A small fragment of papyrus paper centuries old reveals that Jesus may have been married. Although its authenticity has not been validated, the ancient paper from the 4th century reveals eight series of texts in the front and six in the back in which Jesus mentions a wife, and that she may be his disciple.
Harvard professor Karen L. King, who discovered the fragment states,
“The most exciting line in the whole fragment…is the sentence ‘Jesus said to them [his disciples], my wife…” King said in a video posted to Harvard’s YouTube channel. The next line of text reads, “She will be able to be my disciple.”
“This is the only extant ancient text which explicitly portrays Jesus as referring to a wife,” King wrote in her paper on the discovery.
For centuries it had been debated that Jesus may have been married to Mary Magdalene. If the paper is validated it will indeed have a strong impact on the Christian religion, especially for Catholic Priests who vow not to marry in order to follow in Jesus’ foot steps. King stresses that the new discovery does not provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married, but it does serve as proof that questions surrounding his marital status arose as early as one century past his death. King is also dedicated to researching proof that it was stated Jesus did not have a wife.
