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25 Early Christian Characteristics/Norms

1. Early Christians loved, studied, kept, and copied Scripture. This love for Scripture usually was stained in their blood, as most died defending the faith.
2. Early Christians were called “atheist” because they worship unseen god.
3. The spread of the Gospel was mostly carried out by normal everyday people as they travelled throughout the land. Yes, the apostles did great work, but most of the missionary work was carried out by countless and nameless Christians who for different reasons-persecution, business, or missionary calling-traveled from place to place taking the news of the Gospel with them.
4. Interpretation of Scripture was done allegorically.
5. Early Christians did not consider themselves followers of a new religion. All their lives they had been Jews, and they still were. This was true of Peter and the twelve, of the seven, and of Paul. Their faith was not a denial of Judaism, but rather the conviction that the messianic age had finally arrived. Early Christians did not reject Judaism, but were convinced that their faith was the fulfillment of the age-long expectation of a Messiah.
6. Communion did not focus on the death of Jesus, it focused on the resurrection of Jesus and His victory by which a new age had dawned.
7. Two days were set aside for weekly fasting. (Wednesday and Friday)
8. Early Christians were not only persecuted by the Romans, but mostly by Jews. Jews looked at Christianity as a simply another heretical sect. Read Acts 18. This helped the Gospel message to spread as Christians had to scatter throughout the land.
9. When Christians were blamed for the fire that Nero started, Tacticus, a pagan historian of the time, did not believe that Christians set the fire and disapproves of Nero’s “refined cruelty.” Tacticus even says, Christians “were not being destroyed for the common good, but rather to satisfy the cruelty of one person.”
10. Early Christians were considered “haters of humankind” because they did not take part in social activities that were entwined with pagan worship. In Roman eyes, you are supposed to love the culture and society.
11. The distinction between Jews and Christians was not clear in the minds of Roman authorities, thus both Jew and Christian were persecuted for following any “Jewish practices.”
12. Early Christians viewed martyrdom as being chosen by God and as a gift from God.
13. Early Christians were not specifically killed for being a “Christian,” but for not praying to other gods, burning incense before the image of the emperor, and cursing Christ. Christians, by the mere fact of being such, were not committing any crime against society or against the state. Therefore, the resources of the state should not be wasted in seeking them out. But, once accused and brought before the authorities, Christians had to be forced to worship the gods of the empire, or face punishment.
14. Early Christians in the second century were not constantly persecuted. Sometimes they were persecuted in some areas of the Empire, and not in others.
15. Because of 13, above, to have a good relationship with your neighbor was very important. If any believed the evil rumors (as there were many) about Christians, they would be accused, and persecution would break out. For this reason it was very important to show that those rumors were untrue, and to give pagans a better and more favorable understanding of Christianity. This was the task of the apologists.
16. Some rumors created by insufficient knowledge of pagans:

Christians had a meal together called the “love feast.” Also, Christians called each other “brother” and “sister” and there were many who spoke of their spouses as their “sister” or “brother.” Pagans then took these two facts and came up with the idea that Christian worship was an orgiastic celebration in which Christians ate and drank to excess, put the lights out, and vented their lusts in the indiscriminate and even incestuous unions.

Communion is referred to as the body and blood of Christ (also He came as a baby). Thus, pagans came up with the idea that Christians concealed a newborn in a loaf of bread, and then ordered a new “Christian” to cut the loaf. When this was done, they all joined in eating the warm flesh of the infant. The new “Christian” was then forced to remain silent about what took place.

17. Pagans thought Christianity was a religion of barbarians who derived their teaching, not from Greeks or Romans, but from Jews, a primitive people whose best teachers never rose to the level of Greek philosophers.
18. Some questions that early apologist had to answers:

Why can you not see your god?

If pagan gods are false, why fear them?

Why not worship them, even if one does not believe in them?

If Jesus was truly the Son of God, why did He allow himself to be crucified?

Why did Jesus not destroy all His enemies?

