Ancient Papyrus Suggests Jesus was Married

Hallelujah!  I was hoping and praying in my lifetime that some artifact would surface from antiquity that would shed new light of the relationship of Jesus with Mary Magdalene.  Any one who knows me well and had ears to listen, knew of  my belief and convictions around this for almost 20 years.

The Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways and could not have put the tiny Coptic papyrus  fragment in better hands.  Dr. Karen KIng is credentialed to the hilt.  She was awarded the most prestigious Hollis professorial chair at the Harvard Divinity School.   She was the first women ever to have this honor in 288 years.   Dr. King, had already published a book on the Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle,  and is considered an expert in early Christian history and Coptic Christianity.

In 2010, she received an email from a German-American collector  who wanted to know about the papyrus’ content and  authenticity .  Dr. King said she was skeptical at first having not seen the papyrus first hand and waited until 2011 before she had time for further evaluation.

When she finally received the fragment, she found it to be authentic but also consulted two expert papyrologists, Annemarie Liujendijk and Roger Bagnall.  Both  confirmed its authenticity dating to around  the 4th century.  Dr. Shisha-Halevy, a Coptic linguist felt the grammar and wording was consistent with the 4 th century.  The ink will be examined by  spectrum analysis to see if its components are the same as ink from that era.  Carbon dating would destroy the fragment, because it is on 4 by 8 centimeters, or the size of a business card.

It had been stashed away by a German collector of Egyptian manuscripts who reportedly got it from another collector in East Germany.   Dr. King suspects that the papyrus never really interested the previous owners who were interested only in Egyptian pharaonic studies, not early Christianity.

The wording is beautiful and full of meaning. There are 8 legible lines.  “Not to me. My mother who gave me life.  The disciples said to Jesus ” Mary is worthy of it.  Jesus said to them. “My wife, she will be able to be my disciple”.”As for me I dwell with her in order to”. Let wicked people swell up. The fragment is shredded around the edges and the ink is irregular.

The Roman Catholic Church already recognises that Saint Mary Magdalene is the Apostula Apostolorum, or the apostle to the apostles. .  As you can imagine, if the papyrus proves to be  totally authentic this new reference alone will certainly rattle the church’s stance on  priestly celibacy.  They claim they are carrying on the tradition of Christ as being unmarried.  It will also breakthrough continued resistance to women’s ordination.

The real reason of celibacy for priests was set in place more to keep money within the church rather than any treatise on whether Christ was married or not.  Obviously if priests were allowed to be married, then their estate would go to their children and not to the church.

Early church fathers set this as a mandate for priests at the Council of  Carthage in 390 and again in 419.  Another factor in the celibacy ruling was Saint Augustine of Hippo , who greatly influenced early Christian theology.  He deemed that human sexuality is unworthy of the sanctity of God, therefore clerics of the church must be celibate to be worthy of the holiness of the  priesthood.

It was also Saint Augustine that came up with the concept of original sin and connected it to human sexuality. Therefore the mentality of the church at that time glorified celibacy as being Godly and pure. Sexual pleasure was practically forbidden and only tolerated for procreation in marriage.

As mentioned in an earlier post on Rocamadour, tradition has it that Saint Mary Magdalene sailed across the Mediterranean sea with several other followers of Jesus and arrived at Saintes Maries de la Mer, south of  Arles.  From there she preached the Gospel of Jesus and baptised believers throughout  Provence.  She is credited with the Christianization of southern France.

Mary Magdalene retired to a grotto near La Sainte Baume and spent her remaining years there.   Her remains were kept there till the Saracen revolution and then they were hidden near Vezelay and later returned to the south of France.  A skull believed to be Saint Mary Magdalene  is kept in a crypt at the basilica of nearby Saint Maximin.

In the early 1990’s I started going to La Sainte Baume , just north of the Mediterranean sea and  Bandol. I always stayed in the hostellerie, run by Dominican brothers at the base of the grotto and would climb up to the top to visit the grotto for Mass. The grotto sits in a thick green forest, whereas the surrounding countryside is mountainous with huge boulders and rocks.  It is  sparsely vegetated, except for lavender and wild thyme that perfumes the whole area.

There is a mystery to why le Foret Saint Madeleine is so flourishing and alive and the Dominicans monks who guard the grotto and hostellerie say it is because of the spirit of Saint Mary Magdalen and her prevailing energy.

I most enjoy going on July the 22nd, which is her feast day and there is a solemn procession that takes place in town of Saint Maximin where the relics of  Saint Mary Magdalene are located.  There is much more to tell about her story in this area, but will reserve for another post.

I find it symbolically significant that Dr KIng presented her theological findings in Rome September the 18th, during the time of the Jewish holy days.  The Jewish new year began on September 16 th and will end on the Day of Atonement, the most sacred day of Judaism.

A time of new beginnings, and another year for Jews.  For Christians this discovery signals a possible new era of redefining the historical Jesus.  Jesus was never a Christian, but a devout Jewish rabbi, who in those days all rabbis were encouraged to marry in order to fulfill the commandments

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, was left out of the canonical first testament scriptures, by the early church fathers.  There were writings which also suggest the significance of Mary to Jesus as much more that just a follower. Peter was said to have been jealous of the closeness of Mary to Jesus who would kiss and share his teachings with her more than Peter.

The oral tradition in Provence leans towards the beliefs that Peter helped suppress the significance of the  union of Mary and Jesus and established himself as the rock of the church.  Jesus could be said to have been a first feminist of his era and early Christians had women leaders. There are those who believed Jesus wanted Mary Magdalene to start the cornerstone of the church, not Peter.

Thank you Dr. Karen King for your scholarly work in presenting this most significant finding to the world. Despite predictable criticism and doubt, If the authentication continues to be proven, then a new era of thought can come forth around celibacy of priests and women ordination and shed new light on Mary of Magdala.

As mentioned before these findings were presented a week before the Day of Atonement.  Perhaps someday the Roman Catholic church will atone for the thousands of years propaganda that suppressed the marital union of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.