Was Jesus married? No, that's not some wacky passage from the Journal of Discourses, it's news! Specifically, ABC News, in a one-hour special broadcast Monday night, drawing heavily on Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code. See here for an ABC writeup, and here for a media article.
The TV special discussed the relationship of Mary Magdelene and Jesus (see John 20:10-18) and the possible secret beliefs of Leonardo da Vinci about Mary M. as depicted in The Last Supper (the feminine-looking figure to the left of Jesus is suggested as Mary M. rather than the apostle John). Then there's an interesting discussion of the missing Holy Grail (could it be a reference to Mary M. and her descendants?), the Knights Templar (could they be guardians of the Grail family, not just a chalice?), and the so-called Gnostic gospels such as the Gospel of Thomas. (At least they didn't talk about UFOs and aliens.) There were a couple of Dallas Theological Seminary scholars interviewed, a couple of Catholic scholars, a couple of female historians including Elaine Pagels, but no Mormons (an unfortunate omission since the Jesus-Mary M. link is part of Mormon folklore--click here and scroll down to "Did Jesus marry?").
Okay, it had kind of a National Enquirer feeling to it, but it was fun to see a serious treatment of a religious theme by the national media. The scholars did have some thought-provoking comments which should make believers think more deeply about the stories and writings which became the canon and orthodoxy of the Christian Tradition.
11:06:46 PM 
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