Saturday, September 29, 2012

Smithsonian GJW documentary on hold

THIS IS PROBABLY A GOOD THING:
Smithsonian delays 'Jesus wife' film as doubts mount

3:40 PM, Sep 28, 2012 |

USA Today
by Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY

The Smithsonian Channel has postponed plans to broadcast a documentary on the discovery of a "Jesus wife" papyrus that a Vatican newspaper declares is a probable fake.

A promo for the documentary The Gospel of Jesus's Wife on the channel's website refers to the "damaged and fragile" ancient papyrus as "one of the most significant discoveries of all time."

While the website still carries the description of the program, a small note to the right says it is "not currently airing."

A spokesman says the broadcast has been postponed "until the text undergoes further tests," according to The Washington Post.

[...]
Events have clearly overtaken whatever the documentary said when it was filmed, and I should think it would sound very out of date if it were aired as is. A documentary should not have been planned at all before the authentication process was fully completed, one way or another.

Background on the Gospel of Jesus' Wife is here with many links.