Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man and the Gospel of Jesus's Wife
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- Create Date：2021-06-21 16:31:09
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Ariel Sabar
- ISBN：0525433899
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Summary
From National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author Ariel Sabar， the gripping true story of a sensational religious forgery and the scandal that shook Harvard。
In 2012， Dr。 Karen King， a star religion professor at Harvard， announced a breathtaking discovery just steps from the Vatican: she'd found an ancient scrap of papyrus in which Jesus calls Mary Magdalene "my wife。" The mysterious manuscript， which King provocatively titled "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife，" had the power to topple the Roman Catholic Church。 It threatened not just the all-male priesthood， but centuries of sacred teachings on marriage， sex， and women's leadership， much of it premised on the hallowed tradition of a celibate Jesus。
Award-winning journalist Ariel Sabar covered King's announcement in Rome but left with a question that no one seemed able to answer: Where in the world did this history-making papyrus come from？ Sabar's dogged sleuthing led from the halls of Harvard Divinity School to the former headquarters of the East German Stasi before landing on the trail of a Florida man with an unbelievable past。 Could a motorcycle-riding pornographer with a fake Egyptology degree and a prophetess wife have set in motion one of the greatest hoaxes of the century？ A propulsive tale laced with twists and trapdoors， Veritas is an exhilarating， globe-straddling detective story about an Ivy League historian and a college dropout--and how they worked together to pass off an audacious forgery as a long-lost piece of the Bible。
In 2012， Dr。 Karen King， a star religion professor at Harvard， announced a breathtaking discovery just steps from the Vatican: she'd found an ancient scrap of papyrus in which Jesus calls Mary Magdalene "my wife。" The mysterious manuscript， which King provocatively titled "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife，" had the power to topple the Roman Catholic Church。 It threatened not just the all-male priesthood， but centuries of sacred teachings on marriage， sex， and women's leadership， much of it premised on the hallowed tradition of a celibate Jesus。
Award-winning journalist Ariel Sabar covered King's announcement in Rome but left with a question that no one seemed able to answer: Where in the world did this history-making papyrus come from？ Sabar's dogged sleuthing led from the halls of Harvard Divinity School to the former headquarters of the East German Stasi before landing on the trail of a Florida man with an unbelievable past。 Could a motorcycle-riding pornographer with a fake Egyptology degree and a prophetess wife have set in motion one of the greatest hoaxes of the century？ A propulsive tale laced with twists and trapdoors， Veritas is an exhilarating， globe-straddling detective story about an Ivy League historian and a college dropout--and how they worked together to pass off an audacious forgery as a long-lost piece of the Bible。
Reviews
Doug
，
Thoroughly researched and compelling。 The Gnostic Gospels are a fascinating subject， and the cast of characters was diverse and interesting。 Exposes a scary pattern of scholarship and historical research that seems to put less emphasis on factual evidence and more on speculation that supports a preconceived philosophy。
Lupine Smile
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Good， but there wasn't a real conclusion to the work。 There was a tremendous amount of interesting back story， but the primary story got very muddled and lost its way。 Good， but there wasn't a real conclusion to the work。 There was a tremendous amount of interesting back story， but the primary story got very muddled and lost its way。 。。。more
Dick Hamilton
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Great read， incredible detail on a high profile con job while also being very readable。 Two thumbs up。
Richard Alton
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Amazing book！ Could not recommend it more！ It involves a journalistic masterpiece wrapped in intrigue and nuance。
Jacob Baskin
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Well written and an interesting story but ultimately somewhat disjointed。 I came away knowing lots of specifics but not having any great understanding of how they tie together -- and of course the story is still ongoing （Harvard has never acknowledged it was defrauded！） meaning it's tough for the author to really put a bow on it。 Certainly leaves me with less respect for Harvard divinity school。 Well written and an interesting story but ultimately somewhat disjointed。 I came away knowing lots of specifics but not having any great understanding of how they tie together -- and of course the story is still ongoing （Harvard has never acknowledged it was defrauded！） meaning it's tough for the author to really put a bow on it。 Certainly leaves me with less respect for Harvard divinity school。 。。。more
Rebecca
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I stopped reading when the author started casting doubt upon and investigating Fritz’s allegations of sexual abuse。 The sexual abuse allegations are irrelevant to the papyrus。
Amy Pyles
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I read this for a book club and was afraid it would be tedious and boring， but it was absolutely compelling。 There’s a lot going on， and it gets in the weeds a little， but I remained interested from start to finish。 I learned a whole lot on a subject about which I was definitely ignorant。
Jack Swanzy
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This is one of the best investigative stories ever told。 It keeps expanding and going deeper。
Evelyn
