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	<title>Comments on: Harvard Theological Review Rejects &#8220;Jesus&#8217; Wife&#8221;</title>
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	<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/</link>
	<description>A First Things Blog</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 01:44:12 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>By: David</title>
		<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-76388</link>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Oct 2012 08:40:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=48460#comment-76388</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Why would Dead Sea Scrolls have been different?  What did Huizenga mean by that?]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Why would Dead Sea Scrolls have been different?  What did Huizenga mean by that?</p>
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		<title>By: Bekah</title>
		<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-75755</link>
		<dc:creator>Bekah</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Sep 2012 20:21:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=48460#comment-75755</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have to agree with Liz Smith above, who cares?  Authentic or hoax, this piece of papyrus is inconsequential.  I don&#039;t understand all the internet furor about it.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I have to agree with Liz Smith above, who cares?  Authentic or hoax, this piece of papyrus is inconsequential.  I don&#8217;t understand all the internet furor about it.</p>
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		<title>By: Perils of publishing (and my do-it-your-self guide to forgery)</title>
		<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-75679</link>
		<dc:creator>Perils of publishing (and my do-it-your-self guide to forgery)</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Sep 2012 00:09:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=48460#comment-75679</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[[...] my do-it-your-self guide to forgery)September 26, 2012 By gwesley Leave a CommentSo it looks like the fragment is not going to be published, at least not now and not in Harvard Theological Review. Why [...]]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] my do-it-your-self guide to forgery)September 26, 2012 By gwesley Leave a CommentSo it looks like the fragment is not going to be published, at least not now and not in Harvard Theological Review. Why [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Charles</title>
		<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-75678</link>
		<dc:creator>Charles</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Sep 2012 00:04:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=48460#comment-75678</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[David Nickol, nice equivalence.
However, the others are operating from a position of reason. If it can be said they are overzealous or protective, their concerns have been focused exclusively on the failure to properly investigate the document (or the catechizing of the doctrinally-confused who claim it wouldn&#039;t change a thing.)
Meanwhile those who want it to be authentic are already active in using it to sow confusion with a substantial media launch. That many of these are libertines are turning to fragments from celibate gnostics to attack their consciences reeks of desperation.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>David Nickol, nice equivalence.<br />
However, the others are operating from a position of reason. If it can be said they are overzealous or protective, their concerns have been focused exclusively on the failure to properly investigate the document (or the catechizing of the doctrinally-confused who claim it wouldn&#8217;t change a thing.)<br />
Meanwhile those who want it to be authentic are already active in using it to sow confusion with a substantial media launch. That many of these are libertines are turning to fragments from celibate gnostics to attack their consciences reeks of desperation.</p>
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		<title>By: Liz Smith</title>
		<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-75672</link>
		<dc:creator>Liz Smith</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 22:55:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=48460#comment-75672</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Not sure what all the fuss is about. A bit of text, apparently lifted in part from Gnostic wrtings, is found. So what?

We already know that Jesus does have a wife. It is the Church. 
It is spelled out clearly in the Bible. 
 
This is a nice summary on the Church as the Bride of Christ:  
http://www.veritasbible.com/resources/sacred_scripture_shortcuts/categories/Church/Church+as+Bride+of+Christ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Not sure what all the fuss is about. A bit of text, apparently lifted in part from Gnostic wrtings, is found. So what?</p>
<p>We already know that Jesus does have a wife. It is the Church.<br />
It is spelled out clearly in the Bible. </p>
<p>This is a nice summary on the Church as the Bride of Christ:<br />
<a href="http://www.veritasbible.com/resources/sacred_scripture_shortcuts/categories/Church/Church+as+Bride+of+Christ" rel="nofollow">http://www.veritasbible.com/resources/sacred_scripture_shortcuts/categories/Church/Church+as+Bride+of+Christ</a></p>
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		<title>By: Brian LePort</title>
		<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-75668</link>
		<dc:creator>Brian LePort</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 21:46:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=48460#comment-75668</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sorry, Leroy, not sure why I wrote Larry!]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Sorry, Leroy, not sure why I wrote Larry!</p>
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		<title>By: Brian LePort</title>
		<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-75667</link>
		<dc:creator>Brian LePort</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 21:45:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=48460#comment-75667</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Larry,

