The latest claim made by a book saying that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and fathered two children with her, has been debunked by experts.
Greg Carey, a professor of the New Testament at the Lancaster Theological Seminary, told Discovery News that the problem is that the text, which has been referred to make the claim, is far from being a forgotten manuscript covered in dust and does not even mention Jesus and Mary Magdalene. He said that it's a well-known ancient text, often called Joseph and Aseneth, which most scholars consider it a Jewish story, although it was possibly edited or even composed by Christians,".
He noted that several translations have long been available to scholars and one of his friends even recalls translating the text in an intermediate Greek course for undergraduates. In other words, he doesn't know whether the actual manuscript in question is new, but the contents of the text are widely known.
Mark Goodacre, professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Duke University, who created a Joseph and Aseneth website already in 1999, said that Joseph and Aseneth has been widely known to scholars for a long time. The British library document is a Syriac translation of the Greek text — explicitly stated to be such. And the text has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
While, Robert Eisenman, author of James the Brother of Jesus and The New Testament Code, said that he is glad to hear that Jesus's name was really Joseph, as he has always wondered about that and Joseph and Asaneth is just what it says it is, an apocryphal book about Joseph's relation with the Egyptian priest of On's daughter Asaneth in the Old Testament. It has no hidden meaning or esoteric interpretations.
Carey added that they have no evidence for Jesus being married or fathering children. That is not to rule out the possibility. However, the gospels provide the strong impression that Jesus was celibate and encouraged his followers to lead celibate lives as well, and they have no reason to believe otherwise.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}