Jordan Battles to Regain 'Priceless' Christian Relics

Astounding if true.

Possession is 9/10 of the law — or so I've heard...

Jordan has a far more practical position on Jewish and Christian relics than other muslim nations. They would most likely be hidden or destroyed in most of the mideast but Jordan sees an opportunity for tourism.

No way in HELL should Christian relics be handed over to a hostile Muslim country that will predicatbly see them ‘accidentally’ destroyed.

Little is known of the movement after Jesus' crucifixion until the letters of Paul several decades later

Several decades later? Try only about 15 years until the writing of Galatians, which is both undisputedly Pauline and undisputedly written before 50 AD.

Jordan has a far more practical position on

For now... That could change just as quickly as it has in other places in the ME. They're better off in Israel.

They would most likely be hidden or destroyed in most of the mideast but Jordan sees an opportunity for tourism.

Until the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda take over. Then, these relics would be treated in the same manner that Jewish artifacts on the Temple Mount are treated by the Waqf. They are crushed and buried,

Try only about 15 years until the writing of Galatians, which is both undisputedly Pauline and undisputedly written before 50 AD

Your main point is a good one. There is a big difference between "several decades" and 15 - 20 years. I would be careful about using such terms as "undisputedly" when talking about anything that scholars study, especially when it comes to dating the books of the New Testament.

There are many people who study these things who put the date of Galatians after 50 (though not far after 50) AD.

If the Jordanians want them that badly, they probably discredit Islam. I mean, even more so than Islamic behavior does.

A group of 70 or so "books", each with between five and 15 lead leaves bound by lead rings ....

About 70 Codices comprised of lead leaves, bound by lead rings, is most probably not going to be an early Christian collection. The early church didn't have the kind of financial resources to produce such a work. What one would expect from the first 3 centuries of the church would be Papyrus manuscripts -- probably prepared as codices -- and not something made from lead. Anything later and you're into the imperial period of Christianity, and we know a great deal about that period already.

For manuscripts to contain anything about Jesus that might be different from the New Testament, they will need to come from either (1) the first century, (2) a minor sect that had divergent views from the mainstream, (3) a less minor heretical sect, like the gnostics. If these are gnostics writings, then what we're looking at would be something from the mid-2nd through the 4th centuries and largely useless for determining anything about the historical Jesus. If these are the writings of some minor sect, then how they were prepared in lead and bound with lead rings becomes a major mystery ... minor Christian sects didn't have the resources for a major and expensive undertaking like that. And, finally, if the collection comes from the first century, then it's almost certainly NOT Christian for every reason stated in point 2. Besides, for the most part Christianity was just barely into the process of codifying a a book of Scriptures even by the end of the first century (all we had by then were the collected letters of Paul and each region had its favorite Gospel). It wan't until the mid-2nd Century that the 4 canonical Gospels and the Letters of Paul and the Catholic Epistles were generally recognized as being authoritative, and it wasn't until the mid 4th century (the 360s AD) that what we now have in the NT was accepted across the church as being the Christian Canon.

My guess is that what they have is a collection of Jewish -- probably late Second Temple period -- Priestly commissioned manuscripts that were spirited out of Jerusalem just prior to the Roman's sacking of the city in 70 AD. This would make these mss of extreme importance for Israel and for those interested in the religious history of the period (including Christians), however they would also be prime targets for destruction amongst the Palestinians who assert that Israel has NO historic claim to the region.

Ping

No mention of mormon relics..... Shocking.

Where's PD?

I haven't seen him since he was knee high to a Nephi.

Thanks for the ping!

Any similarity of lead (inert) plates bound by rings to the Book of Mormon being a set of gold (INERT) plates bound by rings is purely coincidental. The authenticity of this method of storing records in no way validates the Records found in America, and any similarity to the actual history, like the Lachish Letters is purely a coincidence. nothing to see here, move on...

Delph

***No mention of mormon relics..... Shocking.
Where’s PD?

I haven’t seen him since he was knee high to a Nephi.***

Now you made me thirsty for a NEHI soda pop!

It strikes me as strange that they were written in ancient Hebrew since at that time I thought that the present-day "Hebrew" alphabet (which is really Aramaic) was used.

Excellent post, BTW...fascinating.

From Templestudy.com, "Sustaining and defending the LDS temple."

http://www.templestudy.com/2011/03/22/ancient-sealed-metal-plates-secret-temple-texts-discovered-middle-east/

Ancient Sealed Metal Plates with Perhaps Secret Temple Texts discovered in Middle East?

David Larsen at HeavenlyAscents.com has pointed out an interesting recent discovery (see his posts here and here). A collection of dozens of books made from metal plates have been found in Jordan that initial tests show date from the first century AD.

Now this certainly sounds exciting, particularly to the Latter-day Saints. As we know, Joseph Smith said that he received and translated ancient sealed gold plates, in what became The Book of Mormon.

This find is interesting for a number of reasons:

The books are written on metal plates (lead and copper)
They are bound by rings on one side (also known as codices)
Many of the books are “sealed” on all sides
They appear to be from the first century AD, and may be the earliest Christian documents ever found
Scholars have noted that, if authentic, this could be bigger than the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
They appear to be written in an archaic Hebrew script
Some appears to be written in code
The sealed nature, and code appearance of the text, suggests that these may contain “secret teachings,” perhaps even “Temple based documentation”
A number of recognizable symbols appear, including the menorah (which can be seen in the photos above), branches, fruits, trees, and of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), associated with the enthronement rituals of ancient Davidic kings, and with the coming of the Messiah

Dr. Margaret Barker commented on the discovery:

“The Book of Revelation tells of a sealed book that was opened only by the Messiah. Other texts from the period tell of sealed books of wisdom and of a secret tradition passed on by Jesus to his closest disciples. That is the context for this discovery. So if they are forgeries, what are they forgeries of?"

Extensive investigation must still be done to verify the authenticity of these plates and their meaning. If they are genuine, this could be a huge discovery.

Well, let’s see:

Jordan is no longer a friend of Israel.

Jordan is a m oslem country.

Yeah, you ain’t getting them back.

Doh!