I’ve finally finished my full critique of Carlson, and will be posting it over the next couple of days. A few words first:
Again, let me extend my respect to Carlson. I have at times regretted taking on a full critique of The Gospel Hoax, because Carlson has truly thought of and included every scrap of supporting evidence and argumentation he can. Refuting this item-by-item is no easy task! I’m very glad to be done with it. Carlson is already a talented scholar, and I look forward to his future work. I do feel that his work in The Gospel Hoax is flawed (at times badly), but there is much good work there as well, so I hope his efforts will be respected by the establishment. Despite my efforts at refuting him, I actually came to realize the portions of his work that are valid might form the basis for a new hypothesis about the Mar Saba letter, which I try to present below.
We even owe Carlson (and Jeffery, and Smith’s other critics) a debt of gratitude; without possession of the actual Mar Saba manuscript, it was necessary to subject Smith’s discovery to the most strenuous objections possible, in order to demonstrate its veracity. So we have Carlson and Jeffery and others to thank for this. And, we have them to thank for the positive aspects of their research; while they might have been mistaken in general, they have helped show the way forward as much as anyone else, if not more so.
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