Did Jesus have a wife and kids? Long-lost ancient manuscript discovered in the British Library claims Christ married prostitute Mary Magdalene and they had children New book 'The Lost Gospel' claimsMary Magdalene was original Virgin Mary It is based on manuscript found in British Library dating back 1,450 years Professor Barrie Wilson and writer Simcha Jacobovici translated text They claim there was anassassinationattempt on Mary's two children Church of England has dismissed claims comparing it to Dan Brown's workBy Jenny Awford Jesus married his 'soul-mate' Mary Magdalene and they had two children together, a new book has claimed.'The Lost Gospel' also alleges there was anunknown plot on Jesus' life 13 years before his crucifixion and an assassination attempt on Mary Magdalene and their children.Professor of religious studies Barrie Wilson and historical writer Simcha Jacobovici based these claims on a manuscript dating back 1,450 years which they discovered in the British Library.They spent months translating the ancient text and have controversially said that the original Virgin Mary was Jesus's wife, not his mother.

+3Jesus revealing himself to Mary Magdalene after the resurrection in painting by Antonio Allegri da Correggio titledNoli me Tangere. It has been claimed that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were marriedFurther claims from 'The Lost Gospel: Decoding the Sacred Text that Reveals Jesus' Marriage to Mary Magdalene' will be released on Wednesday, including the names of the two children.The book also elaborates on Jesus's alleged connections to top political figures in the Roman Empire such as Emperor Tiberius and his best friend, the soldier Sejanus.But the Church of England said the work shares more in common 'with Dan Brown (author of the Da Vinci Code) than Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.'It provides the first translation from Syriac into English of ancient manuscript, The Ecclesiastical History of Zacharias Rhetor (of Mytilene).

+3Writers of new book 'The Lost Gospel' claim that Mary Magdalene and Jesus had two children together, they are believed to be portrayed in Da Vinci's The Last SupperThis has been at the British Museum and then the British Library for nearly 170 years and will lead some to question why it was not translated before now.Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent and Eastern Arabia and first appeared in the first century AD.Mary Magdalene was a prominent figure at the two most important moments in the story of Jesus - the crucifixion and the resurrection.

+3Mary Magdalene played a prominent role in the two most important moments of Jesus' life, portrayed in Pieta by Sir Anthony van DyckShe is remembered in popular culture as a prostitute and was portrayed by the Catholic Church as the ideal penitent because she supposedly anointed the feet of Jesus.But, although she is mentioned in each of the four gospels in the New Testament, it does not once allude to the fact that she was a prostitute or a sinner.'The Lost Gospel' is not the first account to claim that Jesus of Nazareth married Mary Magdalene.Nikos Kazantzakis made the same suggestion in his 1953 book The Last Temptation of Christ.And Dan Brown picked up on the ancient and persistent undercurrent in Christian thought that Jesus and Magdalene were in fact a couple in the plot of his best-selling thriller The Da Vinci Code.

The Church of England has claimed the book has more in common with Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code than the gospelsIt explores an alternative religious history whose central plot is that the Merovingian kings of France were descended from the bloodline of Christ and Mary.In 2012 a fragment of ancient papyrus was also discovered which is thought to support the explosive suggestion.The centre of the Coptic document contains the bombshell phrase where Jesus, speaking to his disciples, says 'my wife', which researchers believe refers to Magdalene.'The Lost Gospel' is a follow up to controversial New York Times bestseller The Jesus Family Tomb.This tells the story of the discovery of the Talpiot Tomb and makes an argument that it is the tomb of Jesus Christ and his 'family.'Mary Magdalene's name gives up the first real clue about her and suggests she came from a town called Magdala.There is a place today called Magdala, 120 miles north of Jerusalem on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.She is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches with a feast day of 22nd July.The British Library will not endorse the new book and its conclusions, saying: 'It is not for us to comment.'Diarmaid Mac-Culloch, professor of the history of the church at Oxford University, said: 'It sounds like the deepest bilge.''I'm very surprised that the British Library gives these authors houseroom.'