Monday, January 24, 2011
Scott Brown's Take on Handwriting Analyses of the Mar Saba Document
I hadn't noticed this before but the Biblical Archaeology Review apparently published a report by Scott Brown on Venetia Anastasopoulou's handwriting analysis they commissioned last year. As always Brown is very thorough and his analysis is insightful and well written. There is also an appendix which thoroughly refutes Stephen Carlson's original analysis of the handwriting with the words:
Where a trained examiner would weigh all the evidence, Carlson
restricted his purview to features that strike him as suspicious, thereby severely biasing the outcome of his assessment from the start.
Even though Brown's analysis of the text in Mark's Other Gospel leaves much to be desired, his demolition of Scott Carlson's methodology in the Gospel Hoax is worth the time it takes to read the BAR report alone.
Where a trained examiner would weigh all the evidence, Carlson
restricted his purview to features that strike him as suspicious, thereby severely biasing the outcome of his assessment from the start.
Even though Brown's analysis of the text in Mark's Other Gospel leaves much to be desired, his demolition of Scott Carlson's methodology in the Gospel Hoax is worth the time it takes to read the BAR report alone.
Email stephan.h.huller@gmail.com with comments or questions.