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I feel this is such an “alternative-fact era” story that is wild， riveting， and provocative。 The author demonstrates his top talent of journalism investigation capability。 As fascinating of both King and Fritz’s sides of story as they are， I personally find the Epilogue as the real killer chapter， where it touches the essence of this event as completely different worldview of the people involved and it resonates so much as the first lesson I learned in my qualitative methodology course: explicit I feel this is such an “alternative-fact era” story that is wild， riveting， and provocative。 The author demonstrates his top talent of journalism investigation capability。 As fascinating of both King and Fritz’s sides of story as they are， I personally find the Epilogue as the real killer chapter， where it touches the essence of this event as completely different worldview of the people involved and it resonates so much as the first lesson I learned in my qualitative methodology course: explicitly state your worldview and paradigm 。。。more
Heather
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Woof！ I'm looking into historical academia as a career， and I'm honestly a little disturbed by the way this all seems to have played out。 A great book about shoddy， ideologically-motivated work。 Woof！ I'm looking into historical academia as a career， and I'm honestly a little disturbed by the way this all seems to have played out。 A great book about shoddy， ideologically-motivated work。 。。。more
Barbara K
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Based on the description I knew I wanted to read this book because it appeared to touch on a several areas of interest for me: early Christian history， academia， and， of course， true crime。 I'm not a huge fan of the "did the wife really murder her husband" genre of true crime， but I do enjoy books that require me to learn a lot about a fairly esoteric subject in order to understand some criminal activity。 （The Feather Thief is a great example。）As it turns out， I got what I was looking for - and Based on the description I knew I wanted to read this book because it appeared to touch on a several areas of interest for me: early Christian history， academia， and， of course， true crime。 I'm not a huge fan of the "did the wife really murder her husband" genre of true crime， but I do enjoy books that require me to learn a lot about a fairly esoteric subject in order to understand some criminal activity。 （The Feather Thief is a great example。）As it turns out， I got what I was looking for - and more， since Sabar also includes discussions of feminist issues and postmodern theory， both necessary for a complete understanding of the "why" behind this initially successful hoax。 I could have done without the detailed analysis of the psychological forces that drove the con man， especially the lurid descriptions of his pornographic activities。 IMO the book would have been just effective had the author used a lighter touch in this area， though he may have felt the need to make the story "juicier"。 That makes little sense， though， since I doubt many readers would pick up this book in hopes of reading something racy。The key points， in summary: *Karen King， a highly respected Christian theologian at the Harvard Divinity School， accepts at face value a scrap of supposedly early Coptic papyrus that suggests that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus。 This supports her lifelong struggle to substantiate a larger role of women in the early church。*Walter Fritz is a lifelong con man with a background in Coptic studies， originally from Germany but living in Florida at the time of these events。 His motivation for attempting this deception appears to be financial， but may have other layers as well。*Over the course of several years it becomes clear that the papyrus is a fake。 What is especially intriguing is Karen King's equivocal responses to each tell-tale revelation of a possible problem， and her manner once Sabar， an investigative journalist， puts all the pieces together and leaves her no recourse but to acknowledge that she had been duped。Or had she？ As we reach the end of the book we learn that she may have had alternate motivations to accept what she must have known from the start was a spurious claim for authenticity。 As much as I had enjoyed following Sabar's methodical， detailed， research， it was these revelations at the end that really resonated with me， in no small part because there is no reference to them in any of the reviews or the publisher's summary。 Despite the qualification I mentioned above， I enjoyed this on a number of levels: the topics I've mentioned， and tracking Sabar's investigation。 Recommended - although I'm not sure to whom。 You'll have to be the judge。 。。。more
andrew y
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I always wondered what happened with this story and this read like fiction while being incredibly well reported and deeply considered。 Read this if you like: hoaxes， Harvard， religion， Mary Magdalene， cuckoldry and/or power struggles at iconic institutions。
Linda
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I could not get into this book at all。 Some parts were interesting but on the whole I found it boring。 I didn't even finish it。 I could not get into this book at all。 Some parts were interesting but on the whole I found it boring。 I didn't even finish it。 。。。more
Lauren
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Good read， sprawls down rabbit holes of history and academia that I enjoyed
Jennifer
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This book has *got* to haunt Harvard and Professor Karen King。 It’s a veritable gutting of her professionalism， ethics， and ultimately， her reputation。 There seems to be nothing accidental here。
Ben Peyton
，
