(Image source: The New York Times )

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

From a faded piece of papyrus comes a pretty huge claim.

ABC : “Just eight lines, but translated it reads, Jesus said to them, my wife, and later says, she would be able to be my disciple.”

CBS : “The discovery was made public in Rome today by Dr. Karen King, a Harvard professor. The papyrus dates back to the fourth century. The text is in the Coptic language.”

The fragment’s owner has asked to remain anonymous according to The New York Times. It’s likely to renew the debate about whether Jesus was married and whether any of his disciples was a woman. The Times was one of a few media organizations that met with researcher Karen King — and the paper’s Laurie Goodstein reports ,

“[King] repeatedly cautioned that this fragment should not be taken as proof that Jesus, the historical person, was actually married. The text was probably written centuries after Jesus lived...”

A researcher who helped Dr. King told reporters while they don’t know anything about the author, the words on the fragment would be “impossible to forge.” The group says the fading of the ink helped convince them of the fragment’s authenticity. And while parts of the document are missing, King highlighted fragments like:

“My mother gave to me life.”
“Mary is worthy of it.”
“As for me, I dwell with her in order to...”

King and fellow researchers say they hope more scholars review their findings and weigh in on the debate. The research was presented Tuesday in Rome at the International Congress of Coptic Studies.