Could relics found in a Jordanian cave be the earliest Christian documents ever discovered?
The director of the Jordan’s Department of Antiquities, Ziad al-Saad, says the books might have been made by followers of Jesus in the few decades immediately following his crucifixion.
“They will really match, and perhaps be more significant than, the Dead Sea Scrolls,” says Mr Saad.
“Maybe it will lead to further interpretation and authenticity checks of the material, but the initial information is very encouraging, and it seems that we are looking at a very important and significant discovery, maybe the most important discovery in the history of archaeology.”
March 30th, 2011 | 10:21 am
I would not get worked up over this until such time as authenticity and provenance have been determined, the documents dated, and the “code” decrypted. The reputations of dozens of “experts” have been shattered in the past because of premature breathless announcements of breakthroughs “greater than the Dead Sea Scrolls”.
March 30th, 2011 | 12:37 pm
I echo Mr. Koehl’s caution.
These announcements are extremely useful for hearing what ideas various groups and individuals project onto the material before knowing anything. These are religious Rorschach Protocols. “Perhaps there will be reference to extraterrestrials…or evidence that Jesus was becoming more of a Buddhist…or predicted the internet…”
March 30th, 2011 | 1:12 pm
And let’s not forget many of these ‘discoveries’ come about around Easter season. Christmas and Easter seem to be very active times to bash Christianity from the secular world.
March 30th, 2011 | 1:14 pm
Check out what NT scholar Larry Hurtado has to say about this find…
http://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/more-on-the-lead-codices/
http://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/lets-not-play-their-game/
March 31st, 2011 | 1:25 am
It reminds me of the James Ossuary, but I hope it is authentic. This is very exciting.
March 31st, 2011 | 6:01 am
[...] HT: Joe Carter [...]
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