É o que denuncia o artigo de Robert R. Cargill, Pseudo-Science and Sensationalist Archaeology: An Exposé of Jimmy Barfield and the Copper Scroll Project, publicado em The Bible and Interpretation, agosto de 2009.
Para entender o caso, leia antes: Manuscritos do Mar Morto: o Rolo de Cobre.
Transcrevo os dois primeiros parágrafos do artigo:
There is a scourge that has reemerged to plague professional archaeologists and biblical scholars, not to mention a gullible general public. It is powerful, seductive, ubiquitous, and quite media savvy. It is not confined to the realms of logic, sound judgment, peer review, and cogency, but rather exists in the sphere of circular reasoning and preys on the hearts and wallets of the religious, who want to believe the lies this deceiver is spouting. It scoffs at the educated because they possess the power to refute it, and it relies on their apathy and arrogance to move about unhindered. It champions ignorance and promotes dilettantish claims with a populist message of, “You don’t need no Ph.D. to be a scholar.” And it claims superiority over experience, training, and contrary evidence by invoking God-inspired revelation as its motive. The scourge I speak of is sensationalist archaeology.
Sensationalist archaeology is nothing new. As long as there have been objects discovered in the Holy Land, there have been those that insist the objects prove a particular faith claim. A chunk of wood on a mountain is Noah’s Ark. A chunk of wood in Jerusalem is the Cross of Jesus. And a chunk of wood in the Red Sea is proof of the Exodus. Unsubstantiated claims by amateur archaeologists are not new, nor are their direct-to-the-public media attempts to capture eyes and hearts in the age old effort to capture dollars. As P. T. Barnum prophetically said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”