In April 2014, Harvard Theological Review devoted an issue to the discussion of The Gospel of Jesus' Wife, a fragmentary text thought by many to be a forgery. Regular readers of this blog will know that this fragment has been a hot topic of discussion since the first media reports of its existence in September 2012. (You can find the many NT Blog posts on the Gospel of Jesus' Wife here).New Testament Studies has now devoted its latest issue to a critical discussion of the authenticity of the fragment. After an editorial by Francis Watson, the following articles expound different elements of the problem:
The Gospel of Jesus' Wife: Constructing a ContextSimon Gathercole
A Lycopolitan Forgery of John's GospelChristian Askeland
The Gospel of Jesus' Wife: Textual Evidence of Modern ForgeryAndrew Bernhard
Material Criteria and their Clues for DatingMyriam Krutzsch and Ira Rabin
The Jesus' Wife Papyrus in the History of ForgeryChristopher Jones
How a Papyrus Fragment Became a SensationGesine Schenke Robinson
Congratulations to the editor and the authors for their fine work on this volume, and thanks to Cambridge University Press for making it available free for all, just as they did just over a year ago with the HTR volume.
See also this video from Simon Gathercole, posted a couple of days ago by CUP in tandem with the release of this issue of the journal:
