Greek Monks Who Thought the Letter to Theodore was in the Mar Saba Monastery Before Morton Smith Arrives

[Secret Alias]

The monastery took the book to be their rightful possession. Hence the "elder Seraphim" and his tantrum and Flusser's impression about the book being returned to it's rightful place.

It is even possible that Kallistos was impressed by the impassioned argument for ownership of book and the manuscript which reinforced his understanding that manuscript belonged at Mar Saba. The question for me is why was the manuscript separated from the book? To give the book back to Mar Saba seems a likely possibility.

[Peter Kirby]

Was there any evidence in the Isaac Voss edition about its prior ownership? Notes in it from other hands, besides the famous one?

[StephenGoranson]

As I have repeatedly written, the front cover, the front page, and the spine binding had all gone missing, erasing potential marks of previous, non Mar Saba ownership.

[Secret Alias]

Officially there were only 100 books in the Mar Saba library.

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/wp- ... ooks-1.pdf
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/wp- ... ooks-2.pdf

But as per Flusser's testimony:

Oh yes, Flusser was one of those who went out. The library was a mess. They did not find the book. And then they did - in the middle of a pile of books carelessly thrown on the floor, all covered with dust. What kind of a scholar, he asks about Smith, could have permitted this? Walked off, leaving his great discovery to such a fate?

A needle in a haystack presumes more than 100 straws of hay. Does anyone really believe there were 100 books at Mar Saba.

[StephenGoranson]

The lists of books do not include the Voss book.

[Peter Kirby]

As I have repeatedly written, the front cover, the front page, and the spine binding had all gone missing, erasing potential marks of previous, non Mar Saba ownership.

I know.

https://web.archive.org/web/20110616022 ... -hoax.html

Stephen Carlson argued that the letter is in Morton Smith's hand. That is not a "mini-argument." That claim can be further tested by examining the second ms Carlson claims is in Smith's hand, but that is only partly shown in a photo. The hand as well as the content of that text is well worth reading (will it contain a confirming clue?)
That the anomolous Voss book was brought to Mar Saba is a substantial argument.
I add that the front cover being missing from a book otherwise apparently in good condition strengthens Carlson's argument: not only would that erase ownership marks, but also provide Smith practice sheets from the front of the book identical to those in its back.

I'm just wondering if there is any other indication, now that the front cover and title page are missing.

[Secret Alias]

The list has 100 books. Morton Smith catalogues 489 books. Did he come to Mar Saba with a Uhaul?

[Secret Alias]

What is clear from the evidence is that no one until today had any clue that Seraphim, the monk who struggled to keep the book and the manuscript at Mar Saba, was a resident of Mar Saba on the day Morton Smith found the book and the manuscript.

[Secret Alias]

Compare Kallistos's testimony about the Patriarchate Library before 1986:

The Patriarchal Library was well organized during the time when such intellectuals as Chrysos- tomos Papadopoulos (early 1900s) took special interest in the library. However, according to Father Kallistos, for over seventy years the library has been neglected. When he was placed in charge of the library eleven years ago it was in a state of disrepair. The walls were falling down, the books were full of mildew and worms—even a snake was found behind a bookshelf. It took him seven vears to make some changes. He took out all the old wooden shelves and replaced them with steel. He painted the walls and began to repair and preserve the old books and manuscripts. There is no budget for the library, so he does what he can from the small salary he receives monthly.

With Flusser's eyewitness testimony about the Mar Saba library in 1976:

The library was a mess. They did not find the book. And then they did - in the middle of a pile of books carelessly thrown on the floor, all covered with dust. What kind of a scholar, he asks about Smith, could have permitted this? Walked off, leaving his great discovery to such a fate?

The list of books was not a complete list. All monastic libraries were in a similar state of chaos according to my sources. The Alexandrian library of the Greek orthodox church resembled a library hit by an earthquake.

[Peter Kirby]

That's not the point. Surely Seraphim and Kallistos preserve the original attitude of the Mar Saba monastery and before you people spread around these "gay gospel" reports which poisoned the well with the Patriarchate.

Yes it's the original attitude.

Yes some of these monks were there before Smith arrived.

But it also sounds like you haven't found a witness saying that they saw the book before Smith did.