Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Morning Update on Jesus Tomb

First, an endorsement. We like the NPR report this morning on James Cameron's news conference and scholarly reaction to the claims therein. Audio will be available after 10 a.m. ET.

Second, a clarification. Our initial posting on this subject was full of ad hominem remarks. We regret this but insist nevertheless that it was entirely necessary given the circumstances, namely, the calculated "teasing" of the story with an announcement of radical conclusions without introduction of the supporting evidence. On Sunday night, all anyone could do to comment on the case was to offer an evaluation of the persons involved and speculate about the nature of their involvement based on a general evaluation of their scholarship.

That's why serious scholarly findings and hypotheses aren't introduced in this way, for those who wonder. It is how a certain P. T. Barnum made his living, however. Sadly, no one ever got rich writing articles for peer-reviewed journals.

No comments: