Why the papyrus fragment does not prove Jesus had a wife

The papyrus contains four words, written in Coptic, an ancient language used by Egyptian Christians. These translate into English as: “Jesus said to them ‘my wife’”. The words are written on a fragment about three inches by one and a half inches that was provided by a private collector. Karen King, Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, was given the fragment to analyze and translate. She reported the news of the discovery to the 10th International Congress of Coptic Studies.[1] The piece of papyrus is now in the hands of a private collector and nothing is known about the circumstances of its discovery.

If authentic, this papyrus appears to provide some interesting insights into cultural mores of the time. However, there are a number of reasons why it does not prove Jesus Christ was married. First, researchers have little or no context for the message on the fragment. Only a few lines of writing are partially able to be translated. Because there is writing on both sides, it appears to have been part of a book or codex, though at this time, none of the remainder of the codex has been made public, if any more even exists. Other writing on this fragment seems to reference an alleged discussion between Jesus and his disciples in which Jesus twice mentions his mother. It is speculated that an original may have been written in Greek, then translated into Coptic for Egyptian Christians. This is of extremely little evidentiary value on which to base any conclusion. We have no idea from where this fragment came or what was written in the rest of the codex.

Second, even if the fragment is authentic, it is dated to the late second century, about 150 years after the death of Jesus. Initial examination by experts seems to indicate the fragment is probably from this time period, based on the appearance, language and grammar, though additional chemical composition of the ink remains to be completed. In the second century and later, many pseudopigraphal “gospels” were written, such as the Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Judas. None of these were written by the named authors and none were written during the lifetimes of the apostles. These are typical of the Gnostic genre that was prevalent during that time period which were inferior to and frequently contradicted the authentic gospel accounts. The authentic gospel narratives (Matthew, Mark, Luke) were written during the middle of the 1st century or late 1st century in the case of John. These four were accepted by members of the church, many of whom had personally seen Jesus or the apostles and could attest to the narratives.

Dr. Simon Gathercole, Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies at the University of Cambridge and expert on apocryphal gospels, commented on the fragment. He noted that, in relation to other gospel accounts, the language in the fragment most closely resembles some of that found in the Gospel of Thomas, a pseudopigraphal Gnostic writing. Here are a couple of the comparisons.

Thomas 101:3: My true Mother has given me life.
Fragment line 1: My mother has given me [life].

Thomas 114:1: Simon Peter said to them, “Let Mary come out from us, because women are not worthy of life.”
Fragment line 3: Mary is worthy of it. [2]

Third, reliable writings from the first century, which followed very soon after the life of Jesus, provide numerous details of his life, with no mention of a wife. These include the canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) as well as writings of Peter, James and John, who had lived with Jesus. Furthermore, Paul’s 13 letters are well-authenticated to have been written prior to his death by A.D. 64 and these mention nothing of Jesus being married. In fact, Paul specifically mentions wives of the apostles when writing to the Corinthians around A.D. 54:
“Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?” (1 Cor. 9:5)
If the apostles, such as Peter (Cephas) were cited as examples of those with wives, would it not have been significantly more impactful to mention the Lord’s wife, if he had one? And, it would seem to be contrary to Jesus’ character to marry when he knew he would be dying and returning to the Father at an early age, leaving behind a young widow.

Fourth, even the scholar who found the artifact cautions that it has not been verified as authentic. When asked if she has doubts regarding the authenticity of the fragment, Karen King told Time magazine: “Oh, yes, absolutely. I think something like this needs to be questioned further. “ [3]

Even liberal New Testament scholar John Dominic Crossan, who doubts the resurrection, has no doubts about Jesus being single. Using an avian analogy, he stated: “There is no evidence that Jesus was married (looks like a duck), multiple indications that he was not (walks like a duck), and no early texts suggesting wife or children (quacks like a duck), … so he must be an incognito bridegroom (camel in disguise).” [4]

Finally, regarding the fragment in question, Dr. Karen King wrote:
“It does not, however, provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married, given the late date of the fragment and the probable date of original composition only in the second half of the second century.” [5]

[1] Harvard Divinity School, “Jesus’s wife? Scholar announces existence of anew early Christian gospel from Egypt.” ScienceDaily, 18 Sept 2012. Web. 25 Sep. 2012.
[2] Simon Gathercole, “Did Jesus have a wife?” Tyndale House Residential Centre for Biblical Research, accessed 30 Sept 2012.
[3] Stephan Faris, “An Interview with the Discoverer of ‘Jesus’ Wife’”, Time World, 25 Sept 2012.
[4] Darrell L. Bock, Breaking the DaVinci Code, (Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2004), 31-32.
[5] Karen L. King, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife…’” A New Coptic Gospel Papyrus, Forthcoming Harvard Theological Review 106:1, January 2013, p. 1.

Muslim lawyer in Iran is a hero

At great personal risk and facing a possible nine year prison term, Mohammad Ali Dadkha, a Muslim lawyer in Iran argued in court for the release of Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. On Saturday, September 8, the Christian Pastor was released after spending three years in prison for attempting to register a Christian house church and questioning the compulsory Islamic education of his children. In 2010, the pastor was sentenced to death and Iran’s judiciary upheld the sentence in February. [1]

We commend the courageous actions by Dadkha for advancing religious freedom in a society that is not especially tolerant of Christians (or other faiths). The lawyer has previously defended 11 Christians in Anzaly and eight in Shiraz who were arrested for their religious activity. He is one of the few human rights lawyers in Iran who has not yet been imprisoned. Dadkha co-founded Iran's now-banned Center for the Defense of Human Rights along with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. The Christian Post reported that, last month, the lawyer was informed he would be receiving a nine-year sentence for "acting against the national security, spreading propaganda against the regime and keeping banned books at home." [2]

In May 2012, it was reported that Dadkha was under immense pressure to make false television confessions. “Tomorrow is my last day to either make television confessions or go to prison. I will go to prison, and I will not [be forced to] leave my homeland,” he said. “They told me that if I didn’t confess, they would enforce my sentence. They talked to me for long periods of time and I did not accept it. I will say now that if one day I say things, they are not credible and I must have been under conditions where I was forced to say those things. I hope God maintains my power.” [3] We are thankful for Dadkha and hope others will be as courageous as this man for the right of religious freedom.

[1] Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post, “Iran releases persecuted Christian Pastor”, 8 Sept. 2012.
[2] Katherine Weber, Christian Post, “Youcef Nadarkhani Is Free, But His Lawyer Still Faces Threat of Imprisonment”, 11 Sept. 2012.
[3] International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, “’Confess on TV or Go to Prison,’ Authorities Tell Dadkhah” 14 May 2012.

Bible burning and blasphemy?

Have you heard about the group of angry Christians gathered around the house of a 14-year old Muslim girl with Down’s syndrome, threatening to kill her, burn her house and the houses of other Muslims in the area? And, that this occurred after a neighbor reported the girl was seen burning pages of the Bible. In this region where Christians are in the majority, hundreds of Muslims have fled their homes in fear. About 300 Muslims set up a camp outside of the city, from where they were later ejected and the make-shift mosque they had constructed was burned.

Has anyone seen this story in the news? Of course not, because none of the above happened. Well, not exactly. The story is accurate if we switch the Muslim and Christian references. The truth is that Rimsha Masih, the 14-year old girl with Down’s syndrome was jailed in Islamabad, Pakistan and hundreds of Christians fled their homes in fear. Under Pakistan’s blasphemy law, the girl faces a possible death sentence if found guilty of insulting Islam or the Quran. [1] Christians who fled are without food in many cases, except for some assistance provided by relief organizations. Zahid Pervez, whose house has been looted of its few valuable possessions, said "We'll never go back. We have young children. How can we go back? They won't even let us say our prayers there." A neighbor reported that the girl and her mother were beaten by a mob that formed outside their house.

And yet, in the USA, Christians are labeled as intolerant, bigoted and hateful. In Pakistan, a council of Muslim clerics and scholars, to their credit, joined hands with the Pakistan Interfaith League - which includes Christians, Sikhs and other religions - to call for justice for the girl. [2]

Sunday, in a plot twist, a Muslim cleric was arrested and charged with planting pages of the Quran in the girl’s shopping bag. Her lawyer plans to request a dismissal of the charges, though he still agrees the blasphemy law is a good law. Today, the girl was granted bail – one million rupees, about $10,500 - which was paid by a humanitarian organization. However, she’s not out of the woods yet, as people accused of blasphemy who are not convicted often face vigilante justice. A Pakistani man in this situation in July was dragged from a police station and beaten to death before his body was set on fire. And, two politicians who criticized the blasphemy law were murdered last year. [3]

What is the difference between this response to insult and that which is advocated in the Bible by Jesus and His apostles? Jesus instructed us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). The Apostle Paul stated: “when we are reviled, we bless” (1 Cor. 4:9) and “see that no one repays another with evil for evil” (1 Thess. 5:15). The Bible informs us that those who know God have love for others and “the one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8). The Bible instructs believers in Jesus to live in peace with others (Matt. 5:9, Rom. 12:18, 1 Cor. 7:15).