What could the purpose of such a visit to earth by God?

What would happen to Christians whose bodies were destroyed by fire, eaten by beasts, or by fish?

What will God do with those parts of matter that belonged to more than one body?

19. All Christians agreed that the worship of the gods, and everything related to that worship, must be rejected. This included civil ceremonies, military service, and the study of classical literature, which were all entwined with immorality, pagan and emperor worship.
20. Some Christians believe that nothing good could come from pagan philosophy and stayed away from anything that had to do with the pagan culture. Others, like Justin Martyr, claimed that there were several points of contact between Christianity and pagan philosophy. Such as:

Supreme being which every other being derives its existence

Eternal life beyond physical death

21. Early Christians talked about in the address To Diognetus:

Christians are not different form the rest in their nationality, language or customs… They live in their own countries, but as sojourners. They fulfill all their duties as citizens, but they suffer as foreigners. They find their homeland wherever they are, but their homeland is not in any once place… they are in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They live on earth, but are citizens of heave. They obey all laws, but they live higher than that required by law. They love all, but all persecute them

22. Even though Christians refused to worship the emperor, and even while persecuted by the authorities, they continued praying for the emperor and admiring the greatness of the Roman Empire.
23. Early Christians were pro-life. Non-Christians, if a woman has a female baby, it was not considered a daughter, unless the father declared the baby his daughter. If the father did not declare the baby his daughter, the baby was set outside in the elements to die.
24. Early Christianity was able to grow more and more, thanks in part to evangelism by the common folk, and different plagues that came during the first couple centuries. While people with money, doctors and pagan temple workers, were able to flee the plague stricken areas, a high percentage of people were left behind. For the Christian, they had no fear of death and were more than willing to help treat those who were sick. The results of this aid by early Christian saw a high conversion rate of pagan worshippers to Christianity.
25. In pagan worship and culture, it was completely normal to share your spouse and children with other people. Adulterous, homosexual, and pedophilia acts were totally acceptable during this time especially in pagan temple worship. Christians were known for sharing everything they had, except their spouses (heterosexual) and children.

 

Some Reading:

Getting to Know the Church Fathers by Bryan Litfin 

The Story of Christianity: Volume 1 by Justo L. Gonzalez

Book Review: Note-Taker’s Bible, NKJV

This Bible is designed for those of you who like to take notes in your Bible, but do not have enough room in the margin. It does not have anything extra in it like commentary, devotionals, or maps but it is a perfect Bible for everyday reading and writing. It’s made so that it lies mostly flat, and you do not have to worry about losing your spot as there is no need for creasing or pressing the pages down. I usually use the ESV version and I couldn’t remember the last time I read the NKJV. I compared the book of Philippians between both of them. I am not sure of all the changes made from the KJV to the NKJV, but I found it easy to read and written in a understanding way.

What I enjoyed about this Bible is that it is just a simple Bible. Nothing extra in it and wide margins for writing. You can take the front sleeve off the Bible, so that it is just a hardcover. It was designed to look very clean and easy to read. At the bottom of the pages it gives cross-references and literal words in both the Hebrew and the Greek. Sometimes with Bibles that have commentary, I find myself reading the commentary more than reading the actual Scripture.

I would say the two things that I would change, to the design/layout that is, are:

1. Adding lines to the margins so it is easier to writer neatly.
2. Making the font size bigger, as it seems very small.

*My review is mostly in reference to the design and usability of this Bible, not to the Scripture.

BookLook Bloggers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy.

A Taste of Ignatius of Antioch

Letter to the Romans 2-6

Ignatius wrote ahead to the church at Rome asking them not to attempt to prevent his death. In his passionate desire for martyrdom, we sense the bishop’s wish to make his final act count for eternity. If we are sensitive here, we can also read between the lines to find a man struggling with fear: fear of the pain that awaits him, and fear that he will not measure up to what is expected in his moment of trial. Ignatius describes to the Romans the man he hopes to be. It’s as if he is steeling himself for what lies ahead. The letter reminds us that this was no superhuman saint, but a humble Christian trying to set his eyes on Jesus rather than the things of the world.

