S.C.Carlson

Tabor's change of mind seems to be more related to his acceptance of the so-called Jesus Tomb identification. What that says about the strength of the arguments for Jesus's marital status (or about Tabor for that matter) I leave for others to contemplate.

Stephen

Clivedurdle

How would Revelation and the Bride of Christ fit here? And what happened at Cana?

S.C.Carlson

It doesn't.

According to John, someone got married.

Stephen

Boro Nut

They would have to have married from memory, as they obviously never met.

Boro Nut

GakuseiDon

:notworthy:

[Warning: risque element ahead] This is just a failure of imagination! We simply can't assume that people in those times didn't think this. I point out that Osiris sounds suspiciously similar to O-sore-arse, at least in a mythical rainbow realm. This is an indicator that you straights with your paradigms refuse to recognise.

Toto

Getting back on topic, this does sound like the real smoking gun, or the silence that speaks louder than a shotgun. Paul could hardly have avoided mentioning Jesus' marital status one way or the other; this leads me to believe that the Jesus he knew was only a spiritual being.

The most rational explanation of Paul's silence from a historicist stance is the idea (from one of the comments on Stephen's blog) that Paul's celibacy was in anticipation of the imminent end times. But this would imply that Jesus lived many years before, and that Jesus did not preach the coming of the Kingdom. What did Jesus preach then? Who was the apocalyptic prophet written about in the Gospels?

GakuseiDon

I can think of 3 possible scenarios:
1. Jesus was married, but his wife died, and he remained single afterwards. So either way, Paul was in a bind.
2. Jesus was married, and 1 Cor 7:10 refers to Jesus's command: Don't divorce, but if you do divorce, don't remarry. Thus Paul IS referring to Jesus.
3. Interpolation. Paul originally meant "single like Jesus", but it got changed to "single like me". I don't know by whom and why, but we can always round up the usual suspects.

David B

At this time of night, I can't help but wonder if Jesus was married, but was also shagging Mary Magdelene.

David B (notes that excusing themselves from normal mores is par for the course for cult leaders. Which, now I think of it, Jesus allegedly did with that the ears of corn on the sabbath thing)

Toto

Aren't you part of the crowd that doesn't trust claims of interpolations that are just too convenient? What possible motivation would anyone have to substitute "me" for "the Lord"???

krosero

Just some questions, then.

How does Jesus' premature end fit into all this? Does anyone feel that a short life by Jesus diminishes the value of that life for Paul's arguments?

And what about the fact that Jesus' mission (in life, to use modern words) would have been viewed as a singular one, hardly ordinary -- not directed toward marriage one way or another (I am presuming, on that point, the traditional model in which Jesus was unmarried) but toward the cross? How much value does Jesus' celibacy up to the age of 33-36 or thereabout have for Paul's arguments?

And what if early Christians viewed Jesus as God or the son of God, or at least a miracle-working savior with power over sin (such as lust)? What if they viewed him as staying sinless (not looking at a woman with lust in his heart, etc.) because he was the sinless lamb, the perfect unblemished sacrifice? And then ordinary people dealing with desire come to Paul on these questions. How much value does Jesus' life, in that case, have for whatever Paul wants to say?

Kevin Rosero