DowntheRabbitHole:OwneroftheGospelofJesusWife

PapyrusUnmasked
Papyrusownerhadashadypast,accordingtoArielSabarsinvestigationinTheAtlantic
RobinNgo06/30/2016
Afternearlyfouryearsofscrutiny,debateandscientifictesting,havewefinallyputtobedthehoopla
surroundingtheGospelofJesusWife?Evidentlynot.AninvestigativearticlebyArielSabarrecentlypublished
inTheAtlanticdelvesintotheidentityoftheanonymousowneroftheGospelofJesusWifepapyrus,revealing
morethananyonecouldhaveeverimagined.
ThesocalledGospelofJesusWifeisa1.5x3inchCopticpapyrusfragmentthatcontainsthetextJesussaid
tothem,MywifeThispapyrusfragmenthasbeenthesubjectofmuchdebateinthescholarlycommunity
since2012,whenHarvardsHollisProfessorofDivinityKarenL.Kingpresentedthepapyrusatthe10th
InternationalCopticCongressinRome.ThetextintheGospelofJesusWifepapyrussuggeststhatearly
ChristiansbelievedJesuswasmarried,anideathathassignificantimplicationsforhowearlyChristiansviewed
thestatusofwomenaswellasmarriage,sexandreproduction.

ThemysteriousanonymousowneroftheGospelofJesusWife
papyrushasfinallybeenidentified.Didheforgethecontroversial
papyrusfragmentthatreadsJesussaidtothem,Mywife?Photo:
KarenKing.

BeforeshepresentedtheGospelofJesusWifepapyrusinRome,KingconsultedexpertsAnneMarieLuijendijk,
ProfessorofReligionatPrinceton,RogerBagnall,DirectorofNYUsInstitutefortheStudyoftheAncient
World,andArielShishaHalevy,ProfessorinGeneralandEgyptianLinguisticsatTheHebrewUniversityof
Jerusalem.Theyallthoughttheinscriptionandpapyruslookedancient.
TheappearanceoftheGospelofJesusWifeontheworldstage,however,sparkedheateddebatesaboutits
authenticity,somuchsothattheprestigiousjournalHarvardTheologicalReview(HTR)delayedpublication
ofKingsresearch.HTRsubsequentlydevoteditsApril2014issuetotheGospelofJesusWifepapyrus,
presentingKingsresearchonthefragmentalongsidearticlesdescribinganumberofanalysesconductedonthe
papyrus:apaleographicalassessment,achemicalinktest,infraredmicrospectroscopyandradiocarbondating.
Thesetestsindicatedthatthefragmentwasancient.
Thescientifictests,however,didnotconvinceBrownUniversityProfessorofEgyptologyandAssyriologyLeo
Depuydt,whocondemnedthefragmentasaforgeryintheApril2014issueofHTR,nordidthetestsconvince
otherexpertsinCopticandpapyrology.AsBiblicalscholarsJoelBadenandCandidaMosswroteinThe
Atlanticin2014,Forgershaveaccesstogenuinelyancientpapyrus:blankpiecesareeasilypurchasableonthe

antiquitiesmarket,asarepapyricontainingunremarkabletextsfromwhichtheinkcanbescrapedoff.Inkhas
thesamesortofproblem.Evenifitschemicalcompositionlooksright,thatdoesntproveanything.

