Subject: J. K. Elliott

From: Mike Arcieri <[email-masked]>
Date: 08 May 96 10:45:22 EDT

As most of you know, TIME mag has published several articles re. Thiede and his
dating of the Matthew papyrus fragment (including one article in the last issue
of TIME, dated April 8). In the current issue (May 13), TIME has published a
letter from J. K. Elliott regarding this issue. For the benefit of fellow
TC-LISTers, here is Elliott's letter:

In your article on the search for Jesus, you stated that German scholar Carsten
Peter Thiede thinks a tiny papyrus fragment containing a couple of verses of the
Magdalen St. Matthew's Gospel could have been written around A.D. 70 by someone
who was an eyewitness to the events described (April 8). A 1st century date for
all four Gospels is now agreed upon by most scholars. Even if St. Matthew's
Gospel were written as early as Thiede suggests, this would tell us nothing
about the historical value or theological truth of its contents. A Gospel
written by an eyewitness or near contemporary need be no more trustworthy than a
later account. Your article correctly quoted me as making the above point, but
you inaccurately gave my last name as Lincoln. This error might indeed tell us
something about the historical value of contemporary reporting.

						J. Keith Elliott
						Dept. of Theology
						Univ. of Leeds

Mike A.