The Wife Of Jesus

[Metalix Knightmare]

If not watch it NOW!!! It's about the possible wife of Jesus!!!

Edit:

Edited the topic title to represent its "contents" and moved to the Skeptics Corner.

Metallix Knightmare - please keep in mind this is not an instant messenger. You should use a title that's representing the topic and be a little more "elaborate" in the message itself. That would probably cause a lot more people to respond to this, I must say very interesting, question : Did Jesus Have A Wife?

Edited November 4, 2003 by Phantom

[DrStrangelove]

Wife of Jesus? Hehehe. I think if there was a wife of Jesus it would of been recorded in the Bible or at least the book that talks about the life of Jesus. Oh, what is that called? Catholics use it. Anyway, even if Jesus had a wife and he didn't want anyone to know about it, I don't tink it shoud be subject to discussion. Ykes! *realises he is talking about it*

[Kryso]

Um... Likewise, I think it would have been mentioned somewhere in the Big Book, if Jesus had a wife - It mentions his mom, dad, cousins, step-brothers and sisters, etcetera, so someone as important as a wife would have got just a few arguments captured for eternity…

Interestingly it mentioned Paul had a wife, who use to help him make tents (think it was Paul) So even his wife was a sort of footnote, lol - but she was mentioned.

[Lionel]

Here is the full article from abc...

Nov. 3 — For most of the last 2,000 years, the Catholic Church called Mary Magdalene a prostitute who gave up her sinful life to follow Jesus.

But some people believe that Mary Magdalene was maligned through the centuries, and that she actually played a much more significant role in Jesus' life: as his wife, the mother of his child, and the most important of his disciples.

The truth, they believe, was deliberately suppressed by church leaders. There is a theory that the truth about Mary was kept alive by a secret society known as the Priory of Sion, whose members included some of the greatest artists and thinkers of Western civilization, including Leonardo Da Vinci.

Author Dan Brown believes the renaissance master encoded the truth in some of his most famous paintings. His best-selling book, The Da Vinci Code, has a lot of people talking these days. The book is a novel, but author Dan Brown says much if it is drawn from historical evidence.

To investigate some of the claims in the book, ABCNEWS' Elizabeth Vargas traveled from one edge of the Mediterranean to the other. She found that not all the claims in the book are credible, but that some of them appear to have elements of truth.

Wasn't She a Prostitute?

The depiction of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute has its origins in interpretations of Luke's gospel, where it says she was cured of seven demons.

She's also introduced Luke right after a story about a prostitute whom Jesus forgives for her sins. In the year 591, Pope Gregory the Great overlapped the two identities.

The Vatican eventually corrected that impression, but not until 1969, 1,378 years later.

Brown believes the church allowed the confusion to obscure the truth about Mary's relationship with Jesus.

Scholars said the confusion has eclipsed important information the Bible does provide about Mary Magdalene.

"She's perhaps the most frequently mentioned woman who is among the followers of Jesus in the Gospels of the New Testament," said Biblical scholar Elaine Pagels. The Rev. Richard McBrien of Notre Dame University said he thinks Mary Magdalene would have been recognized as one of Jesus' main apostles — and possibly the key apostle — had she been a man.

Margaret Starbird, who wrote several books that Dan Brown relied upon in writing The Da Vinci Code, said the Bible suggests she might have been Jesus' wife.

The Gospel according to John tells the story of a woman named Mary who anoints Jesus' feet with oil and wipes it away with her hair which is a marriage ritual, she said. And even though the woman is identified as Mary of Bethany, not Mary Magdalene, Starbird believes they are the same person.

Deciphering the Code

In his novel, Brown says there is an apparent omission in Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting "The Last Supper": the Holy Grail, or the chalice from which the disciples allegedly drank their wine, is missing, he said.

But he says the Holy Grail actually is there, on the right hand of Jesus. He says the grail is the figure to the right of Jesus — commonly thought to be John, but actually Mary Magdalene.

Some versions of the legend of the Holy Grail say it was taken out of Jerusalem and hidden away in Europe for centuries. Another legend holds that Mary Magdalene arrived

on the coast of Provence in southern France with a boatload of Jesus' followers sometime after the crucifixion.

Mary and the others were said to have brought the grail with them — a symbolic way of saying that Jesus' child had come with them, Starbird said.

In Leonardo's painting, the figure is wearing the same color as Jesus — possibly indicating a special relationship, Brown said. He said the way the figure is aligned with Jesus also forms a V, a symbol of the feminine long before Leonardo's time.

Many art historians have dismissed the theory that the figure is a woman, saying it's just a tradition to paint John as beardless and long-haired. "It looks like a young male. I see no breasts," art historian Jack Wasserman told ABCNEWS.

