Carlson is in fact a very good scholar. His skills as a New Testament scholar have continued to grow in recent years, but when he submitted the manuscript for the Gospel Hoax to Baylor University Press in 2003 or 2004 he was just another guy engaging in discussions on internet forums. Lucky for Carlson a new guy was taking over at Baylor University Press - a recognized theologian with very strong views against homosexuality and 'family values.' His name was Carey Newman (far left in picture above) and here is the press release given out by Baylor University at his hire:
Carey Newman Named Director Of Baylor University Press
Jan. 23, 2003
Dr. Carey Newman, director of church relations at Baylor University, has been appointed director of Baylor University Press, effective Feb. 1.
"Carey Newman will bring new vision and a level of experience, energy, practical know-how and determination the likes of which have not been previously known in the offices of the Baylor University Press," said Dr. Donald D. Schmeltekopf, provost and vice president for academic affairs. "The foundation is in place for a greatly enhanced Press. I am confident Carey Newman can take the Baylor University Press to that higher level."
"I am simultaneously thrilled and humbled by the opportunity to serve Baylor in this capacity," Newman said. "The Press is uniquely and strategically positioned to be a significant contributor to the university's 2012 aspirations, and the administration's resolve to grow the Press is heartening."
Baylor University Press has published academic books since 1897. Under the direction of Newman, the Baylor Press will identify, pursue, acquire, publish and promote significant scholarly work, from top authors, in selected fields. Newman hopes to publish 25 to 30 books per year and acquire 30 to 35 books per year by 2012.
"Through an intentional publishing program, a university press can simultaneously foster and support the teaching enterprise; extend the frontiers of knowledge through the dissemination of scholarly research to various academic publics; and, ultimately, provide a vital service to society by improving the quality of public conversation and debate about important social, cultural, religious, scientific and economic issues," Newman said.
Newman was named director of church relations at Baylor in January 2002. Before that, he served as senior editor for academic books at Westminster John Knox Press in Louisville, Ky. He has held academic appointments as assistant and research professor of New Testament at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and assistant professor of New Testament at Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach, Fla., and has 15 years of pastoral experience at churches in Texas, Florida and Kentucky.
He earned his doctorate in religion from Baylor in 1989 and holds a master's degree in theology from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) and a master of divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His undergraduate degree is from the University of South Florida.
Newman is the author or editor of three books and numerous academic and professional articles and is a participating and contributing member of the Society for New Testament Studies, the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association and the Institute for Biblical Research.
More on Carey's obsession with the homosexual culture that was supposedly infiltrating America at that time later. For the moment let's see Carlson's gracious thank you to Newman for publishing his admittedly heavily altered manuscript in the preface to the Gospel Hoax:
Larry [Hurtado] also introduced me to my editor, Carey Newman of Baylor University Press, who continues to amaze me with his passion for my book, his knowledge of the publishing business and the biblical studies field, his challenging me on the “framing meta-narrative,” and his lining up the kind of peer review this book required. All the anonymous reviewers made very helpful comments and the book is much stronger as a result. All remaining errors, of course, are solely mine.[The Gospel hoax: Morton Smith's invention of Secret Mark By Stephen C. Carlson 2005]Who these 'anonymous reviewers' are is anyone's guess, but the point of course is that the whole 'homosexual conspiracy' is really the most ridiculous part of the book, the least supported with anything resembling facts. Yet it is what everyone remembers about Carlson's book (aside from the now refuted 'forger's tremor').
The person we have to keep our eye on of course is Carey Newman, the man who has very strong views on the homosexual conspiracy that was supposedly actively being spread in modern times. Larry Hurtado certainly shares those views. As a fellow 'conservative' (at least that's what these heretics call themselves) he helped bring Carlson in touch with Newman who, as we have just seen was hired by Baylor University Press to get back to its roots and publish conservative Christian manifestos (it is hard to call the ridiculous titles from 2005 real 'scholarship' in any sense).
But guess who else was signed on as a new author for Baylor's evangelical world mission? A Jew no less who just happened to help solidify the 'Jesus the rabbi' understanding that was sweeping through conservative evangelical circles in this period - Jacob Neusner. Here is the preface from his first book with Baylor University - 2005's Performing Israel's faith: narrative and law in rabbinic theology:
It is a genuine pleasure to present this exercise in the law and theology of Judaism through Baylor University Press under the directorship of Carey C. Newman—not the first book I have written in partnership with Dr. Newman, and I am confident, also not the last.
Jacob Neusner
Research Professor of Theology Bard College
Of course writing about Jews is only part of the deal that Neusner apparently struck with Baylor. He managed to bring in his execrable colleague from Bard, Bruce Chilton as we see from the introduction to their 2007 collaboration for Baylor In quest of the historical Pharisees:
They further thank the contributors to this volume, who gave us their best work, on time, in first-class form. And they acknowledge, finally, the editorial collaboration of Carey Newman, Baylor University Press, and his staff of consummate professionals. They have made possible this composite account of the state of learning and the issues of scholarly debate on the subject at hand.
