Did Jesus have a wife?

A newly discovered fragment of Coptic writing suggests some contemporaries of Jesus argued about his marital status and some believed he was married, according to a Harvard scholar of early Christianity.

Karen L. King, a historian at Harvard Divinity School, presented her finding Tuesday at a meeting of Coptic scholars.

In her paper, King notes the papyrus is the “only extant ancient text which explicitly portrays Jesus as referring to a wife.  It does not, however, provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married, given the late date of the fragment and the probable date of original composition only in the second half of the second century. 

At the 10th International Congress of Coptic Studies Tuesday, King spoke about her finding based on a piece of papyrus fragment provided by anonymous private collector who contacted her to analyze it.

“King and colleague AnneMarie Luijendijk, an associate professor of religion at Princeton University, believe that the fragment is part of a newly discovered gospel,” according to a press release from Harvard.

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