But Carlos Pedretti, one of the world's leading Leonardo experts and head of the Leonardo Institute in Florence offered a rare word of agreement, noting that a portrait of the figure next to Jesus, sketched by one of Leonardo's top students, clearly appears to be a woman.

The Secrets of the Templars

Stories about the Priory of Sion first surfaced in the modern era during the late 1960s, when a set of documents was discovered deep in the French National Library that made numerous references to the supposed society.

The documents outlined a family tree that went back to the Merovingian Kings, monarchs who ruled in the south of France from the 6th to the 8th century.

According to Henry Lincoln, who co-authored the 1983 book, Holy Blood, Holy Grail with Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, the Merovingian legends say the first king's mother was said to have been impregnated by a sea creature. One of the earliest symbols for Jesus and Christianity was a fish.

Holy Blood, Holy Grail suggests that the Merovingian kings were the descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and that their descendants founded the Priory of Sion. The book argued that the Knights Templar, an order that really existed in the 12th century, originated as the military wing of the Priory of Sion.

In the earliest written versions of the legend of the knights of the Holy Grail, the knights were called Templaisers, which historians think actually refer to the Knights Templar.

"They were referred to as the Guardians of the Grail and of the Grail Family. They were there to protect that royal family," said Lincoln.

The Knights Templar existed for 200 years, but were suddenly rounded up one day by King Phillip of France, accused of heresy and executed by the priests of the Inquisition.

One theory is that the Knights Templar were destroyed because during the crusades, they might have brought back evidence from the Middle East that proved the identity of Mary Magdalene and her descendants, Brown said.

The Descendants of Jesus?

Although Brown based his novel around the legend of the Priory of Sion, he is not sure himself whether the mysterious society really existed or is a modern fabrication. "I don't think we'll ever know," he said.

Using the Priory of Sion documents from the French library, ABCNEWS found a pair of noble-born Scottish cousins named Andrew and Niven Sinclair.

Their ancestor William Sinclair built the Roslyn Chapel in Scotland — often referred to in the legends of King Arthur as the Chapel of the Grail.

As far as their holy roots, Andrew doesn't put much stock in the legend. "There's no proof that actually this is a bloodline of Mary Magdalene and Jesus," he said.

Niven Sinclair does think they married into the Jesus bloodline. But, he said, "by the time it gets to me, it will be very, very, very diluted."

Other Evidence

The discovery of some scrolls in Egypt in 1945 provided a source for what Brown calls "an alternative history."

It's believed that the Nag Hammadi scrolls were originally hidden by a monk in the late 4th century, at the same time the bishop of Alexandria ordered them destroyed.

The writings are sometimes called the Gnostic Gospels. "Gnostic" means knowledge, and the groups who wrote them often claimed special knowledge about Jesus.

One of the 50-odd texts contains a line stating that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' favorite and he often kissed her on the mouth, according to Brown. However, the parchments are so damaged that it's hard to be sure what kind of kiss the document is describing.

The texts also identify Mary Magdalene as the companion of Jesus. Brown believes the term means she was Jesus' wife.

Bedrock of Civilization?

Even outside the Gnostic Gospels there is evidence that in the first centuries after Jesus, Mary Magdalene was treated with great respect by several of the early church leaders who were men.

By the year 200 though, women were systematically excluded from any positions of authority, said Pagels. "Throughout history, our history books have been written by the winners," Brown said.

Brown recognizes his book has touched a nerve by dealing with topics that have been forbidden for centuries.

"These are topics that resonate at a deep, deep spiritual level — really at the core of the human psyche," he said.

"Whether you agree or disagree with the topics — they're on the table, and we're talking about them, and these are topics that for centuries have been taboo."

[Kryso]

Thanks Lionel, as always you have a wealth of information...

But I still think it’s on the iffy side. People are always looking for something. Take the Bible Code, where they slammed a huge number of words and letters into the machine and came up with all sorts of predictions. (It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the basic idea).

I think its reaching at straws, yes they have a lot of information, but what it comes down to, is apart from all the theories and unexplained explanations, if it was important, it would have been in the Big Book! If you look at any document long enough and study it hard enough, you can come up with many explanations to various things wrong with it, or what they believe is added or missing.

Of course this is just my opinion, lol, and that’s sometimes been known not to be worth much, lol.

[Metalix Knightmare]

Guys I hate to be the one to say this but the Bible is NOT a good way to see if there was a Mrs.Christ. I have a list that may tell why (Key word being MAY)

1.The Bible has no one version. Its like every sect of Chritianity has a version of it.

