The Wife of Jesus: Ancient Texts and Modern Scandals

Resumen del libro

The idea that Jesus was married continues to incite fierce debate. Look no further than Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code for evidence, or Harvard Professor Karen King's recent discovery of the so-called Gospel of Jesus' Wife - a piece of papyrus that made the explosive suggestion that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were man and wife. But most who address the topic either dismiss the possibility or propound conspiracy theories.
Amid the storm of controversy, Le Donne provides a haven of clarity and sense. Approaching the subject from a fresh, historical perspective and without appealing to sensationalist stories or dismissing Jesus' sexuality on theological grounds, Le Donne places Jesus firmly within his socio-cultural context. By investigating gender and marriage norms he provocatively argues that Jesus could well have been married - although not to Mary Magdalene - before he was thirty years of age.
He then goes on to highlight indicators from Jesus' later public career which point to a more complex story, one where Jesus as a sexual non-conformist was most likely single. Crucially, Le Donne also confronts the changing nature of our quest for Jesus' wife, illuminating the humanity of Jesus, as well as revealing important connections between ancient sexuality and modern spirituality.