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  • Veritas

  • A Harvard Professor, a Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus's Wife
  • Written by: Ariel Sabar
  • Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
  • Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (5 ratings)

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Veritas

Written by: Ariel Sabar
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
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Publisher's Summary

From the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author Ariel Sabar comes 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.

©2020 Ariel Sabar (P)2020 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"A good story well told cuts across every category of audiobook listening. This remarkable tale of a high-profile fraud combines elements of scripture studies, academic politics, investigative journalism, and true-crime reporting. Narrator Robert Petkoff is pitch-perfect in delivering author Ariel Sabar's examination of "The Gospel of Jesus's Wife," a forged parchment of dubious origin that duped a Harvard professor, made headlines, and here unfolds into a provocative study of the uneasy relationship between fact, belief, and the dedicated pursuit of truth. Petkoff maintains a firm, steady pace.... It's Sabar's painstaking attention to detail that exposes layer after layer of fraud and self-deception, and in the end provides a compelling and memorable listening experience." (AudioFile Magazine)

“Sabar has written a true story of mystery and intrigue…blending religious history with a tale of deception…Well-researched, engrossing.” (Library Journal)

“A work of exemplary narrative nonfiction...fitting neatly into the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction category.... Provocative and probing." (Booklist)

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Excellent journalism

The first 2/3 was really interesting and a great story really well researched.. The last third and conclusions unfortunately really lost my attention but overall quite an interesting read..

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