
URL Source: http://www.livescience.com/51954-gospel-of-jesus-wife-origins.html
Published: Aug 24, 2015
Author: Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor
Post Date: 2015-08-24 21:47:48 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 13643
Comments: 135
Written in Coptic (an Egyptian language), the Gospel of Jesus's Wife, if authentic, suggests that some people in ancient times believed Jesus was married, apparently to Mary Magdalene. The truth may be finally emerging about the "Gospel of Jesus's Wife," a highly controversial papyrus suggesting that some people, in ancient times, believed Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. New research on the papyrus' ink points to the possibility that it is authentic, researchers say, while newly obtained documents may shed light on the origins of the business-card-sized fragment. Debate about the credibility of the "gospel" began as soon as Harvard University professor Karen King reported her discovery of the papyrus in September 2012. Written in Coptic (an Egyptian language), the papyrus fragment contains a translated line that reads, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife …'" and also refers to a "Mary," possibly Mary Magdalene. King had tentatively dated the papyrus to the fourth century, saying it may be a copy of a gospel written in the second century in Greek. [Read Translation of Gospel of Jesus's Wife Papyrus] Analysis of the papyrus, detailed last year in the Harvard Theological Review journal, suggested the papyrus dates back around 1,200 years (somewhere between the sixth and ninth centuries) while the ink is of a type that could have been created at that time. These findings have led King to support the text's authenticity. However over the past year many scholars have come to the conclusion that the papyrus is a modern-day forgery, though King and a few other researchers say they are not ready to concede this: "At this point, when discussions and research are ongoing, I think it is important, however difficult, to stay open regarding the possible dates of the inscription and other matters of interpretation," wrote King in a letter recently published in the magazine Biblical Archaeological Review. King has not responded to several interview requests from Live Science. Now, researchers at Columbia University are running new tests on the ink used on the papyrus. Initial tests published by the Columbia University team in 2014 indicated the ink could have been made in ancient times. Researchers are saying little until their report is published; however they did talk about one finding that could provide some support for its authenticity. A gospel steeped in mystery The current owner of the papyrus has insisted on remaining anonymous, claiming that he bought the Gospel of Jesus's Wife, along with other Coptic texts, in 1999 from a man named Hans-Ulrich Laukamp. This person, in turn, got it from Potsdam, in what was East Germany, in 1963, the owner said. Laukamp died in 2002, and the claim that he owned the text has been strongly disputed: Rene Ernest, the man whom Laukamp and his wife Helga charged with representing their estate, said that Laukamp had no interest in antiquities, did not collect them and was living in West Berlin in 1963. Therefore, he couldn't have crossed the Berlin Wall into Potsdam. Axel Herzsprung, a business partner of Laukamp's, similarly said that Laukamp never had an interest in antiquities and never owned a papyrus. Laukamp has no children or living relatives who could verify these claims. [6 Archaeological Forgeries That Tried to Change History] Over the past few months, new documents have been found that not only reconstruct Laukamp's life in greater detail, but also provide a new way to check the anonymous owner's story. King reported in a 2014 Harvard Theological Review article that the anonymous owner "provided me with a photocopy of a contract for the sale of '6 Coptic papyrus fragments, one believed to be a Gospel' from Hans-Ulrich Laukamp, dated Nov. 12, 1999, and signed by both parties." King also notes that "a handwritten comment on the contract states, 'Seller surrenders photocopies of correspondence in German. Papyri were acquired in 1963 by the seller in Potsdam (East Germany).'" After searching public databases in Florida a Live Science reporter uncovered seven signatures signed by Laukamp between 1997 and 2001 on five notarized documents. Anyone can search these databases and download these documents. These signatures can be compared with the signature recording the sale of the Gospel of Jesus's Wife — providing another way to verify or disprove the story of how the "gospel" made its way to Harvard. The signature of Hans-Ulrich Laukamp from September 1997. While Harvard University would have to work with forensic handwriting experts to verify the signature, the fact that these notarized documents exist, and are publicly available, presents the opportunity to see if Laukamp really did own the Gospel of Jesus's Wife. Forensic handwriting analysis, while not always conclusive, has been used to determine if signatures made on documents or works of art are authentic or forged. If Laukamp did own the papyrus, authentic or not, then the origins of the enigmatic text lie with him. The new Laukamp documents allow the story of his life between 1995 and 2002 to be told in some detail. However if Laukamp didn't own the papyrus and the anonymous owner has not been truthful, then further doubt would be cast on the papyrus' authenticity, and information leading to the identity, motives and techniques of the forgers could be found. Authentic or forged? One important find, which indicates the Gospel of Jesus's Wife is a fake, was made last year by Christian Askeland, a research associate with the Institute for Septuagint and Biblical Research in Wuppertal, Germany. He examined a second Coptic papyrus containing part of the Gospel of John, which the anonymous owner of the Gospel of Jesus's Wife had also given to Harvard. This text was likewise supposedly purchased from Laukamp, and radiocarbon testing of that papyrus similarly found that it dates back around 1,200 years. [See Images of the Ancient