This was a really fascinating story and an excellent book。 It's a great story about a woman at the top of her field falling for a con when she should have known better。 Or did she know it was a con but didn't care？ It's hard to say。 I think one of the things I took away from this story is the scholarly field around ancient artifacts relating to Christianity is a total mess。 I don't think you can say it's a real "science" in the traditional sense。 It's more like a mixture of archeology， strong kn This was a really fascinating story and an excellent book。 It's a great story about a woman at the top of her field falling for a con when she should have known better。 Or did she know it was a con but didn't care？ It's hard to say。 I think one of the things I took away from this story is the scholarly field around ancient artifacts relating to Christianity is a total mess。 I don't think you can say it's a real "science" in the traditional sense。 It's more like a mixture of archeology， strong knowledge of mostly dead languages， history， postmodern criticism， and a dash of chemistry all mixed together。 How anyone can determine someone is getting closer to the truth is beyond me。 Especially， when you have leaders at the top of the field who are willing to put forth haphazard research and aren't willing to do even the most basic research into the claims they are making。 Oddly， this story sort of reminds me of the book I read about the issue in climate science。 There are leading academics in climate science who have been battling outsiders of climate science for years over the accuracy and efficacy of their climate models。 In that instance， you have leaders in the field denigrating people because they are outsiders， not providing access to their research， and gaming the publication system from within to support their claims。 This story brought very similar stories to light。 Almost the exact same games around peer review were played here as in the climate studies。 。。。more
Chris Cole
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Very well-researched and well-written。 I kept waiting to be angered or offended， but Sabar was able to tell a story honestly and without agenda。 More than we can say for Karen King， it would seem。
Katie
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This was pretty fascinating。 I remember hearing about the "Gospel of Jesus's Wife" story when it first came out and I read Ariel Sabar's excellent Atlantic article that investigated where the fragment came from。 This book expands on that article， often in pretty significant ways。 I'm familiar with Harvard but not so much with the Divinity School， and it turns out that Karen King may well have been motivated by some issues going on in the Divinity School at the time。 The whole field of early Chri This was pretty fascinating。 I remember hearing about the "Gospel of Jesus's Wife" story when it first came out and I read Ariel Sabar's excellent Atlantic article that investigated where the fragment came from。 This book expands on that article， often in pretty significant ways。 I'm familiar with Harvard but not so much with the Divinity School， and it turns out that Karen King may well have been motivated by some issues going on in the Divinity School at the time。 The whole field of early Christianity studies is interesting to me， and this book also gave some interesting insights into that area。 。。。more
Shu
，
Kudos to the author/investigative journalist for spending 8+ years relentlessly turning every page to uncover the truth behind this stranger-than-fiction case of victim facilitation。 The most illuminating part of the book is in “Act 5” where we come to learn how HDS became a willing participant in the con。
Heath Salzman
，
The events reported on in this book are almost too strange to be true。 And yet they are。 This is a fascinating piece of investigative journalism that explores one of the greatest hoaxes in recent biblical studies。 Sabar does a wonderful job uncovering this con and examining the psychological backdrop that led to its occurrence。 The biggest take away I have is that anyone is susceptible to their biases。 King’s behavior is completely unethical， and yet I see in her desire to stick to the story she The events reported on in this book are almost too strange to be true。 And yet they are。 This is a fascinating piece of investigative journalism that explores one of the greatest hoaxes in recent biblical studies。 Sabar does a wonderful job uncovering this con and examining the psychological backdrop that led to its occurrence。 The biggest take away I have is that anyone is susceptible to their biases。 King’s behavior is completely unethical， and yet I see in her desire to stick to the story she wants to be true a familiar fear。 However， truth is truth and we need not fear where it leads。 。。。more
Hannah
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cw for csa for the chapter "the secret room" oh man this was right up my alley！ a real life scam that's excellently reported， with all the boring history context that i love。 i wish the author could have drawn more conclusions， but i appreciated seeing the different avenues of thinking。 definitely want to see what the reactions to this have been， and read more works like it。 cw for csa for the chapter "the secret room" oh man this was right up my alley！ a real life scam that's excellently reported， with all the boring history context that i love。 i wish the author could have drawn more conclusions， but i appreciated seeing the different avenues of thinking。 definitely want to see what the reactions to this have been， and read more works like it。 。。。more
Simon Dobson