Jacob Neusner
Bruce D. Chilton
Institute of Advanced Theology Bard College Annandale-on-Hudson
As such Carey Newman helped not only bring out Stephen Carlson's Gospel Hoax as part of the cultural wars which followed in the Bush years after the 'decadent' Clinton era but also the grandfather of polemics against Morton Smith, Jacob Neusner his protege Bruce Chilton, but also Larry Hurtado, Craig Evans, Ben Witherington and many more names associated with the 'hoax hypothesis.'
In short, most of us simply think that a number of experts just happened to have published things critical of Morton Smith's discovery during the Bush administration. The reality is quite different as we shall show in upcoming posts. In the meantime here are some more press releases associated with Carey Newman's hire in 2003. Most significantly, before becoming the editor of Baylor University Press we see:
Dr. Carey Newman Appointed Director Of Church Relations
Jan. 25, 2002
by Larry D. Brumley
Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr. Jan. 25 announced the appointment of Carey Newman, a 1989 Baylor Ph.D. graduate, as director of church relations, effective Feb. 4.
Dr. Newman's appointment comes as part of a reorganization and expansion of Baylor's church relations office that is designed to help Baylor preserve and shape Baptist identity, educate Baptists regarding their history and theology, and cultivate networks with Baptist ministerial and lay leadership.
"It is important at this time in Baylor's history - and at this point in Baptist life - that we provide leadership and service to the Baptists in Texas and across the country," President Sloan said. "Baylor is uniquely positioned to help shape Baptist identity, preserve Baptist history, and facilitate Baptist leadership. We look forward to having Dr. Newman provide leadership for this important initiative."
Under the reorganization, which is designed to leverage church relations as part of presidential strategy in conjunction with the recently adopted 10-year vision, church relations will move under the Office of the President and report to Chief of Staff Jerome R. Loughridge.
Church relations will undertake a more aggressive outreach program aimed at developing leadership among Baptist pastors in the state that will include development of a journal of Baptist life and culture. Working in close coordination with faculty in various academic departments, a post-doctoral program in Baptist studies for church leaders will be explored and meaningful forums for intellectual and scholarly discussion will be facilitated.
"President Sloan's deep desire to forge enduring and mutually beneficial bonds between the Baptist churches of Texas and Baylor University is as noble a task as it is crucial and timely," Dr. Newman said. "I am thrilled and honored by the opportunity to serve in this way."
For the past four years, Dr. Newman has been senior editor for academic books at Westminster John Knox Press in Louisville, Ky. Before joining the editorial staff at WJK, he held academic appointments as assistant and research professor of New Testament at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and assistant professor of New Testament at Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach, Fla. Dr. Newman has 15 years of pastoral experience at churches in Texas, Florida and Kentucky. He earned his doctorate in religion from Baylor and holds a master's degree in theology from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) and a master of divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His undergraduate degree is from the University of South Florida.
Dr. Newman is the author or editor of three books and numerous academic and professional articles. He is a participating and contributing member of the Society for New Testament Studies, the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Institute for Biblical Research.
He is married to Dr. Leanne Lewis, a 1985 Baylor journalism graduate who teaches in the student development graduate program at the University of Louisville. They have two daughters, Savannah, 6, and Eliza, 4.
As part of his job Newman actively promoted the work to newswires like the weekly "Religion BookLine" email from Publishers Weekly:
A third debut exhibitor was Baylor University Press, there to hawk academic titles with trade appeal.The Gospel Hoax: Morton Smith 's Invention of Secret Mark (Nov.) by Stephen C. Carlson is a real-lifeDa Vinci Code detective story set in academia. The mysterious gospel fragment purportedly found by American academic Smith has been fiercely debated since 1958, with academic dog-fighting over its authenticity and its homosexual innuendo. "This one is hot," said press director Carey C. Newman. "I get an e-mail a day about that book."
And he also happened to be active in the anti-gay agenda in the Evangelical community:
Evangelical leaders seek broad moral agenda in Cizik replacement
By ABP staff
Published: December 17, 2008
WASHINGTON (ABP) -- Fifty-nine evangelical leaders signed a letter requesting that whoever is chosen to replace ousted lobbyist Richard Cizik at the National Association of Evangelicals carry on Cizik's commitment to a moral agenda broader than opposition to homosexuality and abortion.
In a letter to NAE President Leith Anderson dated Dec. 16, the evangelical leaders expressed gratitude for Cizik's "broad Christian moral agenda that has helped define American Evangelicals' public witness."
Cizik resigned Dec. 10 as the NAE's vice president for governmental affairs after saying in a radio interview his view on gay marriage was shifting and he now supports civil unions for same-sex couples.
Anderson said that statement "did not appropriately represent the values and convictions of NAE and our constituents."
The letter from evangelical leaders acknowledged the NAE's right to choose its own spokesperson, yet urged that Cizik's replacement support "a broad Christian moral agenda" including not only the family and right to life but also human rights, peace and the environment.
Baptist signers included David Gushee, president of Evangelicals for Human Rights; Jonathan Merritt, spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative; Carey Newman, director of Baylor University Press; and Glenn Stassen, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Oh I know, there have never been conspiracies in the world, save only for Morton Smith's plot to subvert Christianity. Just ask an evangelical ...
dating back to conversations with his grandfather, Gaston Frank. "He said we represent one of the last descendants of the Frankist Jewish faith in the world," he muses. "I grew up thinking that our family was something like the Last of the Mohicans."