Gospel of Judas] Askeland found that the text and line breaks— where one line of a text ends and another begins — are identical to those of another papyrus, published in a 1924 book. That second papyrus was written in a dialect of Coptic called Lycopolitan, which went extinct around 1,500 years ago. Askeland concluded that the John papyrus is a forgery. Furthermore, it shares other features with the Gospel of Jesus's Wife, Askeland said, suggesting both are forgeries. "The two Coptic fragments clearly shared the same ink, writing implement and scribal hand. The same artisan had created both essentially at the same time," Askeland wrote in a paper recently published in the journal New Testament Studies. King objected to this conclusion in her Biblical Archaeology Review letter, noting that the John fragment could have been copied in ancient times, long after Lycopolitan went extinct, from a text that had similar line breaks. In addition, James Yardley, a senior research scientist at Columbia University, told Live Science that the new tests confirm that the Gospel of Jesus's Wife holds different ink than the John papyrus. This could undercut Askeland's argument that the two papyri were written by the same person. "In our first exploration, we did state that the inks used for the two documents of interest [the John papyrus and the Gospel of Jesus's Wife] were quite different. The more recent results do confirm this observation strongly," Yardley told Live Science. He added that until his new research is published in a peer-reviewed journal, he doesn't want to say anything more publicly. And once it's published, Askeland and other researchers will have a chance to respond. Askeland's find is far from the only argument that the Gospel of Jesus's Wife is a fake: A number of scholars have noted that the Coptic writing in the Gospel of Jesus's Wife is similar to another early Christian text called the "Gospel of Thomas," even including a modern-day typo made in a 2002 edition of the Gospel of Thomas that is available for free online. That typo indicates the forgers copied from this modern-day text. King disputed this assertion in 2014, saying that ancient scribes made grammatical errors similar to the modern-day typo. King and communications staff at Harvard Divinity School have not responded to repeated requests for comment. 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 73.
#2. To: cranky (#0)
Heretics and scoffers will not give up until the very end.
Some people prefer proof to faith, I guess.
From 'The Dan Rather School of "Proof"'? With as many witnesses to the life of Jesus as there were, and as many enemies as He had at the time, IF there were actual "proof" of a wife, Jesus' contemporaries and historians would have been all over it. EARLY ON. Instead we are asked to believe the most flimsy of obvious forgeries that crop up like clock-work every half-dozen years or so. Question for you: What of all the overwhelming proof and details of Jesus personal quotes, deeds, and acts; and of places, and things, of eyewitness accounts cited from the Apostles? Why are they so readily dismissed in lieu of these single sordid tabloid "discoveries"?
I didn't know there were any references made about Jesus of Nazareth during his lifetime. Even raising the dead didn't seem to inspire anyone enough at the time to record the event.
Even raising the dead didn't seem to inspire anyone enough at the time to record the event. Have you read the Gospels of the Apostles? Have you read of the incredible crowds Jesus would draw? Were they fictional accounts written but multiple sources?
My understanding is none of them were written at the time Jesus was living. Any contemporaneous accounts of Jesus's life would be appreciated.
#100. To: cranky (#73)
(Edited)
Any contemporaneous accounts of Jesus's life would be appreciated. Not written while Jesus was alive, true. But later on, in cases many years. But then how many contemporary biographies are written while someone is actually alive? What we still have is multiple corroboration and sources of Jesus' words, deeds, and places during His life by several eyewitnesses. In all of history there is no testimony quite like it. Within context, "testimony" is not as simple as having just four Gospel writers hovering around Jesus with pad and pencil in hand. The Gospels were a collaborative effort as there were many eyewitnesses. A brief overview of note: The historical archaeological and literary evidence demonstrates that in the first century A.D. books were written and published with the title and name of the author placed at the end of the papyrus roll (also sometimes in the front) on which they were written or copied and on a tag attached to the outside of the papyrus roll called in Greek, a sillybos and in Latin a titulus. They were not usually placed in the text itself. This was the normal custom of identifying the author of a book in the Roman world in the first century. The author did not normally identify himself in the text itself, but like today’s title page, his name was placed along with a title in a location on the document but outside the text. Several rolled up papyrus rolls would be stored in a round canister called a capsa with their tags placed at their tops so each roll could be easily identified. There is no historical archaeological or literary evidence that the four NT gospels did not follow this normal custom of having the names of the authors of the gospels identified in this way when they first published and distributed their original gospels and their copies. All subsequent copies of papyrus rolls would also follow this practice. In fact, as we have demonstrated in our article entitled “Authorship of the NT Gospels” the authors of the four NT gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were well-known as the authors and their authorship was never disputed by the early church. (Matthew): The universal testimony of the early church fathers is that Matthew the Apostle wrote the Gospel of Matthew in both Hebrew and Greek. The Time Period of the Publishing of Matthew’s Gospel Matthew’s first version/edition of his gospel was when he went to other lands. There are