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What happens when an academic is offered the physical support for their theories？ This is the story of the "Gospel of Jesus' wife"， a Coptic fragment purporting to contain and almost-contemporaneous quote of Jesus referring to Mary Magdalene in this way。 If that sounds like The Da Vinci Code， well， yes it does – and one of the many ironies is that the academic receiving the fragment was a consultant on the film。。。。The details of this simple-sounding con – and it does sound like a con， even from What happens when an academic is offered the physical support for their theories？ This is the story of the "Gospel of Jesus' wife"， a Coptic fragment purporting to contain and almost-contemporaneous quote of Jesus referring to Mary Magdalene in this way。 If that sounds like The Da Vinci Code， well， yes it does – and one of the many ironies is that the academic receiving the fragment was a consultant on the film。。。。The details of this simple-sounding con – and it does sound like a con， even from such a short description – involve a deep-dive into the provenance of ancient documents， the international market in papyri， the intricacies of Coptic linguistics， and other high-culture sub-cultures。 Very few people come out well。But there's no physical evidence to link the papyrus' creation to the specific individual， and while the circumstantial case is compelling， there's still something slight unsatisfactory about the investigation。 Why did the forger – if indeed he was the forger – do it？ He seems to have had no motive。 Even though he had the background， did he have the practical skills？ And indeed， might he have been more skilled than he turned out to be？ 。。。more
Ben U
，
At one point in this academic thriller， Ariel Sabar refers to someone as a 'detective without a badge'。 It's a title and role he totally lives up to， following up every lead and taking no one's word for things。 I wasn't interested in early Christian history or theology—I'm still not—but I thought this was great。 At one point in this academic thriller， Ariel Sabar refers to someone as a 'detective without a badge'。 It's a title and role he totally lives up to， following up every lead and taking no one's word for things。 I wasn't interested in early Christian history or theology—I'm still not—but I thought this was great。 。。。more
Abby Groshek
，
Almost 5 stars！ Incredibly detailed， investigative journalism covering the most taboo of topics just blown wide open。 I loved it。 However in the end I was left wanting - I wanted closure。 I was waiting for a big explosive finale。 What happened to everyone？
Louise
，
This is the story of a forgery， however that would be massively over simplifying one of the most insane true crime stories I have ever read。 This starts as a Harvard professor receives an email from a total stranger。 This stranger claims to have a fragment of papyrus in which Jesus refers to Mary Magdalene as his wife。 This is as normal as this story gets。 From there we move into the history of the gnostic gospels and the controversies they cause within the Christian Church， via East German Stas This is the story of a forgery， however that would be massively over simplifying one of the most insane true crime stories I have ever read。 This starts as a Harvard professor receives an email from a total stranger。 This stranger claims to have a fragment of papyrus in which Jesus refers to Mary Magdalene as his wife。 This is as normal as this story gets。 From there we move into the history of the gnostic gospels and the controversies they cause within the Christian Church， via East German Stasi， clerical abuse， the Da Vinci Code and a Florida based pornographer。 The author is a journalist who followed this story from the start， when the Harvard professor stood at a conference in Rome and announced that this fragment was genuine and offered proof that Jesus was a married man of flesh and blood。 He is tenacious in covering every aspect and manages to not only report on the story， but actually solve it。 What I also admired about this book was that the author could have just repeated the story and it still would have been fascinating。 Instead he goes one step further and allows space for other questions and ideas。 Those of scholarly ethics and the faith we place in our institutions （so many people in this story went with it despite doubts， because of the Harvard name） as well as women’s place in religion and how much of what we accept as truth falls apart when examined。 Stop and ask someone on the street to tell you the story of Adam and Eve and they likely will， even if they consider themselves neither religious or Christian， inevitably mention an apple and lust in some form。 Neither of these things are mentioned in the book of Genesis。 This is just one of many examples the author gives where he challenges us not to judge those who fell for the con， but instead ask ourselves how many cons have we fallen for without realising it？ “Augustines rewrite of the Adam and Eve story almost single handedly yoked sex in the western imagination with shame and sin。 It remains the still perceptible hum behind debates over abortion， birth control， gay rights and other matters in which the spector of sex for pleasure retains the stink of original sin”“The true con artist doesn’t force us to do anything; he makes us complicit in our own undoing。 He doesn’t steal。 We give。 He doesn’t have to threaten us。 We supply the story ourselves。 We believe because we want to， not because anyone made us。” 。。。more
Kevin
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Engrossing story with huge implications。 The author meticulously researched the major players involved in the incident， but sometimes to the book’s own detriment。 Fascinating story but very dense and slow-going at times。
Kathryn
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Interesting book examining fake manuscripts that were bringing a new perspective to the Jesus story。 The book follows various academic debates of how to distinguish a real found manuscript from a fake one。 It specifically follows a Harvard professor who believed in this fake manuscript， and the forger who made it。
Dianne Landry
，
An interesting look at how even the most acclaimed scholars can be duped。
Andrew Wolgemuth
，
A remarkable feat of investigatory journalism。
David Elton
，