Scientists: Scroll that mentions Jesus\'s wife is ancient

A ancient piece of papyrus that contains a mention of Jesus' wifeis not a forgery, according to a scientific analysis of the controversial text, USresearchers said Thursday.The fragment is believed to have come from Egypt and contains writing in theCoptic language that says, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife...'" Another part reads: "Shewill be able to be my disciple."Its discovery in 2012 caused a stir. Since Christian tradition has long held that Jesuswas not married, it renewed long-running debates over celibacy and the role ofwomen in the church.The Vatican's newspaper declared it a fake, along with other scholars who doubtedits authenticity based on its poor grammar, blurred text and uncertain origin.Never before has a gospel referred to Jesus being married, or having women asdisciples.But a new scientific analysis of the papyrus and the ink, as well as the handwritingand grammar, show that the document is ancient."No evidence of modern fabrication ("forgery") was found," the Harvard DivinitySchool said in a statement.The palm-sized fragment likely dates to between the sixth and ninth centuries, andcould have been written as early as the second century CE (common era), said thestudy results published in the Harvard Theological Review.Radiocarbon dating of the papyrus and a study of the ink using Micro-Raman spectroscopy was done by experts at Columbia University, Harvard University andthe Massachusetts Institute of Technology."The team concluded the papyrus' chemical composition and patterns of oxidationare consistent with old papyrus by comparing the GJW (Gospel of Jesus' Wife)fragment with a fragment of the Gospel of John," said the study."Current testing thus supports the conclusion that the papyrus and ink of GJW areancient."- Anonymous origins -The origin of the papyrus is unknown. Karen King, a historian at Harvard DivinitySchool, received it from a collector -- who asked to remain anonymous -- in 2012.King, a historian of early Christianity, said the science showing the papyrus isancient does not prove that Jesus was married."The main topic of the fragment is to affirm that women who are mothers and wivescan be disciples of Jesus —- a topic that was hotly debated in early Christianity ascelibate virginity increasingly became highly valued," King said in a statement."This gospel fragment provides a reason to reconsider what we thought we knew byasking what the role claims of Jesus's marital status played historically in earlyChristian controversies over marriage, celibacy, and family."The fragment measures four by eight centimeters (1.6 by 3.2 inches).King said its late date -- written centuries after Jesus's death -- means the author didnot know Jesus personally.Its crude appearance and grammatical errors suggest the writer had no more thanan elementary education, she added.Leo Depuydt, a professor of Egyptology at Brown University, wrote an article, alsopublished in the Harvard Theological Review, describing why he believes thedocument is fake. "The papyrus fragment seems ripe for a Monty Python sketch," he wrote.He noted grammatical errors and that the words "my wife" appear to be emphasizedin bold letters, which are not featured in other ancient Coptic texts."As a student of Coptic convinced that the fragment is a modern creation, I amunable to escape the impression that there is something almost hilarious about theuse of bold letters," he wrote.King published a rebuttal to Depuydt's criticisms, saying in part that blotted ink wascommon and that the letters below "my wife" are even darker