Or so says the great Anthony Sacramone, in his analysis of the latest news that is supposed to shake the very foundations of Christianity.
Usually this mainstream media tradition of releasing such stories happens at Christmas or Easter. You know the drill: scientists/archeologists/hucksters have discovered Jesus walked on an ice floe, not water/Jesus didn't die so much as pass out after being doped up/Jesus' father was actually a Roman soldier named Pantera.
We all have our favorite. Mine? That time that National Geographic released an unrelenting public relations offensive based around something later shown to be a mistranslation of a 3rd century text about Judas. But for weeks we were told that Judas was more a hero than villain of the Christian story.
Anywho, we were treated to front-page headlines yesterday in the New York Times about Jesus’ wife (“A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus’ Wife“), based on a very tiny fragment of what one scholar says is a 4th-century writing about Jesus Christ. If there’s one thing we all know, it’s that mysterious stories about 4th-century Coptic fragments of questionable provenance are probably more authoritative (in the media’s eyes) about Jesus’ life than the extensive writings of his contemporaries.
After the juicy headlines some reporters even got around to admitting the find wasn't as significant as the headlines claimed.
So what's the point of the story? I'll let the New York Times explain:
Even with many questions unsettled, the discovery could reignite the debate over whether Jesus was married, whether Mary Magdalene was his wife and whether he had a female disciple. These debates date to the early centuries of Christianity, scholars say. But they are relevant today, when global Christianity is roiling over the place of women in ministry and the boundaries of marriage.
The discussion is particularly animated in the Roman Catholic Church, where despite calls for change, the Vatican has reiterated the teaching that the priesthood cannot be opened to women and married men because of the model set by Jesus.
The discovery of this lost fragment, if interpreted in just the right way, matches the views of the New York Times editorial page! It’s an early Christmas miracle!
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May '12
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Yup, that about sums it up right there.
Apr '12
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Yet devoted anti-Christians will only remember the claims to add to their growing body of "evidence" of the lies of Christianity.
Nov '11
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.:
If there’s one thing we all know, it’s that mysterious stories about 4th-century Coptic fragments of questionable provenance are probably more authoritative (in the media’s eyes) about Jesus’ life than the extensive writings of his contemporaries.
Which contemporaries? My understanding that the Gospels were written decades after the fact.
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.:
The discovery of this lost fragment, if interpreted in just the right way, matches the views of theNew York Timeseditorial page! It’s an early Christmas miracle! · · 25 minutes ago
This is the nut of it. But its the NYT, what do you expect?
Sensationalism exists in all areas of the media. Reporters aren't experts, so they draw conclusions and sensationalize things. They do the same (but year round) in science reporting.
Feb '11
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
So if a riot breaks out at the NYT building, can we count on the State Dept for an apology 0n behalf of those responsible for this hate speech?
Mar '12
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
National Geographic does theology. Really?
Mar '11
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
During the 4th century, the Arian Heresy was in its heyday. 75% of Christians believed in this error. This - and all controversies, heresies, and theological disputes - have been extensively recorded by the Church and are well-known to anyone who has an interest in history and exegesis. Yet the "mysterious cover-up" always seduces those who want to be seduced, like a bright and shiny bauble that fascinates the feckless magpie.
Dec '11
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Anything written on a piece of paper must be true. For example let's take the New York Times, oh wait, never mind! (Said in my best Emily Litella voice.)
Jun '11
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.:
The discovery of this lost fragment, if interpreted in just the right way, matches the views of theNew York Timeseditorial page! It’s an early Christmas miracle! · · 49 minutes ago
I'm under the weather with a nasty head cold. Yet you managed to make me laugh very hard. Why, the guffaw alone had a most salutary effect on my severe congestion.
Thank you for brightening my morning!
Jul '12
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Funny how MSM are so reliant on "experts" for interpretation and validation to pummel conservatives. For example, "crisis experts" commenting on Mitt's latest (non-) gaffe, or professors in Race discussing Republican "dog whistles," but when it comes to Jesus or the Bible they invariably go to "experts" who are hostile to the Word or ignorant of it, and often both. Why ask a Christian what Christ would do when you can ask an Atheist? Right?
John Hinderaker of PowerLine blog yesterday wrote a post about Yahoo News in which he detailed the incredible ignorance of a "reporter" who conflated Muslim tradition of killing blasphemers with Christians, all through using inapt comparisons. The writer even attempted to contrast "early Christians in Leviticus" with the "Jewish Bible" to show how both religions are the same when it comes to killing apostates and blaspheners. Never mind that Leviticus is in the Torah (Jewish Bible?) and so cannot be contrasted with it and there were no Christians in the Old Testament.
If ignorance is bliss then MSM reporters must be the happiest people on Earth!
