No discovery more tremendous in its potential reactions could be
imagined than the account of the death of Christ said to be contained in contemporary manuscripts found in the course of excava- tions in Jerusalem. An official statement is apparently to be issued on the subject, and till that is done, after an examination by competent archaeologists, it will be wise to withhold judgement altogether. One vital question might arise. Suppose this proved to be an authentic account of the Crucifixion, unaccompanied by any account of the Resurrection—which is not mentioned in the brief messages from Jerusalem so far available. Some readers of this column will remember the rather sensational, but at the same time not unimpressive, novel When It Was Dark, by Guy Thorne, describ- ing the effect on the Christian world of a discovery showing that the Biblical accounts of the resurrection were pious forgeries. It need not be supposed that the manuscripts now reported bear any analogy to that, but they do at least recall the plot of a book that was much talked of at the time—and enjoyed the benefit of a blessing from the then Bishop of London. There, may, of course, be :ink in the new discovery ; but there may be very much.
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