Someone commented on my blog today about the status of the codices. I want to highlight this post because I’m sure many laypeople out there are just as confused about the status of these codices as this commenter was. This is the comment:
On the face of it an extraordinary find – the more reason we should approach with scepticism and ensure only when all possible forensic and academic tests have been satisfied should the lead `codices’ be proclaimed and published as genuine Christian relics.
If genuine they certainly contain extremely controversial content with the possibility of producing profound repercussions throughout Christianity
My response is thus.
- First, what do you mean by “genuine”? “Genuine” in regards to what, exactly? Compared to which extant artifacts?
- Second, what “controversial content”? The tablets are in “code” (in reality, they are simply random letters from ancient coins and sections of ancient text taken off tombstones in museums in Amman) and haven’t yet been deciphered into any coherent content whatsoever, so I am not sure to what content you refer.
- Third, what profound repercussions exactly? There is nothing known about the content of the tablets yet (if there is anything at all to be found); the only repercussions these tablets will produce is to show how easily the media, and the dilettante, fall prey to fake artifacts and conmen looking to make a quick buck off of people’s gullibility and ignorance.
Filed under: Ancient Near East, Archaeology, Belief, Biblioblogging, Life, Minimalism, Scholarship, Society Tagged: | David Elkington, israel, Jesus tablets, Jordan, lead tablets, Paul Elkington, Philip R. Davies, pseudo-archaeology, pseudo-scholarship
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