The Wife of Jesus

Was Jesus married? The question has the power to inflame opinion, split religions, start wars and divide Christians and scholars alike. Whether stirred up by the phenomenal success of Dan Brown's novels or the 'discovery' last year by Harvard Professor Karen King of the so-called Gospel of Jesus' Wife - an ancient piece of papyrus that made the explosive suggestion that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were man and wife - the matter refuses to rest, and remains unsolved. Original research in the area has been undermined by a vigorous campaign to dismiss the possibility of Jesus' marriage, a cause further strengthened by the popularity of conspiracy theories. Now, approaching the subject from a fresh, historical perspective, Le Donne places Jesus firmly within his socio-cultural context and provocatively argues that the evidence has only one conclusion: Jesus had a wife.