Wednesday’s Religion News Roundup: Jesus returns to Missouri with his wife, carrying Elvis’ Bible

Was Dan Brown right all along by saying Jesus had a wife? And when he comes back, will it be to a grassy bluff above the Grand River in Missouri? Maybe Elvis' $94,600 Bible has the answer. Find out in today's Religion News Roundup.

(RNS) The talker story du jour: Jesus may have had a wife. Or at least some people thought he might have, if he wasn't talking about something else, or speaking metaphorically, or finishing a limerick — a 4th-century scrap of papyrus includes the line, “Jesus said to them, `My wife…' The only problem is we have absolutely no idea what the context was.

Someone ponied up $94,600 for Elvis Presley's Bible at an auction the U.K., but reasons we simply cannot understand, a pair of unwashed and apparently soiled pair of Elvis underwear from a 1977 concert couldn't find a home.

Quran-burning Florida pastor Terry Jones won't be visiting the pyramids anytime soon after Egypt charged him and seven Coptic Christians living in the U.S. for their role in circulating that ridiculous anti-Islam film that sparked riots around the world.


In Jesus really going to return to a bluff 124 feet above the Grand River in rural Missouri? Some Mormons desperately hope so.

A Somali woman who refused to stand at the opening and closing of a court where she was charged with terrorist financing saw her contempt-of-court charges reinstated, but the judge agreed to drop a 100-day sentence. The woman said Islam prevented her from standing, but Somali elders later convinced her otherwise.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill that puts limits on Westboro Baptist Church's protests at funerals.

Nine people have filed abuse-related lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, saying they felt compelled to speak out after a high-ranking churchman was convicted of shuttling known abusers around the archdiocese.

Speaking of Philly, some people are saying that conservative Archbishop Charles Chaput is showing a little too much brotherly love to the GOP; one of Chaput's former acolytes from his days in Denver is now overseeing the bishops' domestic policy shop.

Two gay business partners are suing the Diocese of Worcester (Mass.) after they claim the diocese dropped its offer to sell a former treatment center for troubled priests when church leaders realized the site could be used for gay weddings.


Our friends at The Forward are projecting a near-record low number of Jews serving in Congress — 30 between the House and Senate, down about 25% from the current figure — after the next election.

“Satanic Verses” author Salman Rushdie says he isn't fazed by renewed death threats coming out of Iran. Meanwhile, an Iranian cleric says he got the crap kicked out of him by a woman who didn't appreciate his orders to cover up.

'Cuz this sounds like a good idea after the week we've had: A French satire magazine is publishing cartoons of Muhammad; the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine were already burned last November when they allowed the Muslim prophet to guest edit an issue.

U.S. Muslims and Coptic Christians say they won't allow the recent unpleasantness to derail their efforts to improve relations after years of mutual suspicion.

National Geographic says one of the main culprits in the underground trade in ivory that has killed untold numbers of dead elephants: religious groups, particularly in Asia.

You may not be able to pony up $94,000 for Elvis' Bible, but you can certainly afford the daily Religion News Roundup, which can be delivered to your email inbox for free every day:


 

— Kevin Eckstrom

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