Bart D. Ehrman, Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code (2004), Ch. 7: "Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Marriage"
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Not a single one of our ancient sources indicates that Jesus was married, let alone married to Mary Magdalene. All such claims are part of modern fictional reconstructions of Jesus' life, not rooted in the surviving accounts themselves. The historical approach to our sources may not be as exciting and sensationalist as fictional claims about Jesus (he kept a lover! he had sex! he made babies!), but there's something to be said for knowing what really happened in history, even if it is not as titillating as what happens in novels.

— Bart D. Ehrman on Mary Magdalene

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Not a single one of our ancient sources indicates that Jesus was married, let alone married to Mary Magdalene. All such claims are part of modern fictional reconstructions of Jesus' life, not rooted in the surviving accounts themselves. The historical approach to our sources may not be as exciting and sensationalist as fictional claims about Jesus (he kept a lover! he had sex! he made babies!), but there's something to be said for knowing what really happened in history, even if it is not as titillating as what happens in novels." in the context of "Bart D. Ehrman, Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code (2004), Ch. 7: "Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Marriage"" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Mary Magdalene" (Quotes about Mary Magdalene, Modern authors) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Bart D. Ehrman

About Bart D. Ehrman

Bart D. Ehrman (born 5 October 1955) is an American New Testament scholar.