Much Ado About Presumption

"If it was written in the eighth or even the ninth century, it's still an ancient document. It's not a modern forgery."
"Early Christians were extremely interested in whether or not they should marry or be celibate or whether it was OK to have a family or whether one should remain virginal."
"It contains a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples. That would normally put it in the category of gospel."
Divinity professor Karen L. King, Harvard University, U.S.A.

This Sept. 5, 2012 file photo released by Harvard University shows a fragment of papyrus that divinity professor Karen L. King said is the only existing ancient text that quotes Jesus explicitly referring to having a wife.  AP FILE PHOTO

The ancient Essenes, a Jewish religious sect that cloistered itself within a colony of pious followers championing celibacy, eschewing marriage, was comprised of men only; women were not permitted entry to their isolated colonies. Many believe the Dead Sea scrolls were written by the Essenes. John the Baptist is said to have lived among them. And there are also claims that Jesus himself also spent some time living among the Essenes. Which may be where the idea that Jesus never married stemmed from.

New tests have been conducted on an ancient piece of parchment in the possession of Harvard University and deciphered by divinity professor Karen L. King, (on their faculty), scientifically attesting to their authenticity. The papyrus fragment is now considered a small part of an ancient document, according to an article published in the Harvard Theological Review. The text is written in Coptic and contains the phrase: "Jesus said to them, my wife."

Professor King claims to have obtained the business-card-sized piece of papyrus from an anonymous donor who had purchased it in 1999 from a collector who himself had acquired it around 1963 in East Germany. Brown University Professor Leo Depuydt is not convinced of the fragment's authenticity. The text, his analysis claims, contains grammatical errors he believes a native Coptic speaker would not commit.

One need not go back thousands of years to find grammatical errors in language. William Shakespeare, the great English playwright, was notoriously indifferent to some elements of grammar. He himself spelled his own name variously, never seeming to settle on one spelling for surely the most familiar word in the English language he might recognize; his very own name. Of course, spelling was not considered a matter of great concern at that time. So why would 'correct' grammar at a much earlier time in history be a matter of conventional expectation?

According to the translation of the papyrus fragment in question, the text reads "Jesus said to them, "My wife...." That is followed in the next line by " ...she is able to be my disciple..." Surely a quotation that would be anathema in its potential consequences to the Roman Catholic Church both of yesteryear and of this very year. Professor King claims the papyrus containing roughly eight partial lines of text, appears to approve of woman as disciples.

Including whether a woman -- identified as "Mary" -- can become a disciple. When Professor King originally revealed the existence of the papyrus in 2012 she gave it the nomenclature of the Gospel of Jesus's Wife. A title that was certain to initiate heated debate among religious and ancient scholars. She delayed publication of her research, awaiting the outcome of the scientific investigation into whether the fragment might be a forgery.

The scientific opinion is that it is not. On the other hand, whether or not the papyrus itself is original to the period she speaks of, says nothing whatever of the legitimacy of its contents, whether they are credible, whether they truly do represent a fragment of history or might be the musing of some unattributed jokester. Professor King's argument is that the text is part of a body of ancient texts outlining the reality of parts of the life of Jesus.

In other words, it's anybody's guess.