In 2012, Harvard Divinity School historian Karen L. King unveiled a fragment of papyrus she called the Gospel of Jesus' Wife. The fragment says, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife...,'" and the rest of the sentence is cut off. Another segment says, "As for me, I dwell with her in order to…" but the speaker is not named.

Several scholars quickly dismissed the manuscript as a modern fake, prompting the Smithsonian Channel not to air its documentary on the papyrus piece. Thursday, Harvard Theology Review, which had planned to publish King's findings more than a year ago, released reports on the testing of the manuscript's papyrus and ink, calling them "consistent with an ancient origin." Professors at Columbia University, Harvard University, and MIT found that it resembles other ancient papyri from the fourth to the eighth centuries. But some scholars, such as Leo Depuydt, professor of Egyptology and ancient Western Asian studies at Brown University, still believe the fragment is a modern forgery. Their issue has not been with the papyrus or ink, but with grammatical "blunders" they say seem remixed from the Gospel of Thomas.

Both the 2012 announcement and yesterday's drew headlines worldwide—far more attention than other manuscript fragments purportedly from the fourth to eighth centuries. Should we care? Does this tell us anything about Jesus or early Christianity? We asked Nicholas Perrin, Franklin S. Dyrness Professor of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College, and the author of several books on theGospel of Thomas.

Whoever is in charge of PR and media relations at Harvard has earned a raise.

It's just over a week until Easter, and Harvard Divinity School just happened to release new research on a piece of papyrus with a Coptic account of Jesus referring to his…wife? The New York Times reports:

A faded fragment of papyrus known as the "Gospel of Jesus's Wife," which caused an uproar when unveiled by a Harvard Divinity School historian in 2012, has been tested by scientists who conclude in a journal published on Thursday that the ink and papyrus are very likely ancient, and not a modern forgery.

Skepticism about the tiny scrap of papyrus has been fierce because it contained a phrase never before seen in any piece of Scripture: "Jesus said to them, 'My wife…' " Too convenient for some, it also contained the words "she will be able to be my disciple," a clause that inflamed the debate in some churches over whether women should be allowed to be priests.

The Coptic document, likely originating from anywhere between the 4th and 8th Centuries AD, is cryptic and contains language found in none of the Gospels we've got today.

The Christian can approach this story from a myriad of angles, but my interest is not in whether or not Jesus was married. Rather, I am most fascinated by the intrigue of broader culture in this document.

For a culture that has no problem disregarding a Book comprised of thousands of manuscripts much older than this 4th(ish) Century manuscript, the interest in this one-by-three inch piece of papyrus is notable.

Language is only the most obvious part of the global communication gap. Different cultures also have distinct approaches to communication during meetings and negotiations, as described by British linguist Richard D. Lewis, whose best-selling book, "When Cultures Collide," charts these as well as leadership styles and cultural identities.

Lewis, who speaks ten languages, acknowledges the danger of cultural comparisons in his book:"Determining national characteristics is treading a minefield of inaccurate assessment and surprising exception. There is, however, such a thing as a national norm."

In support of cross-cultural studies, he writes: "By focusing on the cultural roots of national behavior, both in society and business, we can foresee and calculate with a surprising degree of accuracy how others will react to our plans for them, and we can make certain assumptions as to how they will approach us. A working knowledge of the basic traits of other cultures (as well as our own) will minimize unpleasant surprises (culture shock), give us insights in advance, and enable us to interact successfully with nationalities with whom we previously had difficulty."

Lewis' communication diagrams show how cultures use language to negotiate, with wider shapes showing greater conversational range, obstacles marked in gray, and cultural traits noted as well.

Americans, for instance, tend to launch right into negotiations, respond to discord confrontationally, and resolve with one or both sides making concessions.

Canadians tend to be more low-key and inclined to seek harmony, though they are similarly direct.

We'll go over the rest in brief after a selection of charts taken with permission from the 2005 third edition of "When Cultures Collide."