James M. Robinson, editor of the Nag Hammadi texts, in his book ‘The Gospel of Jesus’ (Harper, 2005), discusses this question in some detail, partly because of popular misreadings. His conclusion is that Jesus was not married, and that no early source hints at it. The idea of marriage surfaces only in legends of the late Middle Ages. He dismisses the modern purveyors of the idea without bothering to name them, and hopes the readers who may not have heard of it will forgive him for even mentioning these ridiculous theories, as they have no basis in early traditions. The bulk of this book is actually a thorough examination of the Q source. An aside: if the idea that Jesus ran off with Mary Magdalen and went to Marseilles, had any basis in reality, it would have been noticed by two prominent Christian authors who wrote in Gaul, Irenaeus of Lyon, (2nd century) who would certainly have railed against this heresy in his ‘Against Heresies’, and Gregory of Tours (6th century) who doesn’t mention anything like this in his ‘History of the Franks’.[10:51 AM]Gospel of Philip has a relationship with Jesus & Mary Magdalene but there’s multiple issues with using the Gospel of Philip to refer to an actual relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene such as:
Gospel of Philip dates to 3rd Century, so it may be as much as 200 years older than the canonical Gospels
It’s a logia Gospel, a sayings gospel, which doesn’t have much narrative structure.
It’s Gnostic (Valentinian) text, and Gnostics liked to talk in allegory and mysticism. I think the same text refers to some kind of sacred bride chamber, which is obviously referring to some kind of spiritual experience of the Gnostic Christians and not a literal room with a Bride.
Given Gnostic theology, and especially Valentinianism which centres around Sophia, I think it’s more likely that the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene here is more likely to be an allegory/parable about the Fallen Sophia than a historical record of the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Particularly since the text of the Gospel of Philip itself links Mary Magdalene to Wisdom.As for the Wisdom who is called “the barren,” she is the mother of the angels. And the companion of the […] Mary Magdalene. […] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples […]. They said to him “Why do you love her more than all of us?” The Savior answered and said to them,”Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness.”[10:52 AM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzMkOgOdc3o&t=46m17s&ab_channel=BartD.Ehrman
Bart Ehrman talks about Christians who think that Jesus got married to Mary Magdalene and moved to France to have children.
This is just gnosticist beliefs though, discussed in the Gospel of Philip.
Another thing, in Corinthians Paul explicitly says that he wishes they too were celibate & unmarried like he is. This seems to have been a common practice for apocalypticists at the time (1 Corinthians 7:6-9).
Anthony Le Donne’s book The Wife of Jesus: Ancient Texts and Modern Scandals lays out the textual and cultural evidence on the question. He argues for and against the idea Jesus may have been married, and one of the hypothetical suggestions. In the end, he argues that when Jesus’ teachings on marriage, adultery, parents, siblings, etc., are held in relation to his cultural backdrop, it’s far more likely he saw family-building as a very low priority because of his apocalyptic anticipations, and so most likely wasn’t married.
[10:56 AM]Simon Gathercole’s article The Historical and Human Existence of Jesus in Paul’s Letters published in the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus notes that 1 Cor. 9:5 gives the example of Cephas and Jesus’ brothers being married as a reason Christians can marry. This implies that Jesus was not married because, if he were, Paul would have cited to his marriage instead.
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