Gospel of Jesus’s Wife a Forgery

A piece of investigative journalism that appeared in The Atlantic painstakingly traced the mysterious provenance (the place of origin and record of ownership) of the papyrus before it came into the hands of Dr. Karen King, the Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School who announced the papyrus, gave it its provocative title, and then staunchly defended it against the many critics of its authenticity. The journalist discovered that the provenance of this so-called artifact "tips the balance towards forgery,” according to King. This is quite an understatement by King, given the details of the case. It now appears the document isn’t authentic at all but is indeed a modern forgery.

Skeptics of the Bible used this tiny fragment of text to try to prove that the Gospels contained an inaccurate or fragmentary account of Jesus’ life. But of course, the Bible was right all along. Now, nowhere does Scripture state, “Jesus was not married.” But none of the Gospel writers—among whom were eyewitnesses and a historian who interviewed eyewitnesses—mention a wife and neither do any of the other New Testament writers. And besides, Jesus’ bride is the church (Ephesians 5:23–32), not a woman here on earth.

Whenever a new find emerges that skeptics claim contradicts the Bible or disproves something in it, we need to trust God’s Word. Eventually time will show that God’s Word was right all along. As Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true but every man a liar.” We can always trust God’s Word, from the very beginning.

To learn more about how we can know Jesus was never married, read this article by Tim Chaffey, author and speaker featured in the six DVD series Risen: Without a Doubt.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.