A Bible Before the Bible?

In 1883, a strange manuscript was dismissed as a forgery. Now scholars say it was real.

The world of Bible scholarship is abuzz with a remarkable announcement. Has a 137-year-old mystery been solved?

There’s been a nagging problem of what had seemed to be an ancient scroll that surfaced in 1883. In a scene full of religious anxiety and ‘scientific’ accusation, it was declared a forgery— and lost.