Was Jesus Married with Children? This Book Claims He Was
- By Alison Lesley --
- 13 Nov 2014 --
After studying an ancient manuscript, the writers of The Lost Gospel believe they found evidence that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and the two had children.
An ancient manuscript was brought to the British Library in 1867, written in Aramaic on animal skin. Ecclesiastical History of Zacharias Rhetor was recovered from an Egyptian monastery, though many scholars until now have written it off as unimportant. However, yesterday, the book The Lost Gospel was officially published, sharing never before seen information with the public. According to the books authors, the text details a story of Jesus in which he married and had children with Mary Magdalene. The Church of England has been working on distancing themselves from the project, releasing a statement in October stating they “have no connection with the book other than housing the manuscript used for research for the authors.”
Mary Magdalene has always been a prevalent figure in Jesus’ history. She was there for many events in Jesus’ story, including his crucifixion and resurrection. It does not seem to be such a stretch to think that there could have been romance there. However, the Church of England calls heresy.
This is not the first time it has been alleged that Jesus married Mary Magdalene. Dan Brown, in The Da Vinci Code made very similar claims. It has been purported that Jesus sired two children with Mary Magdalene.
According to the writers, the Ecclesiastical History of Zacharias Rhetor did not name Jesus Christ, specifically. They say that a particular character, named Joseph, resembled him strongly, while the man’s wife in the text, Aseneth, was Magdalene. This marriage can potentially alter the assumptions many previously made about Jesus Christ. However, because of this interpretation, many are already calling out the book as a hoax.
The Lost Gospel was published Wednesday by Professor Barrie Wilson and writer Simcha Jacobovici. Wilson is a Professor of Religious Studies at the York University in Toronto. He and his partner, Jacobovici, were revealed to have previously ignored the manuscript as non-important. Jacobovici came under additional criticism in 2002, when he created a documentary about the James ossuary. This relic claimed to show that Jesus had a family, however the Discovery Channel later named it as “one of the top scientific hoaxes of all time.”
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Alison Lesley
5:09 pm“They say that a particular character, named Joseph, resembled him strongly, while the man’s wife in the text, Aseneth, was Magdalene.”
So this manuscript mentions someone who’s not named Jesus, married to a woman who’s not named Mary Magdalene, but supposedly proves the Jesus/M.M. fanon pairing?
It’s especially interesting because Asenath was the wife of Joseph in the Old Testament. I can’t help but wonder if this book purports the marriage took place during Jesus’ sojourn in Egypt.