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Evenbeforetestingwasconductedonthepapyrus,scholarsnoticedtroublingaspectsofthetext.Depuydt
observedintheGospelofJesusWifepapyrusgrammaticalblundersthathesaysanativeCopticspeaker
wouldneverhavemade.FrancisWatson,ProfessorintheDepartmentofTheologyandReligionatDurham
University,foundthatalmosteverywordintheGospelofJesusWifecouldbereadintheGospelofThomas
completecopyofwhichwasamongtheNagHammadicodices.TheNagHammadicodiceswerediscoveredin
1945,andtheCoptictextswerepublishedin1956andhavebeenwidelyavailableonline.Writingin2014,
ChristianAskeland,AssistantResearchProfessorofChristianOriginsatIndianaWesleyanUniversity,
demonstratedthatanotherpapyrusfragmentKarenKingreceivedfromtheanonymousantiquitiesownerwasa
forgery.Thisfragment,whichcontainedtheGnosticGospelofJohn,thuscalledintoquestiontheauthenticity
oftheGospelofJesusWifepapyrus.Bythispoint,scholarswidelybelievedwiththeexceptionofKarenKing
thattheGospelofJesusWifewasafake.
ButwhatabouttheoriginsoftheGospelofJesusWife?Whowasthismysteriousantiquitiesownerwho
requestedanonymity?WritingforLiveScience,OwenJarussinvestigationintothisquestionin2015ledhimto
believethataFloridaresidentnamedWalterFritzmaybetheowner.ArielSabarsrecentlypublishedexpos
inTheAtlanticproveswithoutadoubtthatFritzisthemanwhoownedtheGospelofJesusWifepapyrus.
Previouslydenyinganyassociationwiththecontroversialpapyrusfragment,Fritzfinallyconfessed,afterbeing
presentedbySabarwithalltheevidencethejournalisthad.Fritzalsoclaimedthathedidnotforgethepapyrus,
andthatthepreviousownergavenoindicationsthatthefragmentwastamperedwitheither.
WhyhasthislongformAtlanticpiecebeenmakingwavesacrosstheacademicworldandacrossthepopular
media?SabaruncoveredcompellinginformationaboutFritzsbackground,includingthefactthathewas
enrolledasaMastersstudentinEgyptologyattheFreeUniversityofBerlin,hadfamiliaritywithCoptic,was
skilledindrawing,previouslyhostedwebsitessellinghighlysuspectantiquitiesandwasinfinancialstraitsright
beforecontactingKarenKingaboutthefragment.Additionally,thedocumentsheusedtoauthenticatethe
GospelofJesusWifeshowedsignsofforgerythemselves.
AfterreadingSabarsarticle,KarenKingrespondedthattheinvestigationtipsthebalancetowardsforgery.
HarvardDivinitySchoolpostedontheirwebsitedevotedtotheGospelofJesusWifepapyrusastatementthat
read,inpart,HDSisgratefultothemanyscholars,scientists,techniciansandjournalistswhohavedevoted
theirexpertisetounderstandingthebackgroundandmeaningofthepapyrusfragment.HDSwelcomesthese
contributionsandwillcontinuetotreatthequestionsraisedbythemwithalltheseriousnesstheydeserve.
ThemostshockingpartofSabarsinvestigation,however,waswhenhedescribedhimselfashavingfallendown
arabbithole:SabardiscoveredaseriesofpornographicwebsitesFritzandhiswifehadhostedandappeared
in.AccordingtoSabar,thethemesthatemergedfromhisinvestigationintoFritzslifeechothosefoundinDan
BrownsbestsellerTheDaVinciCode,inwhichearlyChristianChurchfatherssoughttodefameMary
Magdalene,suppresstheroleofwomenanddemonizesex.WasFritzslifeimitatingart?Sabarsexhaustive

ofJesusfigure,andhiswifeasalatterdayMaryMagdalene.
Sabarpaintsaportraitofamanwholedanunusual,suspiciousandscandalizinglife,butwhatseemsmissing
fromtheinvestigationisconclusiveproofthatFritzhimselfforgedtheGospelofJesusWifepapyrus.Thelesson
thatcanbelearnedfromthissaga,however,isthatscrutinizingwhereanantiquitycamefromcanbejustas
revealingasassessingandconductingscientifictestsontheobjectitself.AsCarolineT.Schroeder,Associate
ProfessorofReligiousandClassicalStudiesattheUniversityofthePacific,wroteonherblog,[P]rovenanceis
nottheonlymeansofprovingauthenticity,andpaleographyandphilologyin[thecaseoftheGospelofJesus
Wife]demonstratedthecaseforforgery.[However,]whatIargueisthatprovenanceshouldbeconsideredby
scholarsfromthebeginningintheirwork,thatitshouldbemoretransparent,andthatthistransparencyabout
provenancegivesauthenticitytothework.

ReadCopticscholarChristianAskelandstimelineofeventsinthiscontroversialantiquitiescase>>

MoreontheGospelofJesusWifepapyrusinBibleHistoryDaily:
IstheGospelofJesusWifeaFake?
CopticpapyrusmentioningJesuswifeisaforgery,accordingtoCopticmanuscriptsexperts
TheGospelofJesusWifePapyrusRevisited
HarvardDivinitySchooldeclaresthepapyrusancient,butthedebaterageson
IstheHarvardTheologicalReviewaCowardorDidDr.KarenKingDoSomethingWrong?by
HershelShanks
PublicationofscholarsarticleongospelofJesuswifepostponed