Rumors are circulating that the Harvard Theological Review refused to publish Karen King's "Gospel of Jesus' Wife," but the Religion News Service reports the rumors may not be true.
In an email to RNS, Harvard Divinity School spokesman Jonathan Beasly said King's article will be published in January "if testing of the ink and other aspects of the fragment are completed in time."
Several online blogs claimed that the research was rejected by the journal. One blogger quotes Craig A. Evans, a New Testament scholar, saying "the decision of the editors of Harvard Theological Review not to publish Karen King's paper is very wise. Perhaps we will eventually learn more about who actually produced the text."
However, Evans based this information from a source of a source, as the blog pointed out.
Earlier this month King publically announced the discovery of a scrap of papyrus suggesting that Jesus had a wife. Scholars immediately began questioning the authenticity of the fragment. The New York Times reported that King had shown the papyrus to small circle of experts, but "she and she and her collaborators say they are eager for more scholars to weigh in and perhaps upend their conclusions."