I’ll never again have an opportunity like this to reach God. Nor will you Romans ever again have such a chance to be credited with a finer accomplishment-provided you remain silent. For if you quietly refrain from interfering with me, I will become a crystal-clear message from God. But if you love my earthly body too much, I’ll only be an incomprehensible noise. I ask you to grant me nothing but this: that my blood should be poured out as an offering to God while I still have an altar available to me. In your love, you can become the accompanying choir for my sacrifice. You will sing praises to the Father in Jesus Christ because God has deemed me, the bishop of Syria, worthy to be summoned from the East to the West. Oh how good it is to be like the sun now setting on this world-for that means I will soon rise up into the presence of God! … I do have one prayer request. Pray that I’ll have strength in my soul and in my physical body, so that I won’t just give lip service to martyrdom but will actually desire to go through with it. I don’t want to merely call myself a Christian-I want to back it up when it counts. For if I can back up my words, then I will be worthy of the name of Christian. I will be known as a man of faith even when the world can’t see me anymore. It’s not the things you can see that have true value. For example, our God Jesus Christ revealed his glory even more clearly when he ascended back to the Father and disappeared. Nothing is really achieved by trying to persuade people. Christianity’s true power is discovered only when it is hated by the world. I’m writing letters to all the churches so I can proclaim clearly to everyone that I’m totally willing to die for God. But I can only do that if you won’t interfere. I beg you, don’t try to show me a “kindness” that I don’t really want. Allow me to serve as food for those savage animals-for through them I can reach God! I like to think of myself as God’s own wheat. I must be ground up into flour by the teeth of those beasts so I can be baked into a pure loaf of bread for Him. Instead of interfering, it would be far better for you to urge those animals on! Let them become my tomb and completely devour me. I don’t want to burden you with having to collect my remains after I have died. Only then will I be a disciple of Jesus Christ in the fullest sense: when the world can no longer see my physical body. So pray to the Lord for me! Ask that by means of these animals I might become a sacrifice to God. Please understand, I’m not giving you orders as if I were Peter or Paul. They were apostles, but I’m just a condemned criminal. They were free, but even at this very moment I’m chained up like a slave. But I know if I suffer, I’ll be freed by Jesus Christ. United with Him, I will be raised to eternal freedom! Right now, though, I’m a prisoner learning what it means to put aside my desires. From Syria to Rome, I’m already battling with wild beasts. By land and sea, night and day, I’m chained to ten leopards: the soldiers who have me in custody. When they are treated kindly, they only become more cruel to me. However, through their mistreatment I am becoming a better disciple-not that this earns me any credit with God. Oh may I rejoice in those wild beasts awaiting me! I do pray they will be done with me very quickly. In fact, I will coax them to come eat me up right away. I hope they won’t behave timidly like they sometimes do, lacking the fierceness even to touch the people thrown in the arena. And ifwhen I’m ready for the great moment the animals are holding back, I’ll force them to take me! Please bear with me here, friends. I really do know what is best for me. I am only now beginning to understand what it means to be a disciple. I pray that the events in that arena, and the unseen forces ofwick- edness behind them, will not conspire against me out of envy and prevent me from reaching Jesus Christ. Bring on the fire, bring on the cross, bring on the hordes ofwild animals! Let them wrench my bones out of socket and mangle my limbs and grind up my whole body! Bring on all the hideous tortures from the Devil! Just let me get to Jesus Christ. Nothing on this wide earth matters to me anymore. The kingdoms of this world are entirely meaningless. I am at the point where I would rather die for Jesus Christ than rule over the whole earth. He alone is the one I seek-the one who died for us! It is Jesus that I long for-the one who for our sake rose again from the dead!

