> Never before had an ancient manuscript alluded to Jesus’s being married.
yeah, because the church tried to suppress the gospels: thomas, mary, judas, and 30+ others; that contained contrarian views to their goals
one goal being the subordinate status of women
the gospel of mary sits blatantly in the face christian doctrine:
Chapter 9(o)
1) When Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to this point that the Savior had spoken with her.
2) But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, Say what you wish to say about what she has said. I at least do not believe that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are strange ideas.
3) Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things.
4) He questioned them about the Savior: Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?
5) Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I have thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?
6) Levi answered and said to Peter, Peter you have always been hot tempered.
7) Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries.
8) But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well.
9) That is why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect Man, and separate as He commanded us and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what the Savior said.
10) And when they heard this they began to go forth to proclaim and to preach.
> Never before had an ancient manuscript alluded to Jesus’s being married.
yeah, because the church tried to smother the gospels: thomas, mary, judas, and 30+ others; that contained contrarian views to their goals
That's not really relevant here. There are a tremendous number of records of beliefs/gospels which the modern church considers heretical, including ones which pertain to the status of women. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Paul_and_Thecla
The claim is not "this isn't church doctrine", it's "there's no other historical record of people telling this story". It would be surprising, though not strictly impossible, for this to have been a major gospel in ancient history without some record of it being found by now.
Your post is super confusing and contradicts itself.
1) "There are a tremendous number of records of beliefs/gospels which the modern church considers heretical, including ones which pertain to the status of women"
2) "there's no other historical record of people telling this story"
So which one is it? Is there a "tremendous number" of them, or is there "no other historical record"?
You can't have both. Either there is, or there is not.
"This story" meant the story that Jesus was married. Other apocryphal gospels say things about women that sometimes contradict the orthodox opinion, but they do not say that Jesus was married.
To reiterate what I am saying: there are plenty of historical records of the church attacking heresies in the ancient world, supported by both the writings of the church fathers and the writings of the heretics themselves. What this article points out is that we do not have any other ancient writings that allude to anyone believing that Jesus was married. It is, as far as we can tell, not something that was ever in dispute.
> it's "there's no other historical record of people telling this story".
right, that is the suppression theory that i am saying i agree with
> The claim is not "this isn't church doctrine"
i am making this claim..
how could you keep women from having seats of power in your religion if the guy you claim the whole thing is based on believed 'the other sex' to be 'worthy' of both hearing the truth and speaking it?
The point is that the church said many things were heretical and tried to suppress those beliefs. And we know about it, because we have records of:
1) the church saying "that guy over there is a heretic"
2) the writings of the heretic
So what you're saying is that in this one case, the Church was able to completely stamp out a widespread belief to the point that we have no reference to people believing it, even though it wasn't able to do so in other cases that it also deemed heretical? That seems implausible.
P.S. "> Never before had an ancient manuscript alluded to Jesus’s being married." That is what I referred to as "the claim".
Gospel of Philip (63:33-36) and Gospel of Mary (17:10-18:21) both, though not canonical, are ancient manuscripts that are supposed by some to suggest an intimate relationship.
yeah, because the church tried to suppress the gospels: thomas, mary, judas, and 30+ others; that contained contrarian views to their goals
one goal being the subordinate status of women
the gospel of mary sits blatantly in the face christian doctrine:
Chapter 9(o)
1) When Mary had said this, she fell silent, since it was to this point that the Savior had spoken with her.
2) But Andrew answered and said to the brethren, Say what you wish to say about what she has said. I at least do not believe that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are strange ideas.
3) Peter answered and spoke concerning these same things.
4) He questioned them about the Savior: Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?
5) Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I have thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?
6) Levi answered and said to Peter, Peter you have always been hot tempered.
7) Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries.
8) But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well.
9) That is why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect Man, and separate as He commanded us and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what the Savior said.
10) And when they heard this they began to go forth to proclaim and to preach.
(o) http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelmary.html