About my previous post on the ‘wife of Jesus’...

About my previous post on the ‘wife of Jesus’ codex:

If you look at the actual scholarship (PDF) on this text, it is careful and nuanced:

It does not, however, provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married, given the late date of the fragment and the probable date of original composition only in the second half of the second century. Nevertheless, if the second century date of composition is correct, the fragment does provide direct evidence that claims about Jesus’s marital status first arose over a century after the death of Jesus in the context of intra-Christian controversies over sexuality, marriage, and discipleship.

It’s the media coverage of the issue that isn’t as careful. This discovery does not mean that Jesus was married, or that there was some mass conspiracy to cover up Jesus’ marital status. It is well established that there were major debates over gender roles, marriage, etc. in the first few centuries after Jesus’ death.