Again I refer to the OT metaphor on which the NT one is modeled: The Prophets routinely condemned Israels adulterously whoring after idols AFTER God chose and exalted her as His wife (or bride if that is the more precise term; the distinction is trivial for that rationale.) The recurring theme is of an innocent and chaste Israel grown proud and promiscuous AFTER marriage to God, and thus cast out in His wrath. Otherwise Israel would be guilty of "only" fornication, because there would be no husband against whom to be adulterous. Hosea DOES make the metaphor literal, when God commands he deliberately wed a prostitute, and give children other men then father names symbolizing Gods condemnation of Israel.

So, OK, we are dealing with a newlywed wife in the NT, but it is hard to see how the Church is not still a WIFE, albeit a perpetually wedding one.

What does the newfound text actually say though? If it is similarly metaphorical it lends no credibility to Gnostic legends whether it uses the term "wife," "bride" or "space shuttle," because a metaphor is just that. If it speaks of a literal being as Christs human companion, that would be different, though use of the term "wife" also undermines the newfound texts credibility, since both the Tanakh and the rest of the NT use "bride" repeatedly and exclusively.