A Harvard historian who defended the authenticity of a torn piece of papyrus known as The Gospel of Jesus's Wife- which suggested Christ may have been married - has now said it is probably a fake.

Professor Karen King made her announcement today after the anonymous individual who gave her the papyrus was unmasked: a Floridian named Walter Fritz, who has dabbled in Egyptology, the auto parts business - and pornography.

King, who teaches Ecclesiastical History, reached her conclusion after reading The Atlantic’s investigation into the papyrus’s origins, 'The Unbelievable Tale of Jesus’s Wife', saying 'It tips the balance towards forgery'.

Until now, Fritz was the missing piece in a puzzle that has confounded the world of academia for four years - the authenticity of a business card-sized scrap of papyrus in ancient Coptic writing.

If the document were proved genuine, it would threaten to undermine some of the central teachings of the Church by suggesting Jesus Christ may have been married.

But a letter from Fritz to a journalist at The Atlantic has revealed him to be the once-anonymous owner of the papyrus which would eventually fall into the hands of the Harvard scholar,
His 'confessional' begins: 'I, Walter Fritz, herewith certify that I am the sole owner of a papyrus fragment … which was named “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” …

'I warrant that neither I, nor any third parties have forged, altered, or manipulated the fragment and/or its inscription in any way since it was acquired by me. The previous owner gave no indications that the fragment was tampered with either.'

When Professor King obtained the papyrus in 2011, it was accompanied by a photocopy of a signed sales contract showing the then anonymous person had bought it from a man named Hans Ulrich Laukamp on November 12, 1999.
A handwritten note on the contract states: 'Seller surrenders photocopies of correspondence in German. Papyri were acquired in 1963 by the seller in Potsdam (East Germany).'


It has now emerged that Fritz acquired the papyrus from Laukamp, whom he first met in Berlin in the 1990s at a talk given by renowned author Erich von Daniken, known for his theories on aliens.
Fritz, who as a child had considered becoming a priest, bought Laukamp's papyrus collection in Florida in 1999 and kept it in storage for ten years.
Then, during a business trip to London, he met an art dealer who offered to buy the papers for around (£35,000) $50,000 - ten times what Fritz thought they'd be worth.


Before striking a deal, Fritz made contact with Professor King, whose articles on Christianity he was familiar with as he wanted to know why the dealer was prepared to offer such a high price.
However, the art dealer abruptly ended negotiations when he found out Fritz had spoken to her. It was at this point that he gave the documents to Professor King.

The unmasking of Fritz - now aged 50, married and living in Florida - as the missing link is down to investigations by Ariel Sabar, from The Atlantic.Laukamp had been the owner of a tool manufacturing company called the American Corporation for Milling and Boreworks, with a factory in Berlin and an office in Florida.

One of his business associates was none other than Fritz, who acted as a consultant for the U.S. branch.But Fritz would turn out to have his fingers in some very interesting other pies.Shortly before Professor King announced her discovery of the papyrus in 2012, Fritz registered the domain name www.gospelofjesuswife.com.

This provided Sabar with his breakthrough: it linked Fritz to the papyrus.Further web digging revealed that, nine years earlier, Fritz had set up several pornographic websites which showed his wife having sex with other men, with one home page proclaiming her as 'America's #1 Slut Wife'.

A comment on one fan mail page from someone called Doug reads: 'I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful time during the Group Intimacy oFriday. Don’t get me wrong Walt you are a great guy, but [your wife] … Wow!!!'A biography of Fritz on one of the sites read: 'I am a 45 year old executive, living in S. Florida. Stats: 6’2”, 185 lbs., brown hair, slim, no belly, clean cut, and well endowed.'


It continued: 'I am college-educated with a technical MA-degree form [sic] a major university, and an associate degree in arts. I speak three languages fluently and read two old languages.'

The pornographic sites have since been taken down.Also, in 1995, Fritz established the company Nefer Art - 'nefer' being the Egyptian word for 'beauty'.Sabar's investigations had uncovered a 'Walter Fritz' who, in 1991, had published an article in a German-language journal, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur (Studies in Ancient Egyptian Culture), concerning his decoding of an ancient Egyptian tablet.
According to the journal, he was affiliated to the Egyptology institute at Berlin’s Free University - which also employed a man named Peter Munro.