Source: Bryan M. Litfin. Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction 

Book Review: Compassion without Compromise: How the Gospel Frees Us to Love Our Gay Friends Without Losing the Truth by Adam T. Barr and Ron Citlau

As I started reading this book I could not stop reading it. I finished it in about four hours and was motivated to keep reading throughout the entire book. It was also the first book I have read in a while that I used a highlighter throughout the entire book. This 147 page book is pure gold, especially in the world we live in and the cultural ideology when it comes to homosexuality. There is a lot of different “stuff” and so called “truth” going around today telling us how we should think and handle homosexuality. This book is a breath of fresh air as it Biblically explains homosexuality and how to interact with people that struggle with it.

I never felt there was an aggressive tone to the book. Compassion without Compromise communicated the truth of God’s Word in a loving and compassionate way. The introduction is important as it introduces the authors and their struggle with homosexuality in their own lives.

They deal with a wide variety of issues when it comes to homosexuality. God created sex and God created marriage. Some people like to believe that marriage is a man-made institution, but that is clearly not true, as we see that God is the one that initiated the joining together of man and women. Man is made in God’s image, and we can see that the joining together of man and women is a picture of the trinity. The reason why this issue of homosexuality needs to be addressed, is because unlike other sexual sins plaguing our churches and cultures, we are being told that homosexuality is not sin. The authors graciously and compassionately lead us through scripture to show us how homosexuality is sin and that homosexual marriage is also sin. But at the same time they lead us through scripture to show us that homosexuality does not have to define who we are, and that the power of the gospel can renew, redeem, sustain, and give us an abundant life.

Each chapter gives a “takeaway” section to quickly review and help the reader grasp what the main points of each chapter were. There are chapters entitled “Two Faced,” which answers the question, “How can a bunch of hypocrites cast the first stone?” or “Jesus is My Homeboy,” which answers that question, “If He didn’t care, why should we?” I specifically enjoyed this chapter as it destroys the idea that because Jesus didn’t directly talk about homosexuality, it is not a big deal or sin.  Jesus also did not talk about other gross sexual acts such has incest, polygamy, bestiality, and pedophilia. There is an entire chapter dedicated to what the church should do, as the authors gave practical ways to deal with homosexuality legally and biblically. I enjoyed the chapter that answered real life questions when it comes to homosexuality, such as, “How can I talk to others about this issue without getting into an argument?” or, “What should I do about my workplace celebrating gay pride?” or, “My son is dating another male, and the holidays are coming up, what should I do?” or, “I just got invited to a same sex marriage, what should I do?”

This was a great book, as it not only dealt with homosexuality Biblically and practically, but it also made me think about my own life when it comes to sin before a holy God. Fear is something that has been misplaced or given a new definition that sounds nicer, but really, as Christians, do we have a fear that we are living before and serving a holy God? We shouldn’t be cowering in the corner, but sometimes that would be better to do, instead of thinking that we can get away with sin and that sin is no big deal to God.

Four things that stood out to me:

1. Sexual sin is a serious matter, as it can very easily lead to our destruction and death.
2. What you believe about the Bible itself, will determine where you stand on many different issues. Is it the actual Word of God or is it not?
3. You will have to the conversation as some point, and this conversation will be awkward and could be very explosive.
4. We underestimate the power of the Gospel to renew, redeem, and sustain.

Book Review: The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving by Dandi Daley Mackall and Richard Cowdrey

Immediately I enjoyed the title of this book as they used the word “legend” and subtitle “A Story of Christmas Giving.” LEGEND DEFINITION: a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but unauthenticated. Christmas is about giving, as Christ would eventually give His life to save mankind, but at the same the same time, this season of giving has been turned into a season of equal exchanges. Maybe I am going a little too deep into the title, but it’s true! We have turned something that should be about Christ and giving sacrificially, into a time where if we give something we expect to get something back.

