Smithsonian Channel Documentaries

The Gospel of Jesus' Wife (2014x5)

Air date: May 05, 2014

Damaged and fragile, a fragment of ancient papyrus has unleashed a new interpretation of a religious story we thought we knew. In one of the most startling discoveries in recent memory, scholars confirm that a codex written in the ancient Coptic language refers to the wife of Jesus. Dr. Karen King, a Harvard professor, reveals that the papyrus bears the line "Jesus said to them, my wife..." It doesn't prove Jesus was married, but it raises questions about that possibility--and how some early Christians viewed the role of women in the church.