This seems like a way to never return the codex, as the study of it could go on forever, so an empty promise to "return" the codex after its study has completed seems like a public relations move.

While National Geographic is a nonprofit entity, it is still a private organization, so like the Museum of the Bible run by the Green Foundation it makes me question the legitimacy of the origin story for the gospel of Judas.

The idea of provenance is very interesting, as even with what could be a revolutionary biblical historical document, the legal team decided that the costs of obtaining a potential fake or stolen document outweighed the potential benefits! It also makes me interested in how government permits are given out in order to establish a legal dig, and how that entire process works.

A good point to make while presenting, additionally that they were found in the mid 1940s in a cave by the dead sea, and there was a struggle to publish them for everyone led by US scholars.

Google states this is a "École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis".

This story seems like something out of a Gospel Thriller, does it function as a way to delegitimize any rightful claims to the scrolls? Or hide the way in which they were actually found?

Is this the source material for the Da Vinci Code?

Is this the same museum that was fined by the U.S government for the theft of cultural artifacts?

This annotation is in reference to the line in the review of "Was Jesus a women? Is that the revelation guarded by the Vatican SS..." It is very strange to me to intentionally relate a religion to the Nazis, as the connection is extremely negative. It makes me question if Gospel Thrillers are written as a way to address concerns about the Church, and disguise those through a work of "fiction". The author of this study does mention this, however it is somewhat difficult to relate to as I am missing the cultural connection to the time period, and can not relate to these beliefs.

In another class we learned that a main difference between catholicism and evangelicalism is the degree to which rituals and the power of the institution are held, this seems like it initially counters both of the schools of thought, is this used for shock value, and as the author earlier stated that the point of gospel thrillers is to address and then ease anxieties?

This sounds like a fascinating field of study.

"A Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection" (Wikipedia). This is what the link redirects to.

While not necessarily related to the Da Vinci Code, this reminds me of the Indiana Jones series with the famous line being "it belongs in a museum". It makes me question the justifications provided by museums and individuals for claiming cultural and historical artifacts as "exotic" and putting them on display for people to see.