Friday, September 28, 2012

Paananen on Watson on GJW

OKAY, OKAY, I thought I was going to be able to ignore this subject today, but it seems not.  Have a look at James McGrath: Timo S. Paananen on Methods of Forgery Detection and the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife, a rebuttal of Francis Watson's case against the authenticity of the GJW.

I agree that Watson's case does not in itself demonstrate that the text is inauthentic. But the combination of a highly suspicious coherence with the immediate Zeitgeist, plus physical irregularities that bother papyrologists, plus pretty clear dependence on the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, including (granted, possibly coincidental) hints of dependence on the same Coptic Gospel of Thomas manuscript that we have, cumulatively cast considerable doubt on the authenticity of the GJW.

Background here and links.