Mr. and Mrs. Christ? – 2012 Edgar and Dorothy Davidson Lecture by Dr. Karen L. King
Mr. and Mrs. Christ? – 2012 Edgar and Dorothy Davidson Lecture by Dr. Karen L. King
Papyrus fragment. Copyright Norman Cluley
Carleton University’s Religion Program (College of the Humanities) is pleased to announce the 2012 edition of the Edgar and Dorothy Davidson Lecture. This year’s Davidson Lecture features Hollis Professor of Divinity, at the Harvard Divinity School, Dr. Karen L. King.
King’s appearance at Carleton is a timely one. In recent weeks, she has been thrust to the center of a fervent international discussion over a piece of papyrus which she was the first to identify. The papyrus is written in fourth-century Coptic and contains the words “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife…’”
Though King insists that the papyrus does not prove that Jesus was married, she does draw attention to the fact that Jesus’ marital status was a point of debate a mere approximate century after his death.
Predictably, the implication that the historical figure of Jesus Christ may have been married has generated a great deal of attention.
The finding was featured on page A1 of the September 19, 2012 edition of the New York Times under the headline “A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus’ Wife.”
King made the fragment of papyrus public on September 18th, 2012 at the International Congress of Coptic Studies. The provenance of the finding is unknown, and its owner has asked to remain anonymous.
The mysterious origin of the papyrus has added to a debate that is already partly focused on authenticity. The heart of the discussion lies in trying to decode what this finding could mean for Christianity and the role of women within the religion.
King will tackle these issues and more in her talk entitled “Controversies over Sexuality and Marriage among Early Christians: What a New Papyrus Fragment Can (or Can’t) Tell Us.”
The 2012 Edgar and Dorothy Davidson Lecture featuring Karen L. King will be held on October 25th at 7:30pm, in Robertson Hall’s Senate Room.
Karen L. King
Karen L. King was appointed to the Divinity School in 1998 and from 2003 to 2009 served as the Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History. In October 2009, she became the first woman appointed as the Hollis Professor of Divinity, the oldest endowed chair in the United States (1721). Trained in comparative religions and historical studies, she pursues teaching and research specialties in the history of Christianity. Her books include The Secret Revelation of John; The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle; What Is Gnosticism?; Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity (with Elaine Pagels); and Revelation of the Unknowable God. Other publications include Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism (ed.) and Women and Goddess Traditions in Antiquity and Today (ed.). Her particular theoretical interests are in discourses of normativity (orthodoxy and heresy), gender studies, and religion and violence. She has received research grants and awards for excellence in teaching and research; among them are grants from the Luce Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst, and the Graves Foundation. King is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, the International Association for Coptic Studies, and Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.
More Information on the 2012 Davidson Lecture