Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

A certificate of organic certification https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification assumes certain things about the about the way produce was raised, doesn't it? They may not be listed on the certificate but they are assumed. A certificate of authenticity with respect to a manuscript fou...

So you won't answer the question of whether it is possible for the Patriarchate to have issued a certificate of authenticity without at least considering whether the book and the manuscript had been in the monastery before 1958.

There is no evidence the book was in Mar Saba before 1958. It does not appear in the books catalogs there-- as has been noted, repeatedly. Except for the fact that a certificate of authenticity was issued in 1976 and brought forward by Tselikas. Please outline a scenario where the Patriarchate coul...

I am very interested in hearing how the certificate of authenticity could have been issued in 1976 AND there was somehow a scenario where the authorities didn't suppose that the manuscript was in the library of Mar Saba before 1958. Please explain that scenario.

So again it is reasonable to suppose that: 1. Morton Smith claimed Seraphim as an "old friend" 2. the Patriarchate and the monastery bitterly fought over the transport of this battered book to the point and when they came to an agreement a certificate of authenticity acknowledging it as pr...

Your appeal to Ben C Smith is interesting because it suggests (a) that you are losing this debate and (b) that if Ben were here you might be able to appeal to his authority for victory. Appeals to authority are generally frowned upon at this forum. I can remember spin (another guy who left this foru...

And to take the example further. Seraphim and Kallistos had superior expertise with respect to Byzantine manuscripts. Better than most scholars. Tselikas has better knowledge than them. Tselikas has a catalogue of 100 books which lists clearly only some of the books that were in the monastic library...

There is the expertise regarding Byzantine manuscripts. There is the expertise regarding what manuscripts were in the monastery before 1958. Tselikas believes the manuscript is fake Seraphim believes the manuscript is authentic. Neither explains how they have arrived at their conclusions. Whom do we...

But surely if he accepted the document as authentic he had to believe that. Is it possible to believe the one without the other?

Let's compare also Seraphim of Mar Saba and Tselikas. Tselikas has seen more manuscripts than Seraphim. Tselikas has academic training. Tselikas has a better methodology in terms of figuring out what a manuscript says. What the ligatures are. Where they might come from. The dating of manuscripts. Al...