This should make for some fun discussions. :-)
A scrap of papyrus dated to the fourth century has written on it in the ancient Coptic language, “Jesus said to them, my wife,” reopening the debate about whether Jesus was married, as some early Christians believed.
The words on the honey-colored fragment are the first evidence of that belief, according to Karen King, a professor of divinity at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who presented the finding today at the International Congress of Coptic Studies in Rome.
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The fragment likely is authentic ... . Early Christians didn’t agree about whether they ought to marry or remain always celibate, and the earliest claim Jesus didn’t marry is from 200 A.D., King said in the statement.
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In the draft of their paper, King and Luijendijk say that the fragment doesn’t provide evidence that Jesus was married, since it was probably originally composed in “in the second half of the second century.”
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Instead, it’s more likely that the fragment reflects the views of early Christians that depicted Jesus as married. The context of the fragment suggests that the topic being discussed were questions about family and discipleship.
Bloomberg
Might be difficult to keep up celibacy in the Roman Catholic priesthood or keep women out of the ministry.
Of course, it was originally made over a century after the events, but it does show how such issues were still contested even then. I am certain that if there were unrebuttable evidence of such a marriage, many would deny it anyway because they are invested in certain beliefs. "What is truth," Pilate purportedly said.
Does truth matter in religious belief? Probably only to a small minority.