Sep '10
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Fred Cole
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.:
If there’s one thing we all know, it’s that mysterious stories about 4th-century Coptic fragments of questionable provenance are probably more authoritative (in the media’s eyes) about Jesus’ life than the extensive writings of his contemporaries.
Which contemporaries? My understanding that the Gospels were written decades after the fact.
That is not unlikely but since this fragment is 4th century this fragment is hundreds of years removed from the gospels. I think the point is that this is one bit of information in a sea of earlier and better understood and better studied information.
I suspect no one at the NYT has a problem believing that the Trojan War occurred even though Homer lived hundreds of years after the events and the earliest written copies of the Iliad were many centuries after that.
Sep '10
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Married to a woman? I would have thought that by now they would have found a way to say He was married to a man.
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
At the risk of heresy, may I raise the issue of "so what?" Assume it was discovered Christ was married. I see no effect on scripture. I could be wrong, but I recall no exhortations from Christ on remaining unwed, even for himself.
There may be some call for a sea change within the Church on how clergy should follow Christ, but that has no effect on anyone's belief system or the Word.
Christ was fully man. What great difference would there be were a wife discovered?
May '10
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
The beheading riot organizes at Mollie's place, 4ET, sharp!
I, of course, will not be home. But the dog is territorial and the oldest boy owns a shotgun so be careful during your blasphemy rampage!
Sep '10
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
**** BREAKING NEW YORK TIMES RELIGION DESK NEWS ****
"Regardless of your view of the matter, the possible discovery of a wife of Jesus simply goes to show the ever present need for free contraceptives for all women. If Mary had the choice to not be punished with a baby, just think of where we'd all be now."
This message brought to you by the Foundation for the Preservation of Occupy The Pews: News You Can Use While We Light the Fuse.
Jul '10
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Of course Jesus had a wife - it is the Church, as is clearly spoken to in Revelation at the minimum. By the 4th century that would have been a well-established fact.
On the gospels, it is my understanding that remnants of the beginning of John have been discovered and dated to just pre-temple destruction. Since all agree John was the last written, it makes all the rest of the gospels that much earlier. Certainly no one would dispute that contemporaries still existed 30 years after His death. Remember that by-and-large his disciples were young men.
Nov '11
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
I think it would count as archaeology.
Jun '10
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Fred Cole
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.:
If there’s one thing we all know, it’s that mysterious stories about 4th-century Coptic fragments of questionable provenance are probably more authoritative (in the media’s eyes) about Jesus’ life than the extensive writings of his contemporaries.
Which contemporaries? My understanding that the Gospels were written decades after the fact.
Nothing in the standard Bible is NEWER (the pre-edit "older" was a brain interface malfunction) than about 100 AD. But the canon wasn't established till about 400 AD. And part of the reason that it was important to make the contents of Holy Scripture official was that there were so many anonymous and contradictory (Catholics would say heretical) gospels floating around.
Edited on September 19, 2012 at 6:25pmMay '12
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Fred Cole
Which contemporaries? My understanding that the Gospels were written decades after the fact.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were all contemporaries of Christ, whether they took notes on the spot or wrote years later.
Nov '11
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Tommy De Seno: At the risk of heresy, may I raise the issue of "so what?" Assume it was discovered Christ was married. I see no effect on scripture. I could be wrong, but I recall no exhortations from Christ on remaining unwed, even for himself.
There may be some call for a sea change within the Church on how clergy should follow Christ, but that has no effect on anyone's belief system or the Word.
Christ was fully man. What great difference would there be were a wife discovered? · 7 minutes ago
I agree entirely with this sentiment.
Look, this is a scrap of a fragment of a part of a piece of something 16 centuries old. At this point it proves nothing. It might be very interesting, but its not proof of anything.
But so what if it did? Suppose today some guy goes in a cave and finds a scroll in a pot, and its positively dated to the time of Jesus and its a marriage certificate. So what?
Would it really turn Christianity upside down? Would it undo your faith in God or Jesus Christ? Probably not.
Re: Christians—Keep Your Heads! Eructations, Bronx Cheers, Face Palms, and Eye Rolling Have No Place in the Body of Christ!
Tommy De Seno: At the risk of heresy, may I raise the issue of "so what?" Assume it was discovered Christ was married. I see no effect on scripture. I could be wrong, but I recall no exhortations from Christ on remaining unwed, even for himself.
There may be some call for a sea change within the Church on how clergy should follow Christ, but that has no effect on anyone's belief system or the Word.
Christ was fully man. What great difference would there be were a wife discovered? · 10 minutes ago
Well, speaking as a Lutheran, this answer would be different than for a Catholic. There are serious implications to Jesus being married or not. And the fact that nothing in Scripture speaks to it would be utterly bizarre to the point of serious problems.
But since Catholics base their prohibition on most clergy marriages on the example set by Christ, it would be a big "so what." If, you know, we hadn't dealt with this whole Gnostic stuff against the divinity of Christ 1600 years ago already.