“Most of us would rather think about getting gifts than giving them.”-The Legend of St. Nicholas

            The Legend of St. Nicholas is about a boy named “Nick, who is not too thrilled about being dragged along for last-minute Christmas shopping with his dad. Bu while his father’s off shopping, a mall Santa tells Nick the story of St. Nicholas … a man who delighted in giving unexpected presents to the less fortunate to honor God, who gave the word the greatest gift ever given,” eternal life through Jesus Christ.

The Legend of St. Nicholas gives a kid friendly version of the real St. Nicholas, with a small paragraph about the facts of St. Nicholas at the end of the book. I thought each page was drawn beautifully and important things stood out, which helped understand what the book was about. The only thing that I felt could be changed was the age it was written to. Four to eight years old is a good age group but this book would be good to the age of 12. It would be a great book to lead right into the gospel message, especially around Christmas season. It took me about 10 minutes to read to myself.

Book Review: The Christmas Story for Children by Max Lucado, Randy Frazee, Karen Davis Hill, and Fausto Bianchi

The title of the book is self-explanatory, as it tells the true story of the birth of Jesus Christ.

“Jesus was no ordinary baby. He was the Son of God, the Messiah whom

God had promised long, long ago.”

 

The pages were drawn beautifully, with many different colors and easy on the eyes, as they seem to fit perfectly with what was happening with the reading. It pretty well follows the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus Christ, not taking many liberties with the event of His birth. It starts out before his birth with Mary and Joseph, and ends with Jesus about to enter his earthly ministry. It took me about 10 minutes to read to myself. The age group is four to eight, but I say up to 12 years old would be fine too. I would like to see a second book written about Jesus’ ministry on earth, and then a third for His death, burial, and resurrection.

 

I believe this book is written in part with “The Story” material that is used through all ages and quite a few different churches around the world.

Why does God perform all His acts of love toward us in a way that reveals He is loving us this way for His own glory?

Why does God perform all His acts of love toward us in a way that reveals He is loving us this way for His own glory? Why does God relentlessly reveal His love to us by telling us in the Bible that He is loving us for His own name’s sake?

It is an urgent question because so many say or feel it isn’t really love for us if God’s aim is to magnify His own glory. Or they feel: You say He is making much of me, but in fact He isn’t making much of me if His design is that He be made much of in making much of me. I tremble just to say those words. It isn’t so. I want to show you—I want to help you see and feel—that we are more loved by God when He loves us this way. He makes much more of us when He makes much of us this way. Brothers, please don’t turn this off. Ask God to help you see what we are about to see in the Bible. That’s what I am doing.

Just a few examples of what I mean by God doing all His acts of love toward us in a way that reveals He is loving us for His own glory.

1. God shows His love for us by predestining us for adoption into his family.

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace. (Eph. 1:4–6)God loved us in eternity, before we were created, and He planned to make us His children by adoption. And the aim of this love was “to the praise of the glory of his grace.” He loved us in this way that we might praise His grace. A regenerate person loves to praise God’s grace in our adoption. A nominal Christian simply loves the natural benefits of adoption.

2. God shows His love for us by creating us.

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory. (Isa. 43:6–7) Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory. (Isa. 43:6–7)God loved us in bringing us into being that we might enjoy forever all the good He plans for us. And He did it, He says, for His glory.

3. God shows His love for us by sending us a Savior.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest.” (Luke 2:10–14) We get the Savior; He gets the glory. We get the “great joy”; God gets the praise. That is God’s design in sending His Son.

4. God shows His love for us when Christ died for us.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Cor. 5:14–15) Christ loved us, died for us; and the aim was that we might live for Him. He pursues His glory through our salvation. This is the consummation of a very old divine pattern: Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! (Ps. 79:9)Born-again people pray like this. They see their salvation primarily as a gift of the ability to see and savor and show the glory of God.

5. God shows His love for us in the way Jesus prays for us.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24) With Him. He prays that we be with Him. And why does that make us happy? Oh He will give us many things. But the bottom of our joy, the decisive foundation of our happiness, will be this: We will see His glory. Our Savior, not our self, will be the bottom of our joy. The point of those five texts is to show that throughout the Bible God performs all His acts of love toward us in a way that reveals He is loving us for His own glory.

From John Piper’s book, “Brothers, we are not Professionals.” B&H Publishing

Sola Scriptura ~ Sola Fide

Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide are the two most fundamental marks of the Evangelical church. These two marks are all but destroyed in North America today. For some reason we have decided to all but abandon these marks. All churches in North America are not guilty of this but it seems, especially in my generation, that a lot of churches are disregarding these two crucial marks of  the Church. I praise God for the churches that have not bee persuaded by the culture to bow the knee of compromise. R.C Sproul talks about these two crucial issues in his book, What is the Church?:

“The two major points of unity in historic and classical Evangelicalism were two key solas of the Reformation— sola scriptura and sola fide. Sola scriptura reflects the fact that all the different Protestant parties believed that the Bible was the final authority for matters of faith and practice. They all believed in the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible. And second, they agreed on the cardinal issue of the sixteenth century, namely, the doctrine of justification by faith alone, that is, sola fide. Wherever else they differed (such as over the sacraments and other doctrines), at least they had the cement of what they did hold in common that bound Protestants together.”

Sproul also adds something said by Martin Luther as well:

“Toward the end of his life, Luther observed that the light of the gospel had broken through in his day and lightened the darkness. Remember the motto of the Reformation: Post tenebras lux, that is, “After darkness, light.” Luther said that it was inevitable that before long, the truth of the gospel would be hidden once more in obscurity. The reason he gave was that where the gospel is preached, it divides and controversy ensues .”

Sproul goes onto to talk about peace, which is something my generation seems to be obsessed with but forgets this too easily:

“People don’t want ongoing controversy. We want peace. The message of the false prophets of Israel was one of peace. But their peace was an illusion . They preached peace when there was no peace, or what Luther called a carnal peace. Luther said that when the gospel is preached with passion and with accuracy, it does not bring peace. In fact, our Lord Himself said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10: 34). That does not mean that we are called to use weapons of military combat to further the extension of the kingdom. We are to be peacemakers. We are to be tolerant, kind, and patient people. But if you look at the record of history, the true prophets of Israel contended for the truth, and every time they did, controversy emerged. Probably no human being has engendered as much controversy as Jesus Christ did. People were galvanized either for Him or against Him. The record of the Apostolic church in the book of Acts is the record of ongoing and unabated controversy. The controversy focused on the preaching of the gospel. So controversial was the preaching of the gospel that the religious establishment of the Jewish community forbade the Apostles from preaching the gospel at all because it was controversial and because it divided people. In our generation we’ve been told that the highest virtue is peace. We’ve lived in the age of the atomic bomb. We’ve seen widespread warfare. We’re tired of disputes , tired of people fighting and killing each other. It is by God’s grace that churches aren’t burning people at the stake or putting them on torture racks as was done in earlier centuries . We’ve learned to coexist with people with whom we disagree. We value that peace. But I’m afraid the danger is that we value it so much that we’re willing to obscure the gospel itself. We have to be careful of speaking about unity when we really don’t have it. At times I think we believe we have more unity than we actually have.”

R.C Sproul ~ What is the Church?

The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife: Debunked

Did Jesus have a wife? From a plain reading of the Bible you will understand that there is no evidence of Jesus having a human wife at all. But back in 2012 a discovery of a Coptic fragment was discovered saying, ” Jesus said to them, “My wife…”” This was then quickly proven false by many, but then in Spring of 2014 there was a resurgence of this Coptic fragment in the Harvard Theological Review. Dr. Christian Askeland answers questions refuting this fragment and showing us that he discovered the “smoking gun”.

Much of the New Testament scholarly world is abuzz with a purportedly ancient Coptic fragment, which has been called The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife.  Is it truly an ancient Coptic fragment?  A forgery?  The most recent volume of Harvard Theological Review is devoted to this fragment with articles by Dr Karen King of Harvard Divinity School, who has been the driving force behind the announcement and dissemination of this fragment. Dr Christian Askeland, who earned his Ph.D. at Cambridge University while living at Tyndale House, has recently written what Mark Goodacre calls a ‘devastating’ critique of the authenticity of The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife.  Askeland has helpfully summarized the issues.

