Did Jesus Have a Wife?

A papyrus unveiled in 2012 has just been pronounced “authentic” by archaeologists. The four by eight centimeter fragment known as the “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” contains the phrase, written in Coptic, “Jesus said to them, ‘My Wife…’” (New York Times, April 10, 2014). Experts date the papyrus to between 500 and 900 AD, based on handwriting and grammar (The Telegraph, April 10, 2014). 

Some scholars, however, find the assertion in the fragment absurd. One Egyptologist from Brown University believes “that the fragment was forged because it contained ‘gross grammatical errors,’ and each word in it matched writing in the Gospel of Thomas” (New York Times). The Gospel of Thomas is a Gnostic gospel widely viewed by many theologians to be a work of “historical fiction.” Also, the late date of the papyrus is a problem—when the true biblical Gospel accounts can be dated to the first century AD.

While none of the biblical accounts in the Gospels give any indication that Jesus had a wife, Gnostic writings contain numerous heretical ideas. The Apostle Paul warned Christians to “avoid foolish disputes” (Titus 3:9). For more information on Gnosticism, read our informative article on “A Different Gospel?”