2.It was written in a male dominated society. Knowing that a woman could have an impact on Jesus that he would marry her would cause quite an uproar.

3.The members of the Catholic church most likely removed as much evidence of Mary Magdalene due to the fact that Jesus was supost to be unable to sin. And If you look up the Catholic Church history you'll find that ,in the old days, they thought that having ANY kind of Sexual relations was a sin. And we all know what newly weds did after the wedding back in those days. (If not then look it up.)

Now I just know that someone is going to try to flame me for this for offending them but you have to take all evidence into light.

(By the way my address is not listed so don't even try to flame me)

[Druss]

A link to the Gospel of Mary

Gospel

[Nax]

If I remember correctly, the idea of Jesus and Mary Magdelene being married or in a relationship comes from the discovery of the gospels of James.

James has been called Jesus' brother as in Mary & Josephs son and was one of the disciples, as was Mary M. The reason Mary Magdelene was cast as a prostitute relates back to who won the power struggle to run the christian religion after Jesus' crucifixion and disappearance. In the Jewish religion, even today, women can't hold any office, they even sit away from the men and Peter decided that to convert Jewish people to Christianity might be too difficult to achieve with such "radical" ideas as having women equal with men as Jesus taught. So women were relegated to the back seat, so to speak, to help make conversions easier.

Scholars that have been deciphering the dead sea scrolls point out the innaccuracy of the bible as we have it today. When you are trying to translate something that has been written in Hebrew, ancient Greek, and Latin into Middle ages English then into modern english, somethings are bound to get "lost" in the translations.

For example, the parable about the loaves and fishes which Jesus fed the multitude. Scholars today now know from translating direct from the original that young Rabbi's of the time were called "loaves" and Greeks of the time were referred to as "fishes". The parable simply meant that Jesus' disciples were considered young Rabbi's and the non Jewish one's were Greek. They distributed the food among the people.

The notion of "Virgin Birth" is again misinterpreted by the translators. It was a custom of the time that a couple who wished to marry, would spend 12 months together prior to the marriage. If they were happy the marriage would go ahead, if not the woman was still called a virgin. Mary and Joseph conceived Jesus out of wedlock, hence the "Virgin Birth" legend of the bible.

If you want to, hit up Google and do a search for the Gospel according to James.

[Seraphina]

*insert yado like hmmmmmmmmmmmm*...logical...

My dear Naz, I do believe I'm starting to like you Now that you're here, my workload is halfed

[evil]

why are you talking about the son of god

[Druss]

is there any reason why we should not?

[moe eubleck]

Jesus got him some while he was here. So what?

Go Jesus !! Use your devine influence and get your mack on !!

[Nax]

My dear Naz, I do believe I'm starting to like you Now that you're here, my workload is halfed

Who's this Naz dude?

[alienmojo]

WOW! That was some cool stuff. I don't know what to believe except maybe this: It doesn't matter what relationship Mary had with Jesus. If you just look at that you are missing the point of why Jesus was here in the first place. You can take Mary completely out of the Bible and the story is not hurt.

So personally I believe it doesn't matter one way or the other. What matters is Jesus' mission here on Earth and his teachings. Don't get sidetracked by things that are unimportant. If it was that important it would have been in the Bible... right??

[connecian]

Guys I hate to be the one to say this but the Bible is NOT a good way to see if there was a Mrs.Christ. I have a list that may tell why (Key word being MAY)

1.The Bible has no one version. Its like every sect of Chritianity has a version of it.

2.It was written in a male dominated society. Knowing that a woman could have an impact on Jesus that he would marry her would cause quite an uproar.

3.The members of the Catholic church most likely removed as much evidence of Mary Magdalene due to the fact that Jesus was supost to be unable to sin. And If you look up the Catholic Church history you'll find that ,in the old days, they thought that having ANY kind of Sexual relations was a sin. And we all know what newly weds did after the wedding back in those days. (If not then look it up.)

Now I just know that someone is going to try to flame me for this for offending them but you have to take all evidence into light.

(By the way my address is not listed so don't even try to flame me)

Sorry have to reply....

1.First,and foremost, CATHOLICS NOW, IN THE PAST IN THE FUTURE DO NOT BELIEVE SEX IS BAD OR A SIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 The books in the CATHOLIC bible are books that originated from the beginning. The only ones to have removed books was the protestant church when they seperated from the Catholic church of the time.

3. Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute and was ony mentioned once in the New Testament.

4. Jesus was JEWISH !!!! HELLO... jewish HIGHLY respect there women, mothers and wives. Male dominate the society in the goverment only. most of the books were also written after Jesus was on earth, passed down generation to generation.