We asked Askeland a few questions.

What exactly is The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife?

Askeland: It is a Coptic fragment which Karen King of Harvard Divinity School has brought to the attention of the public, first announcing its discovery in 2012. Coptic is the latest form of the Egyptian language.  It is written in the Greek script plus seven additional letters ‘borrowed’ from Demotic, an older form of Egyptian. In the fragment it reads at one point: ‘And Jesus said to them:My wife . .’.  While persons interested in ancient documents are always interested in new discoveries and whether they are authentically ancient, the fact that in this document there is a reference to Jesus having a wife, makes it particularly intriguing.

Why do you consider it to be a forgery?

Askeland: Essentially all specialists in ancient Egyptian material culture concluded that the so-called ‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ was a forgery back in 2012.  Francis Watson, Alin Suciu, Hugo Lundhaug and Andrew Bernhard all contributed to a web-based discussion, which explained a string of grammatical anomalies in the fragment, appealing to an internet-based PDF of the Gospel of Thomas (the only surviving version of the Gospel of Thomas is in the Coptic language).  With The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife the forger had cut and pasted sections from the Gospel of Thomas, and in doing so created several grammatically impossible phrases.  In particular, the forger unwittingly included a typo, which marked the particular source. The idea that both texts could include the exact same typographical error (and this kind of typographical error) is statistically highly improbable.  Although the peculiarities of the scribal hand, which had no parallel among other ancient manuscripts, were damning enough, the textual source theory essentially settled the issue.

Now the entire debate has been re-opened with the publication of the April 2014 volume of Harvard Theological Review.

Askeland: Professor King’s recent seven-article resuscitation attempt has certainly been accompanied by something of a frenzy, both within the scholarly world and in the media. However, the radiometric dating actually falsified King’s paleographic dating. The Raman spectroscopy told us what we already knew, that the ink used was soot ink, an ink which is rather easy to make and use today; and the palaeographic analysis could find no clear parallel for the scribal hand.

What is your key insight? Why have you been credited with finding ‘the smoking gun’?

Askeland: I remember sitting at my desk in Tyndale House one day in 2010, finishing my dissertation on the Coptic versions of John, and encountering an old note concerning Codex Qau, the main Lycopolitan witness to John’s gospel; Lycopolitan is a dialect of Coptic. This manuscript was kept down the street at the Cambridge University Library, to which I went immediately. Fast-forward to the present.  Remember, The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife was one of several fragments which were announced by Karen King.  There was also in this group of fragments a fragment of the Gospel of John in Coptic. Just recently, when I gazed upon Karen King’s Coptic John fragment, what I saw was immediately clear.  Not only were the writing tool, ink and hand exactly the same as those of the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife fragment, but also the method of composition was the same. As I looked at Karen King’s Gospel of John fragment, I finally saw that it was clearly copied (by the forger) from Herbert Thompson’s 1924 edition of Codex Qau.  Indeed, the Gospel of John fragment had exactly the same line breaks as Codex Qau – a statistical improbability if it were genuine.

Summary of Askeland’s points

(1) when one looks at King’s Gospel of John fragment together with The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife, it is clear that they use the same ink and tool, and that they come from the same hand;

(2) it is clear that King’s Gospel of John fragment was copied/forged from the 1924 Herbert Thompson edition of Codex Qau;

(3) Therefore, it is almost certainly the case that The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife fragment is also a forgery.

Finally, isn’t there also an issue of the radiometric dating of The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife?

Askeland: Yes, King’s radiometric dating for the fragment, that is the papyrus which was written upon, not the date the writing occurred, was 7th-9th century.  But the text was written in Lycopolitan, which had disappeared from use centuries earlier.

 

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