When Bibles are burned, angry mobs of violent Christians do not form, nor should they. All religious beliefs must be tolerated as long as the adherents do not harm others. As followers of Jesus, we denounce any violence or oppression in the name of religion and call for freedom to openly discuss issues of faith, without fear of retribution. Let’s have a civil discussion in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Christians do not hate those who persecute our brothers and sisters; rather, we love and pray for them. Religious beliefs must not be coerced by force, but demonstrated through love and open dialogue.

[1] The NY Daily News India, “Father of Pakistani Christian girl appeals to President Asif Ali Zardari”, 28 Aug 2012.
[2] Saeed Shah in Islamabad, The Guardian, “Pakistani Muslim leaders support Christian girl accused of blasphemy,” 27 Aug 2012.
[3] Taha Siddiqui, Christian Science Monitor, “As Pakistani Christian girl is granted bail, critics call for blasphemy law reform”, 7 Sept 2012.

Belief in God leads to brain damage

Yes, that is an actual conclusion of a scientific study conducted at the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina. Researchers Amy D. Owen, et. al., studied neuroimaging data from MRI measurements to assess the relationship between religious factors and structural neuroanatomy, specifically hippocampus volume in the brain. The hippocampus has been associated with memory consolidation, learning and influencing of emotions via connections with the amygdala. Atrophy of this brain structure later in life has been associated with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, depression and lessened ability to form new memories. The study found that people who reported having a life-changing religious experience showed increased hippocampal atrophy from base line to final assessment among born-again Protestants, Catholics, and those with no religious affiliation.

Participants in the study, conducted between 1994 and 2005, were 268 men and women over the age of 58. Religious factors assessed included frequency of public worship, private activity (prayer, meditation, or Bible study), and religious group membership. Baseline and annual factors assessed included born-again status and life-changing religious experiences. The study found that those who reported a born-again or life-changing religious experience suffered greater hippocampal atrophy during later life. The authors interpreted the findings by hypothesizing that cumulative stress, producing glucocorticoids, led to decreased hippocampus volume.

Some covariates that may impact the results were studied, including social support, self-reported stress and depression. These and other variables require more research in connection with the results found. It is questionable whether this study adequately considered other factors, such as prescription drug use, diet, exercise, non-religious life stressors, mental activity level, and so on. And, is it possible the causal relationship is reversed? Perhaps the self-perceived effects of aging may lead one to sense his or her own mortality, leading one to more diligently seek a religious experience. Causal relationships between brain anatomy and emotional/psychological factors are always tenable at best.

The study speculated that stress may be present for born-again Christians as a result of being a religious minority. However, that conclusion seems unfounded because most of the demographic sample included Southeastern Protestant Christians, hardly an oppressed minority in that part of the USA. The researchers' primary premise seems accurate (though not the secondary conclusion), that stress-induced cortisol in the body can affect the hippocampus, and is supported by other research. In particular, returning Gulf War veterans suffering from chronic PTSD exhibited smaller hippocampal brain regions in MRI exams than a control group. An additional interesting finding is that therapeutic treatment seems to be associated with an increased hippocampal volume after six months, indicating a resilience.[2] Perhaps born again Christians can be treated? The secondary conclusion, that people with a life-changing religious experience suffer more stress, seems irrational, particularly in light of other studies that indicate positive emotional and psychological benefits of religious experiences.

A few points need to be made here. First, if the hypothesis of the researchers is accurate – that increased stress leads to increased glucocorticoids, thereby damaging the hippocampus – would it not seem reasonable that people who have had a life-changing religious experience would experience less stress? Almost by definition, an experience that is life changing would seem to bring more peace and contentment to one’s life. How would a life-changing religious experience lead to more stress? The researchers own hypothesis seems to be contradicted by the results of the study.

Second, since millions – perhaps billions – of people throughout history, across all cultures, claim to have strong religious beliefs, does this study conclude they were also brain-damaged? It is a well-known fact that many people from all races and geographical locations through all of recorded human history have believed in some deity, afterlife, and/or spiritual experience. Not all of these are of the evangelical Christian variety. The bias of this study is striking – the group studied were Christians, not Hindus, Muslims, or Rastafarians. The control group – those supposedly with normal cognitive anatomy – were those with no religious affiliation.

