Scholars Say "Gospel of Jesus's Wife" Probably a Fake

Scholars say the controversial “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” is likely to be a fake.

The document, written in Coptic on an allegedly 1,200-year-old papyrus, is reported to state, “Jesus said to them, My wife . . .” and also to contain references to “Mary,” who is thought to be Mary Magdalene.

Since its discovery in 2012 by Harvard University professor Karen King, the credibility of the document has been researched and questioned. 

The current owner of the papyrus claims he bought it from a man named Hans-Ulrich Laukamp, who has since passed away.

Researchers believe Laukamp may never have owned the document, which would add more evidence to the theory that the document is a fake, since the current owner would be found guilty of lying about where he obtained it.

“The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” also closely resembles another document which has been proven to be a fake. 

Christian Askeland, research associate with the Institute for Septuagint and Biblical Research in Wuppertal, Germany, found that this other document, allegedly a copy of the Gospel of John, was a forgery because the line breaks in the document were identical to those of another ancient papyrus, published in a 1924 book. 

Askeland stated that the fake “Gospel of John” shares a number of other features with the in question “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife,” which, according to NBC News, suggests “The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife" is also a forgery.

Other scholars have noted that the writing in the “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” is similar to the “Gospel of Thomas,” another ancient Christian text which contains a modern-day typo in a 2002 edition. The “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” includes the same typo.

Photo courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

Publication date: August 26, 2015