Saturday, 11 January 2014

“Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” papyrus


Readers might remember the controversial “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” papyrus announced in 2012 by Harvard professor Karen King and be wondering what happened to the story. The answer seems to be, nothing.  Mark Goodacre's "NT blog" has an article referring to a text by Tom Bartlett, ('Skepticism About 'Jesus' Wife' Papyrus Grows as Test Results Lag' Chronicle of Higher Education (needs registration) December 19, 2013). To recap, after accepting it for publication, the Harvard Theological Review appears to have withdrawn King's article about her fragment from its publication schedule. The journal delayed publication because it says more testing for authenticity is required before the article can be published, despite the fact that leading papyrologists and textual scholars had previously declared the papyrus authentic. Those tests results seem not to have materialised Bartlett's conclusion is that:
Such a flashy discovery won't just fade away. At some point we'll find out whether or not it was a hoax. In the meantime it's fair to ask why it's taking so long.

Mark Goodacre, ''Skepticism about Jesus' Wife Papyrus in the Chronicle of Higher EducationNT blog" Saturday, December 21, 2013.

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