Article: ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’ Faces Authenticity Tests

Posted by Heartmind _Featured_, Religion Monday, October 22nd, 2012

(LiveScience) The “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” papyrus, which may or may not be a forgery, seems to be in limbo, as the Harvard Theological Review has pulled the scientific article describing the discovery from their January 2013 issue.

This withdrawal, however, doesn’t mean the journal will never publish the scientific paper by Harvard historian Karen King on the supposed lost Gospel. “Harvard Theological Review is planning to publish Professor King’s paper after testing is concluded so that the results may be incorporated,” Kit Dodgson, director of communications at Harvard Divinity School, wrote in an email to LiveScience.

Even so, the announcement has garnered both anger and elation.

Hershel Shanks of the Biblical Archaeology Society writes that the withdrawal of the paper is “shameful.” (Shanks is founder and editor of the society’s Biblical Archaeology Review.)

Meanwhile, another scholar applauds the Harvard Theological Review for making King’s study available online, if not yet published in their journal.

“My personal opinion is that Karen King and Harvard Theological Review have significantly improved the traditional peer review process by utilizing the Internet,” Oxford University graduate Andrew Bernhard told LiveScience. “In fact, this could potentially be a watershed moment in the history of scholarship where the academic process becomes more open and transparent.”

Read the full article

Image: Karen L. King