Is Jesus is "too holy" for sex?
/Thus is the title (
"Too holy" for Sex? The problem of a married Jesus
) of Becky Bratu's just-published piece (NBC News) on public reactions to the idea of "Jesus' wife". She too sees how communally we are struggling with the problem of a sexual Jesus and how this transgresses our commonly (and cherished) Christian view of the Holy as male and celibate.
Whether authentic or not (yet to be determined), our discussion of the Jesus' Wife papyrus is fascinating. It shows us the faultlines, the borders, the limits of our theological views. It shows how they were constructed hundreds of years ago, and have become "natural" for us. They are part of our internal selves. God is male and celibate. Sexual desire is sin.
Even after the counter-cultural sexual revolution of the 1960s, these parameters still grip our religious views.