It was announced today that a team of scholars has confirmed that a fourth century codex written in the ancient Egyptian Coptic language refers to the wife of Jesus. This is the first reference to Jesus being married that has been found in an ancient text, and while it is not evidence of the historical Jesus, it suggests some early Christians believed Jesus had a wife. Dr. Karen King, the Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, unveiled her findings today at the Tenth International Congress of Coptic Studies in Rome. Smithsonian Channel will detail for the first time Dr. King's findings in the world premiere of the one-hour special THE GOSPEL OF JESUS'S WIFE on Sunday, September 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
One of the world's most respected historians of early Christianity and holder of the oldest endowed chair in the United States, Dr. King is one of the few who understand the Coptic language. Earlier this year, a collector who wishes to remain anonymous, came to Dr. King at Harvard University with a fragment of papyrus that may have been excavated from an area in Upper Egypt. The fragment, while damaged and difficult to decipher, clearly bears the line, "Jesus said to them, my wife…"Dr. King initially suspected the papyrus could possibly be a fake. She took it to a papyrologist, Dr. Roger Bagnall of New York University, who judged that the physical condition of the papyrus and the ink provide forensic proof of its age. By comparing the fragment with other early Christian literature, Dr. King has argued that the original composition of the Gospel of Jesus's Wife could have been from as early as the second half of the second century, which would mean that this story circulated among early Christians for well over a century.Videos