Papyrus fragment put to test
A wide range of scientific testing indicates that a papyrus fragment containing the words “Jesus said to them, my wife” is an ancient document, dating between the sixth to ninth centuries C.E. Its contents may originally have been composed as early as the second to fourth centuries. The fragment does not in any way provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married, as Karen L. King, the Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School (HDS) has stressed since she announced the existence of the fragment in the fall of 2012. Rather the fragment belongs to early Christian debates over whether it was better for Christians to be celibate virgins or marry and have children. The fragment is important on this issue, according to King. “The main topic of the fragment is to affirm that women who are mothers and wives can be disciples of Jesus — a topic that was hotly...