If you want just one thing to take away from the story of the Gospel of Jesus' Wife, let it be that experts make mistakes. Experts are usually the people to listen to first and carefully, but they are fallible like everyone else.
By the way, as soon as I heard the announcement, I correctly called it that the GJW was probably a forgery. I maintained that position through the whole adventure. This was not because I had any expertise in Coptic or papyrology or ancient ink. I do not. I applied the rule that if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't. The GJW was exactly what the Zeitgeist called for. It was too perfect.
I like to call this the lottery rule. If you get a call telling you that you won a big lottery, you should be cautious. Maybe you did, but the bigger the pot, the more likely it's a scam.
My general expertise in antiquity did help me make that call. I could tell what was too perfect. But the lottery rule works in any area of life as long as you know enough to weigh the probabilities.
Background here and a great many links.
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