It would appear a photographic archive of ancient manuscripts, long thought destroyed, may represent the next "fatwa" target for guardians of the "religion of peace". Barring a few famous but extremely small fragments, the oldest well-dated Christian manuscripts only go back to the 3rd century. Discovering a cache of manuscripts made only sixty years after Jesus's ministry would be a remarkable find indeed.

However, as noted in the article, Islam is tied much more closely to its foundational document than is Christianity on its Testament. Christianity's foundation in mysticism, its legendary flexibility, and its ease of adaptation (to the point of bloody schism), have allowed it to withstand scholarly critique of its foundational documents.

Not so Islam, whose structure was quite obviously informed by the blood-drenched religious chaos of seventh century Constantinople. Having read it myself, I can say many parts to me definitely seem to have been composed by someone who knew both Christian and Judaic traditions, albeit second-hand and garbled. It would be ironic indeed if, by so very carefully engineering itself against the weaknesses evident in the Christianity of its time, radical Islam left itself open to its eventual undoing in the face of modern inquiry.

However, I feel quite realistic in not expecting a "Mohamed Seminar" similar to its Christian counterpart to appear because of all this. After all, if one claims not all of Paul's letters were in fact written by Paul, and provides convincing evidence to prove it, one does not need to worry about the embrace of lunatics wearing complicated vests.

I only hope the relevant German authorities quickly take steps to secure (or at least create many copies of) the archive. While I doubt I'll see it in my time, Islam won't always be this loopy, and it would be a tragedy to lose such an important collection of ancient documents due to carelessness or sabotage.

Update: More info, from a more innocent time, is here. It would appear the manuscripts are from perhaps the first few decades of Islam's history, making them even more important and remarkable. It would at first seem outrageous such a find would be barely known, and (as far as I know) never published. An intact, original gospel or an original Pauline letter collection would rightly cause a sensation in the West. Then I remember who we're really talking about, and it's not so outrageous after all.