Early Christian Codices

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The lead codices have been debunked as fakes. Try googling bits from the stories and you’ll find the details.
 
DianaCC said:
The lead codices have been debunked as fakes. Try googling bits from the stories and you’ll find the details.
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I have seen various bloggers quoting each other and claiming them to be fake (or maybe fake) but have yet to find a reliable source on the matter.
 
I suppose the jury is still out on these codices but it seems extremely odd that with all the archaeology that goes on in that region that these would be the only examples manufactured using that same method. One of the articles said that writing on metal is common from that time period, but it was always inscribed and never cast. Another part of the article says that tests confirm the metal is from the Mediterranean area and made using 1st century techniques.

I understand why the museums are concerned about their origins though, but some of that is trying to protect themselves from getting burned by forgeries. They would love a paper trail that can follow these items from the moment they are pulled from the ground to the minute they’re in their hands. In instances where the finds are accidental or done by amateurs that sort of paper trail becomes hard to keep, especially if those that found these know they could be confiscated by an antiquities agency of their government or only see these as having monetary worth with little concern for their historical value.

ChadS
 
Let me rephrase my question, then:

If these turn out to be genuine, are they anything more than historical curiosities? Or, perhaps, even if they are genuine, should anyone really care?

I have yet to hear any description of the articles that would suggest that we could learn anything new from them…if they are genuine.
 
Bubba_Switzler said:
If these turn out to be genuine, are they anything more than historical curiosities? Or, perhaps, even if they are genuine, should anyone really care?
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That’s a very hard question to answer because what we learn is contingent upon their authenticity. It’s like asking what we can learn from a genuine iPod from 2500 BC. Maybe that they had progressive taste in music?
 
DianaCC said:
That’s a very hard question to answer because what we learn is contingent upon their authenticity. It’s like asking what we can learn from a genuine iPod from 2500 BC. Maybe that they had progressive taste in music?
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Obviously if they are fake we learn nothing.

But even if they are real we do not necessarily learn anything. If, to borrow your example, these contain nothing but images and known prayers.

I have yet to see any report of the codices that suggests anything interesting in them.
 
Bubba_Switzler said:
Let me rephrase my question, then:

If these turn out to be genuine, are they anything more than historical curiosities? Or, perhaps, even if they are genuine, should anyone really care?

I have yet to hear any description of the articles that would suggest that we could learn anything new from them…if they are genuine.
Click to expand...
Anytime we add something we didn’t know to our knowledge we always learn. If these codices are indeed authentic then what is contained in their pages will perhaps add a little color to what we know about 1st century Christianity. Perhaps it can give a hint at some of their practices or prayer life or liturgical actions. Maybe we’ll discover a prayer is actually older than we thought or perhaps it had wider distribution than previously thought.

What these codices will not do is radically change how we think of Christ, the Church or its early history. It won’t require us to rethink anything we know now – we have enough evidence to support how and what we think about that time period. In the end if we do learn something from the codices it will be nice, but most likely not a huge revelation.

ChadS
 
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