5. IF Jesus was meant to marry it would be in the bible. HE was not meant to marry and have children. HE was meant to come to earth to save souls and to have people believe in GOD and to save people from their errors.

[misstical19]

After reading emails I have one word `Mysoginost` Can women seroiusly believe the bible when men cut so much out of it ??? Mary Magdelene TAUGHT Jesus all he knew ie egyptian mysteries and healing. This is why it is Sooo important to know this. Men of the day re-wrote and cut out the truth. Which is why the Bible whilst morally good is in essence a LIE. Find the truth within for there is the kingdom... Also every man is born of woman does not nature herself say something here? ``Those that have ears to hear, let them hear`....

[tired_dad]

My turn.

1. Women were highly respected and quite often given the most prominent roles in the Bible. Esther who saved her people from annihalation was one, Sarah (or Sarai) who was the Mother of the Hebrew people. In the New Testament, when the Christ was crucified, the men ran away. It was the women who had the courage to stay and remove his body. When Jesus was raised from the dead, the first people to find out were women, not men. This in itself is indicative of whom the Christian faith deems important. When the gifts of the Holy Spirit were given, it is documented that women were equally given the gifts.

2. As for all the translations of the Bible, how do you want to read that? The books of the New Testament were compiled and authenticated in the first 300 years of the faith. Today, more research into the actual meanings of the Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic (the language Jesus spoke) has taken place than ever. More scrolls and fragments have been found that are authenticated back to the first century A.D. which places them close to eyewitness accounts of Jesus, if not the actual accounts themselves.

3. Many individuals who were regarded as false prophets (Gnostics, Animists, etc.) were disregarded as they disputed the divinity of Jesus. This is born out by the fact that Jesus is the only individual who fulfilled 100% of the prophecies from the Old Testament.

4. "He was without sin" is not an ambiguous statement. Simply put, he was not tempted by the vice of the world. How many people do you know that spent 40 days in a wilderness being tempted by Satan, only to come out the winner?

Last, before I step off of my soapbox (pulpit?) take into account all the martyrs who died before they would renounce their faith. Can you find 12 men (or women) today who would be willing to lay down their lives for a religion? I know our Armed Forces do (I was one) but keeping the faith is just that. A choice. God's greatest and heaviest gift to Humankind. The opportunity to choose our faith based on what we perceive to be the truth.

Thanks, God Bless, and Merry Christmas!!!!

[bathory]

This is born out by the fact that Jesus is the only individual who fulfilled 100% of the prophecies from the Old Testament.

aside from the whole concept that Mary was a virgin was a mistranslation....

and that its not particularly hard to look at an established set of prophecies and then write another document stating what you have fulfilled them..

Last, before I step off of my soapbox (pulpit?) take into account all the martyrs who died before they would renounce their faith. Can you find 12 men (or women) today who would be willing to lay down their lives for a religion?

looks back to 9/11

[tired_dad]

When I say lay down their lives for their religion, I meant as in being persecuted and having others attempt to make you change your mind or convert under pain of death.

History is replete with those who are declared as martyrs after they take their own lives while killing "infidels", both Christian and non-christian.

At least I can't find others as well documented as the early Christians, who died for a new religion in the face of long established ones.

[bathory]

Can you find 12 men (or women) today who would be willing to lay down their lives for a religion?

CLICK HERE

"RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. (Reuter) - Investigators Thursday identified the bodies of 39 cult members who apparently committed suicide in the belief that a UFO, shielded behind a comet, would take them to heaven"

When I say lay down their lives for their religion, I meant as in being persecuted and having others attempt to make you change your mind or convert under pain of death.

whats the difference? its still very much dying for ones belief in a religion.

At least I can't find others as well documented as the early Christians, who died for a new religion in the face of long established ones.

so what? does that suddenly validate everything else to be said?

[bigsteff]

has anyone read E.T.

[bigsteff]

what about the theory put forward that..holy grail is not as how it is ,but holy grale(if i remember right)Portuguese spelling..where the templars had their headquarter

and the holy grail/grale the vessel to hold the blood of christ was not a cup but it was M.M who was carrying christ's unborn child,and the Knight Templars were to protect the holy grail/grale ,,i.e mary . m

[wunarmdscissor]

Isnt there a theory that the Knights Templar fled to scotland and hid the grail in some tiny chapel here?

Maybe someone can put me right on that?

[shirini]

Maybe the church intentionally withheld the information about this part of his life. And yes, when it come to the church, I really do believe there is a huge cover up.

I don't know about Mary Megd. being his wife, but doesn’t the idea of a single adult male in that time make you a lil‘ antsy? I mean Moses had a wife, and Mohamed had three, so why shouldn’t J.C. ?

[DreamRebel]

[Edit] Post removed