Should a vocal opponent of the Jewish religion be in charge of the most important documents of ancient Judaism to be discovered in modern times? Curiously, not a word about that ugly issue was uttered last week, when the Israel Antiquities Authority fired Harvard Divinity School professor John Strugnell as chief editor of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Ostensibly, the Roman Catholic layman was removed for "health reasons." Nonetheless, Strugnell's distasteful views -- and his propounding of them -- was a major reason behind his sudden departure.
Strugnell's tenure was jeopardized by a November interview with the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, in which...
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