Third, other studies have found there is not necessarily the supposed direct connection with hippocampal size and mental function, such as memory. In the December 22, 2011 issue in the journal Neuron, Dr. Jordan Poppenk, Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute, found some evidence that extensive spatial memory acquisition leads to enlargement of the posterior hippocampus and a decrease in the anterior hippocampus. In other words, there may not be a direct one-to-one relationship between size and memory capabilities. Poppenk stated, "This suggested to us that the crucial predictor of individual differences in recollection ability might not be the overall size of the hippocampus but the separate contributions of the posterior and anterior segments of the hippocampus." [3]

In conclusion, much evidence links religious and spiritual involvement with improved mental health. [4] And, a study conducted of more than 20,000 adults representative of the U. S. population found that an average life expectancy difference of seven years for those who attend church or religious services over those who do not. [5] Perhaps, during those seven years, they were brain damaged as well.


[1] Owen AD, Hayward RD, Koenig HG, Steffens DC, Payne ME (2011) Religious Factors and Hippocampal Atrophy in Late Life. PLoS ONE 6(3): e17006.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017006.
[2] Brigitte A. Apfel, Jessica Ross, Jennifer Hlavin, Dieter J. Meyerhoff, Thomas J. Metzler, Charles R. Marmar, Michael W. Weiner, Norbert Schuff, Thomas C. Neylan.Hippocampal Volume Differences in Gulf War Veterans with Current Versus Lifetime Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms. Biological Psychiatry, 2011; 69 (6): 541 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.09.044
[3] Cell Press, “Gauging individual human memory from scans of brain’s hippocampus?” ScienceDaily, 20 Jan 2012, Web 22 Jul 2012.
[4] Raymond F. Paloutzian, et. al., Handbook Of The Psychology Of Religion And Spirituality, (New York, NY: The Guilford Press, 2005), 446.
[5] Robert A. Hummer, et. al., “Factors Affecting Mortality”, Demography, Volume 36, Number 2 (1999), 273-285, DOI: 10.2307/2648114.

IAG-BB3, Pool of Siloam

(Information about God – Brief Byte 3)
Historical accuracy of the Bible is unparalleled among major world religions. One example involves the Apostle John’s report that Jesus put clay on the eyes of a blind man and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. When the man did, he was healed and could see (John 9:1-6). The pool is also mentioned in Nehemiah 3:15 and Isaiah 8:6, referred to as the “Pool of Shelah”. In 2004, conclusive evidence for the pool was discovered by archaeologists Eli Shukrun and Ronny Reich during excavation for a drainage pipe. Several steps were also discovered, perhaps the same ones used by the blind man. The pool was fed by the Gihon Spring. Archaeologists found coins that dated from the biblical era with ancient Jewish writing, with pottery shards and a stone bottle cork, all of which helped to confirm this is the location of the Siloam Pool, according to a report by MSNBC. This discovery, while not proving the healing by Jesus, does provide another in a long list of discoveries which confirm the historical accuracy of the Bible.

IAG-BB2, Intelligence produces information

IAG-BB2
Information about God – Brief Byte 2
(Everyone’s busy, so this is very short, but informational.)

Critics charge that Christians employ a “God of the gaps” rational to account for biological systems that are not yet explained. Invoking an intelligent designer when an evolutionary process has not yet been discovered is labeled as anti-scientific. But that’s not true, particularly regarding information in the cell. The complex specified information encoded in the DNA of every cell can be explained. All causal information of this type is produced by an intelligent mind. This includes words in a book, radio signals, hieroglyphics and computer programming language. The data encoded in DNA is not only highly complex, comprised of three billion base pairs (in humans), but is also purposeful. The DNA molecule contains the blueprint design specifications for all of the biological systems in an organism. “Whenever we find specified information and we know the causal story of how that information arose, we always find that it arose from an intelligent source. It follows that the best, most causally adequate explanation for the origin of the specified, digitally encoded information in DNA is that it too had an intelligent source” (Stephen C. Meyer, Signature in the Cell, p. 347).

IAG-BB1, Five key facts

IAG-BB1
(Information about God – Brief Byte 1)
Everyone’s busy, so this is very short, but informational.

Five key facts
Can we believe the gospel accounts of Jesus? Critics and liberal theologians question the authenticity of much of Jesus’ life and the New Testament. However, there are five key facts concerning Christ that even the most liberal Bible scholars accept:
1. Jesus was killed by crucifixion
2. Jesus’ disciples believed that he rose and appeared to them
3. The conversion of the church persecutor Saul
4. The conversion of the skeptic James, Jesus’ half-brother
5. Jesus’ tomb was empty

Even New Testament critics and extreme liberals such as John Dominic Crossan, Gerd Ludemann and Bart Ehrman accept that Jesus was killed by crucifixion, for instance. So, there is consensus, even with skeptics, regarding some key points in the gospel accounts. (As told by Michael Licona, Ph.D. New Testament Studies, to Lee Stroebel in The Case for the Real Jesus.)