two lines of evidence which give us the general time period this happened. It had to have happened after the Jerusalem council in 50 A.D. where the specifics of the gospel and its relation to the Mosaic Law and the gentiles was finally defined. This coincides with what Irenaeus says that Matthew’s gospel was published during the time Peter and Paul were preaching and establishing the church in Rome. Matthew wrote his gospel for the Jewish Christians that they might understand how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy thus proving that he was indeed the messiah and Savior of Israel. (Mark): The historical literary evidence demonstrates that Mark, the close associate of Peter the apostle, wrote the Gospel of Mark from the preaching of Peter and published it first in a private edition for the church at Rome and then in public edition for the church at large. Mark was requested by certain Roman Christians to write down Peter’s testimony of Jesus after Peter had left Rome. (Luke): The historical literary evidence demonstrates that Luke, the close associate of Paul the apostle, wrote the Gospel of Luke and published it after the publication of the private edition of Mark’s gospel and before the publication of the public edition of Mark’s Gospel. The Gospel of Luke was composed for Gentiles who had become Christians. (John): The historical literary evidence demonstrates that John the Apostle wrote and published the Gospel of John after the publication of the other three gospels while he was living in Ephesus. The Gospel of John was composed by John at the urging of his Christian friends to complement the Synoptic Gospels by providing a Gospel that was focused on the spiritual truths taught by Jesus and demonstrated in his life and ministry. http://www.jesusevidences.com/originntgospels/originntgospels.php Additional notes from another source: Four Gospels – The Authors John, the son of Zebedee, was called a “Son of Thunder.” His book was written a bit later than the others around AD 85-90 after the destruction of Jerusalem (in AD 70). This book is often called the book of love. http://www.allabouttruth.org/four-gospels.htm
If you knew the scant contemporaneous evidence of Caesar's Gallic Wars, you may see why your request is at best an uneducated approach.
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#11. To: Don (#2)
Heretics and scoffers will not give up until the very end.
#36. To: cranky (#11)
Some people prefer proof to faith, I guess.
#42. To: Liberator (#36)
With as many witnesses to the life of Jesus as there were, and as many enemies as He had at the time
#45. To: cranky (#42)
I didn't know there were any references made about Jesus of Nazareth during his lifetime.
#73. To: Liberator (#45)
Have you read the Gospels of the Apostles?
Replies to Comment # 73. My understanding is none of them were written at the time Jesus was living.
“First Century Papyrus Rolls Did Not Usually Have the Author’s Name in the Text Itself.”
The authors of the four Gospels each bring a unique perspective:
Chapter 26 details the betrayal by Judas Iscariot and the Last Supper, more accurately known as the Passover Meal (Seder). Matthew ends his account with Jesus’ death on the cross, His resurrection from the dead, and in chapter 28, Jesus issues the Great Commission.
Mark begins setting the stage of Jesus’ ministry by featuring the ministry of John the Baptist. John was God-sent to “prepare the way of the Lord.” He preached primarily to the Roman Christians on “baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Though people flocked to hear Mark, he declared another would come who was even mightier than he.
He stated in Mark 1:8 “I baptized you with water; but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” After John baptized Jesus (as an example to all), Mark records much concerning Jesus’ public service. Covering Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and beyond, Mark records numerous miracles of healing, casting out demons, and feeding “five thousand from five loaves of bread and two fishes.” Jesus preached about resisting temptation, blessing little children and serving others. Jesus said to resist false gods and false prophets and promised His return for all believers.
Though Mark’s book contains some of the same topics of the other Gospels such as the Crucifixion and Resurrection, he concludes by letting us know that the Lord ascended to heaven and is sitting “on the right hand of God.” About one-third of Mark’s gospel is devoted to the last week of Jesus earthly life.
Luke traveled with Paul on his missionary journeys. He presents Jesus as the Savior available to the world and as a compassionate healer and teacher. Luke writes a treasured account of the birth of Jesus in chapter 2. However, he most accurately records the actions and teachings of Christ from the very beginning and helps his readers comprehend the sure way of salvation. His book attests to the way we are to live and become a faithful child of God.
John’s portrayal of Jesus and His love is clearly shows that Jesus is not just an ordinary human being. John illustrates how Jesus is indeed the eternal Son of God and tells us of Jesus meeting with people personally, preaching to large crowds, and lovingly training His disciples. John shows that this divine man offered “life” and changed the hearts of people from hard and hate-filled to kind and loving. Though not every listener responded or accepted His gift of eternal life, Jesus continued to reveal God to those who would hear.
John recorded many of Jesus’ acts and teachings, as do the first three Gospels, but he distinctively interprets them so we might apply spiritual meaning. He says in John 20:31 “But these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and so that through believing you may have life in his name.” John uses spiritually pertinent words such as love, life, light and living water3 to further impact His message of salvation that is from Jesus to us all.
#110. To: cranky (#73)
Any contemporaneous accounts of Jesus's life would be appreciated.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 73.
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