Speaking of National Geographic, is the NY Times Judas debunking a surprise? Television is about ratings, not scholarship. That goes for the Discovery Channel genre as much as Spike. Judas the good guy got viewers, no matter what scholars say now. But, you say, wasn't Judas a book as well as a T.V. special? Yes, but publishing, increasingly, apes T.V.

Someone at National Geographic will perhaps get promoted for the well timed delay of this unraveling, not fired. Real scholarship, comparatively speaking, is boring and slow and rarely makes for good television; but it does put one in better touch with reality, just like the actual Gospels put one better in touch with God.