Theology 1.0: Did Jesus have a wife?

Oh no, were the Gnostics right?
Earlier thie year, a Bible scholar, Professor Karen King of Harvard University discovered an ancient manuscript that claimed that Jesus had a wife. This echos the view of the Gnostics (early Christian heretics) who also claimed the same thing.

But wait..
We have to give Professor King her due-- at no point did she say that the text proves that Jesus was married, or that the text was even geniune.

Nevertheless, we have to bear in mind the following.

1) The text could be a copy of the Gospel of Thomas, a Gnostic gospel.  Gnostic gospels are not considered to be accurate historical accounts of Jesus as (amongst other reasons) they were written about two hundred years after the events in the cannonical Gospels.

2) If the text is an original, dated to be about 4th century (since Coptic, the language on the manuscript emerged as a written language in the 3rd century). This means that this script is written many years from events of Jesus's lifetime. Of this writing, the mauscript has yet to be subjected to carbon dating.

3) This authenticity of the manuscript has been doubted.

Nevertheless..

We should give credit to Professor King for discovering and working on an accurate translation of the manuscript. However, the question on the reliablity of the document is still in question.

Additional references

Bethinking

Textual criticism

With Due Respect: John Calvin is a murderer!

Calvin's Institute of Christian Religion

John Calvin was one of the major participants of the Reformation. However, like Martin Luther, he was not free from controversy. One of the reasons why many biographies of Calvin tend to be biased is because of his involvement with the execution of Michael Servetus (Reeves, 2009).

Who is Servetus?
Michael Servetus was a Spanish doctor and theologian. Like the reformers Luther and Calvin, he started to have dissenting views from the Roman Catholic Church. Unlike them, he held anti-trinitarian views (he did not believe in the Holy Trinity).

In the 1540s, he began corresponding with Calvin via letters. He published his book, Christianismi Restitutio (The Restoration of Christianity), which expressed his anti-trinitarian views and criticised Calvin's views on predestination. In reply, Calvin sent his copy of Institutio Christianae Religionis (Institutes of Christian Religion)to Servetus. Servetus wrote corrections to Calvin's work and returned it to him.

As their exchange grew, things became more heated. Calvin eventually ended their conversations, and confided in his friend William Farel in 1546,

"Servetus has just sent me a long volume of his ravings. If I consent he will come here, but I will not give my word; for if he comes here, if my authority is worth anything, I will never permit him to depart alive." (Durrant, 1957)

In 1553, Servetus was arrested by Roman Catholic authorities in Vienne, France for heresy. However he escaped. Despite being warned that he would not be guaranteed safe passage in Protestant Geneva. Servetus fled there. Geneva appointed Calvin as his prosecutor, and in 27th October 1553 he was sentenced to death by burning.

Was Calvin a murderer?

Yes Calvin was involved in Servetus's execution. However, to portray him as the mastermind behind the demise of Servetus is hardly fair. Let's put a few things in perespective:

1) Calvin was not in charge of Geneva
Calvin had been driven out of Geneva in 1538, and was asked to return in 1541. He had a frosty relationships with the Genevan city council (Reeves, 2011) till 1555. Due to a legal technicality, Calvin was chosen to be involved in the case against Servetus (he could identify Servetus due to their earlier interactions).

Furthermore, Calvin could not appear in court with Servetus due to poor health (Whitcomb, 1971).

2) Servetus broke the laws of Geneva (and Europe)
By having anti-trinitarian views, Servetus already broke the laws of both Protestant and Roman Catholic Europe. In fact, Protestant Geneva was already seen as heretical by Roman Catholic, and was been watched to see if the Protestants were simply rebelling against Rome for the sake of rebelling (instead of theology as they had always insisted).

After consulting several Protestant cities and leaders (including Phillip Melancthon, Martin Luther's successor), everyone (including Servetus himself!) agreed that the punishment for heresy was death.

Furthermore, Servetus tried to persuade anti-Calvin parties in the city to imprison Calvin and have him tried in court (Reeves, 2011).

3) Calvin pleaded on Servetus's behalf
Calvin tried to prevent the burning of Sevetus, and personally visited Servetus in prison to change his views. When Servetus refused to recant,  Calvin recommended the more lenient sentence of beheading (Reeves, 2009; 2011).

While beheading might sound barbaric now, it was considered to be less strict than burning. Calvin himself was reprimanded by his friend Farel for being too lenient (McNeil, 1961).

In summary....
It is unfair to portray Calvin as some sort of despot who took over Geneva and sentenced dissenters to death. Yes, the punishment for heresy at that time was death, and Protestants and Roman Catholics were executing dissenters in the sixteenth century. Why should Calvin be singled-out? Severtus's death should be seen as the fault of the age, rather than the fault of Calvin.

References

Durrant, W. (1957). The Story of Civilization: VI The Reformation.

McNeil, J.T. (1961). The History and Character of Calvinism.

Reeves, M. (2009). The Unquenchable Flame.

Reeves, M. (2011). On Giants' Shoulders.

Whitcomb, M. (1971). The Complaint of Nicholas de la Fontaine Against Servetus, 14 August, 1553. In:  Period of the later reformation (Translations and reprints from the original sources of European history).

Also watch
James White