Roger Pearse

I prefer not to assert as fact what is not found in the sources adduced as evidence. The point of the Christians being called Palutians by others was, probably -- we don't know this -- to do them down in some way. But we have no data on what was going on, only a theory composed in 1934 by someone who believed Jesus was not a Jew.

Did you attend that conference?

All the best,

Roger Pearse

stephan huller

No, I was being childish as always. I wanted the conference to bringing Agamemnon Tselikas who had published a piece in Biblical Archaeology Review at the time and was willing to pay half his airfare. But they didn't wan't him for some reason. He studied at the Sorbonne, he's widely respected and holds a point of view closer to Carlson. I even contacted Peter Jeffery at Notre Dame to see if he would help.

My reasoning went something like this. Tselikas has access to the entire library in Jerusalem. The document is there somewhere. Probably lost or deliberately put under a pile of papers. Why not make him a celebrity? Kiss his ass. Take him to the Brass Rail. Make him feel like a somebody and then he goes home and is encouraged to find these damn papers and we can all stop bickering about this.

To me at least the whole conference just seems like a lot of hot air. These professor types just like any opportunity to gather together and put another accomplishment on their CV. In this case there is so much work to be done - like finding the manuscript. That should be the priority, not blah, blah, blah.

Anyway obviously an opinion from someone who isn't fit for being taken seriously as a scholar. But my take is - if it was a German or Austrian monastery the document would never have been lost (or at least when they tell you they searched for it and couldn't find it - it really is lost). Given where it is and the people that run it, the effort should be made to 'encourage' them to find the manuscript. Look at the state of the Greek economy. Is anyone trying to tell me that $100,000 wouldn't settle this right now?

I don't know why scholars would rather talk about something rather than get off their asses and move to the next level of the discussion. But then again I am crazy.

Roger Pearse

Interesting. He is referenced frequently in the book, and a letter he wrote is given by Hershell Shanks as an appendix to his address.

That seems like good logic to me. It seems likely that the Patriarchate are not being forthcoming, for reasons of their own; and everyone with experience of eastern manuscript libraries knows that this is not unusual.

Several participants (including Marvin Meyer) considered that deciding whether the work was authentic wasn't that important; the important thing was to behave as if it was.

You may be right. It may simply be that whoever has it is taking the view, "OK, so I have something you want; what's in this for me?"

All the best,

Roger Pearse