what do you think?
Did Jesus marry Mary Magdalene?
The suggestion that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene stirred the imagination of the millions who read Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code. But this is a work of fiction — can there be any truth in it?
The Lost Gospel is a recently published book in which the authors claim they have found an ancient manuscript, dating back to 570 CE, which had been stored in the archives of the British Library since 1847. Written on animal skin, it claims to tell the story of the marriage of Jesus and Mary and the birth of their two sons. It is 29 chapters long and, it is claimed, is a copy of a firstcentury manuscript, telling the story of the marriage. Inside is a letter from the sixthcentury translator, saying that it contains the ‘inner meaning’ about ‘our Lord, our God, our Word’.
Evidence
So what is the evidence? The authors, Canadian professor of religious studies Barrie Wilson and film-maker Simcha Jacobovici, claim the characters in the manuscript, Joseph and his wife Asenath, are really Jesus and Mary. The manuscript cites the Pharaoh of Egypt saying to the couple: ‘Blessed are you by the Lord God Joseph, because he is the first-born of God, and you will be called the daughter of God Most High and the bride of Joseph now and forever.’
The text goes on to say that ‘Asenath conceived from Joseph and gave birth to Manasseh and his brother Ephraim.’
Legend has it that around the time of Jesus there was a ‘lost’ Gospel, written by a group of persecuted Christians, which told the story of the marriage. All copies were said to have been destroyed by the Roman Emperor Constantine, who only wanted the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to survive. But could one copy of the ‘lost’ Gospel have survived? Fragments of other ‘lost’ Gospels have been discovered, but Jacobovici says his manuscript is a ‘full-blown gospel’. He goes on: ‘If you look at the cumulative evidence for Jesus’ marriage, it’s getting overwhelming.’ He also points out that several passages have been deliberately torn out, as early censors sought to hide the message of the manuscript. More support for this view came with the recent discovery, by Professor Karen King of Harvard University, of a piece of papyrus fragment called ‘The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’.
The task of a wife?
Moreover, the new book claims, there are two striking references in John’s Gospel which prove that Jesus was married. First, he is called ‘rabbi’ by his followers yet, by convention, rabbis were always married. Second, after his death, it was Mary Magdalene who prepared his body for burial — the task of a wife.
The British Library has refused to endorse The Lost Gospel and Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of church history at the University of Oxford, called its claims ‘the deepest bilge’.