However, at some point, Fritz, who told Sabar he did indeed go there, dropped out of his master's programme in Egyptology.
His love of the subject remained, with Fritz going on to become a tour guide at Berlin's Egyptian Museum.
Munro's name is also mentioned in the papyrus package handed to Professor King: it was he who is said to have analysed Laukamp's documents.

Munro, who died in 2006, said during his analysis of the papyrus in 1982: 'The small fragment … is the sole example of a text in which Jesus uses direct speech with reference to having a wife,' which 'could be evidence for a possible marriage'.
Asked about the Munro letter, Fritz told The Atlantic: 'I can’t comment on any issues you have with that letter... I received a photocopy from somebody, and that’s the end of the story.'Rene Ernest, the lawyer who represented Mr Laukamp's estate after his death in 2002, and is also his stepson, disputed claims his client owned the papyrus.He insisted Mr Laukamp had no interest in antiques and did not collect them. Furthermore, he said that in 1963, Mr Laukamp was living in West Berlin.
At this time, West Germans were not allowed to visit East Germany, apart from to visit family at Christmas.


Any attempt to do so would have risked imprisonment and possible execution if he was discovered with a document containing apparent cryptic writing.Asked how Laukamp's signature may have ended up on the sales contract, Ernest's wife Gabriele told The Atlantic: 'I can easily imagine Walter Fritz saying, "I need your signature for the company"?. - adding Laukamp 'would have signed that without reading everything'.
When Sabar confronted Fritz about whether he had forged the papyrus, Fritz said: 'Let’s be the devil’s advocate and say either Mr Laukamp or I conspired to forge a papyrus to make a statement... there is still no scientific evidence at this point that we did it.'
And when Sabar put the question to him again later, directly - had he forged the Gospel of Jesus's Wife? - Fritz simply said, 'No'.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3646515/Gospel-Jesus-historian-admits-s-probably-forgery.html

Some comments from the site - intellectuals attest to the existence of Christ on earth , m0rons try to prove he didn't exist

I need no Prof to reveal anything about Jesus to me. I got the word of God.

Interesting

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8

After they would have led many astray when they grow old, then you will hear that they too have given their life to Christ.

SPECULATIONS !!

DeSepiero:
SPECULATIONS !!

lmao . Only the ignorant and misinformed deny Christ's existence .

KingEbukaNaija:


lmao . Only the ignorant and misinformed deny Christ's existence .

What part of "speculation" don't you understand?
Abokiii

cool thread

Yeah, he probably did.

SirWere:
Yeah, he probably did.

Where is proof ?

KingEbukaNaija:

Where is proof ?

dunno

This is "Religious Recidivism". Only for 70+.

cool

waldigit:
After they would have led many astray when they grow old, then you will hear that they too have given their life to Christ.

My dear no be small tin o. One shd guide their faith jealously before satan through his apostles Will steal it. Tomorrow, they may just revert, and you are left in a hole to roast.

Here we see Jesus give to the Jews the reason why they can’t believe the evidence of the miraculous WORKS.

Joh 7:14 Now about the middle of the Jewish religious festival, Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.
Joh 7:15 And the Jews were amazed, saying, How knows this man this, having never learned?
Joh 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but the true God that sent me.
Joh 8:29 And He that sent me is with me: God has not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him. (Restoring the suffering people.)
Joh 8:38 I speak and do that which I have seen with my Father the true God: and you do that which you have seen with your father Satan.

Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If the true God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but He sent me.
Joh 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and live not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
Consider what Jesus said to the Jews earlier, Joh 6:65 And Jesus said, I have said to you, that no one can come to me and believe what I am doing, except, if the true God sends them to me.

larj:
Interesting

SirWere:


dunno

The Jews are unable to believe verifiable evidence of the miracles/WORKS

Joh 10:23 And Jesus walked in the Jewish temple in Solomon's porch.
Joh 10:24 Then the Jews came round about him, and said to him, How long do you make us to doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.
Joh 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the miracles/ WORKS that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
Joh 10:26 But you wont believe, because you are not of the true God, as I said unto you.

Joh 10:37 If I don’t do the miracles/ WORKS of my Father, don’t believe me.

Joh 10:38 But if I do, though you are unable to believe me, believe the WORKS: so that that you may know, and believe, that the true God is in me, and I in Him.
Joh 10:39 Because of this the Jews tried to harm him: but he escaped out of their hands.

Today, we are blessed to have the evidence of Jesus’ WORKS Biblically and scientifically verified in the Holy Scoan Church Nigeria and on Emmanuel TV.