This is the most recent update I posted on my blog after hearing from Craig Evans. See update #3:

http://nearemmaus.com/2012/09/26/the-harvard-theological-journal-the-gospel-of-jesus-wife-and-karen-l-kings-rejected-or-not-rejected-paper/]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Larry,</p>
<p>This is the most recent update I posted on my blog after hearing from Craig Evans. See update #3:</p>
<p><a href="http://nearemmaus.com/2012/09/26/the-harvard-theological-journal-the-gospel-of-jesus-wife-and-karen-l-kings-rejected-or-not-rejected-paper/" rel="nofollow">http://nearemmaus.com/2012/09/26/the-harvard-theological-journal-the-gospel-of-jesus-wife-and-karen-l-kings-rejected-or-not-rejected-paper/</a></p>
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		<title>By: Gesine Robinbson</title>
		<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-75659</link>
		<dc:creator>Gesine Robinbson</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:32:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=48460#comment-75659</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Rebuttal of the presentation of a Gospel of Jesus’ wife

My objections to the claim of an ancient manuscript fragment and my reasons for regarding it a modern forgery are manifold: 
1. Claiming to possess an ancient fragment without knowing its provenance is unfortunate enough, but without giving the current owner is highly suspicious.
2. Even the square format of the papyrus piece with its neat edges suggests that this, at best, is scrap-material, not a preserved manuscript fragment. 
3. The papyrus itself may actually be ancient (though this cannot be determined by simply “carefully examining” it, as was maintained), since at least the vertical side gives a rather genuine impression, but the handwriting on the horizontal side is very different, especially with regard to the space between letters and between the lines. 
4. On paleographical grounds, the handwriting cannot come from the 4th century; especially judging from the way the T is written, for instance; there is no resemblance to the other known 4th century texts.
5. Miraculously, there are always full phrases preserved, something that hardly happens on a small single fragment.
6. And amazingly, on this small piece there are, according to the editors, allusions not only to one but even to two of the more well-known non-biblical gospels, the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Thomas.
7. In terms of the language, only the simplest vocabulary is used and only simple constructions are employed, as if the writer were afraid to make a grammatical mistake. 
8. Therefore, the rather rare phrase peje i±±±s+ (though frequently used in the Gospel of Thomas since we have to do there with a collection of Jesus’ sayings) is used even in both instances of speaking, instead of the form pejaF (+ pronominal/nominal object) + NCi + subject that is more common in dialogues or other literary texts. Here in the first instance one would expect something like pejau NIs+ NCi Nmaqhths, and in the second instance pejaF nau NCi i±±s+, or since Jesus answers the disciples, even aFouwvb= NCi Is+ pejaF nau je. It seems a cautious and perhaps unsure modern Coptologist was at work here.
9. In addition, even though in Coptic dictionaries sHime is used for “woman” and Hime for “wife,” Hime is almost never used in comparable literary texts, not for the wife of Adam, Jacob, or any other male figures. 
10. In the 2nd century, a time for which the Greek original is presupposed, an author would never have let Jesus simply say, “my wife,” existent or not. Women were relegated to the household as soon as Christian communities ventured out into the public sphere. In case of a disciple married to Jesus, the author would perhaps have explained in a dependent sentence the married status, like “Mary Magdalene, my wife, . . .”. The plain phrase “my wife” betrays modern thinking.

Finally let me express how deeply saddened and troubled I am by the latest trend in manuscript research. There seems to be a new integrity problem, starting with Marv Meyer’s “no comment” (regarding the Gospel of Judas) to Jim Robinson who had worked tirelessly for openness in textual research, up to the newest and most blatant example in Rome. Again secrecy was used as a means to maximize the sensational effect. For this reason, everything was intentionally orchestrated in a way that assured this outcome. It appears that the opening up of the Harvard website and the arrival of the press at the same moment the introduction in Rome was given were coordinated to that end. I am concerned that henceforth new manuscript discoveries will be widely assessed by experts in the field as something that individual scholars can exploit for their own profit.
Scholarship always benefitted from letting colleagues know about current works, from having open discussions of individual research projects at conventions, or from peer reviews prior to publications – something that would have been very beneficial especially in this current instance. Instead it was chosen to hide information from peers and introduce something with so much fanfare and speculation that it surely has to be backtracked one day, just like the evaluation of the Gospel of Judas had to be reversed by the first editors.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Rebuttal of the presentation of a Gospel of Jesus’ wife</p>
<p>My objections to the claim of an ancient manuscript fragment and my reasons for regarding it a modern forgery are manifold:<br />
1. Claiming to possess an ancient fragment without knowing its provenance is unfortunate enough, but without giving the current owner is highly suspicious.<br />
2. Even the square format of the papyrus piece with its neat edges suggests that this, at best, is scrap-material, not a preserved manuscript fragment.<br />
3. The papyrus itself may actually be ancient (though this cannot be determined by simply “carefully examining” it, as was maintained), since at least the vertical side gives a rather genuine impression, but the handwriting on the horizontal side is very different, especially with regard to the space between letters and between the lines.<br />
4. On paleographical grounds, the handwriting cannot come from the 4th century; especially judging from the way the T is written, for instance; there is no resemblance to the other known 4th century texts.<br />
5. Miraculously, there are always full phrases preserved, something that hardly happens on a small single fragment.<br />
6. And amazingly, on this small piece there are, according to the editors, allusions not only to one but even to two of the more well-known non-biblical gospels, the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Thomas.<br />
7. In terms of the language, only the simplest vocabulary is used and only simple constructions are employed, as if the writer were afraid to make a grammatical mistake.<br />
8. Therefore, the rather rare phrase peje i±±±s+ (though frequently used in the Gospel of Thomas since we have to do there with a collection of Jesus’ sayings) is used even in both instances of speaking, instead of the form pejaF (+ pronominal/nominal object) + NCi + subject that is more common in dialogues or other literary texts. Here in the first instance one would expect something like pejau NIs+ NCi Nmaqhths, and in the second instance pejaF nau NCi i±±s+, or since Jesus answers the disciples, even aFouwvb= NCi Is+ pejaF nau je. It seems a cautious and perhaps unsure modern Coptologist was at work here.<br />
9. In addition, even though in Coptic dictionaries sHime is used for “woman” and Hime for “wife,” Hime is almost never used in comparable literary texts, not for the wife of Adam, Jacob, or any other male figures.<br />
10. In the 2nd century, a time for which the Greek original is presupposed, an author would never have let Jesus simply say, “my wife,” existent or not. Women were relegated to the household as soon as Christian communities ventured out into the public sphere. In case of a disciple married to Jesus, the author would perhaps have explained in a dependent sentence the married status, like “Mary Magdalene, my wife, . . .”. The plain phrase “my wife” betrays modern thinking.</p>
<p>Finally let me express how deeply saddened and troubled I am by the latest trend in manuscript research. There seems to be a new integrity problem, starting with Marv Meyer’s “no comment” (regarding the Gospel of Judas) to Jim Robinson who had worked tirelessly for openness in textual research, up to the newest and most blatant example in Rome. Again secrecy was used as a means to maximize the sensational effect. For this reason, everything was intentionally orchestrated in a way that assured this outcome. It appears that the opening up of the Harvard website and the arrival of the press at the same moment the introduction in Rome was given were coordinated to that end. I am concerned that henceforth new manuscript discoveries will be widely assessed by experts in the field as something that individual scholars can exploit for their own profit.<br />
Scholarship always benefitted from letting colleagues know about current works, from having open discussions of individual research projects at conventions, or from peer reviews prior to publications – something that would have been very beneficial especially in this current instance. Instead it was chosen to hide information from peers and introduce something with so much fanfare and speculation that it surely has to be backtracked one day, just like the evaluation of the Gospel of Judas had to be reversed by the first editors.</p>
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		<title>By: Harvard Rejecting &#8220;Jesus&#8217; Wife&#8221; but Truthiness is Served</title>
		<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-75656</link>
		<dc:creator>Harvard Rejecting &#8220;Jesus&#8217; Wife&#8221; but Truthiness is Served</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 19:51:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=48460#comment-75656</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[[...] denied; it is being reliably &#8220;rumored&#8221; that Harvard&#8217;s Theological Review has rejected the conjectures of Professor Karen L. King:The rumor is that Harvard Theological Review is now declining to publish Karen King’s paper [...]]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] denied; it is being reliably &#8220;rumored&#8221; that Harvard&#8217;s Theological Review has rejected the conjectures of Professor Karen L. King:The rumor is that Harvard Theological Review is now declining to publish Karen King’s paper [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Publication of Paper on Jesus&#8217; Wife Now Tentative &#187; First Thoughts &#124; A First Things Blog</title>
		<link>http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2012/09/26/harvard-theological-review-rejects-jesus-wife/comment-page-1/#comment-75653</link>
		<dc:creator>Publication of Paper on Jesus&#8217; Wife Now Tentative &#187; First Thoughts &#124; A First Things Blog</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:51:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=48460#comment-75653</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[[...] my prior post reporting the rumor, I mentioned the tension in journalism between getting it first and getting it [...]]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] my prior post reporting the rumor, I mentioned the tension in journalism between getting it first and getting it [...]</p>
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