Biblical scholars turned their noses up, calling it hysteria, theatrics, a faith of the illiterate.

NPR: Excerpt: 'The Prince of Frogtown'

Biblical scholars and clergy say there's no evidence of a cover-up or conspiracy to suppress those ideas.

NPR: Religious Groups Respond to 'Da Vinci' Movie Release

Biblical scholars have called Gibson's reading of the New Testament into question, and rumors abound that the script's sources include an 18th-century Roman Catholic mystic.

CNN: Sources: Pope likes Gibson's 'Passion of Christ'

But Catholic and Protestant groups, as well as biblical scholars, have defended the film, saying it sticks closely to accounts of the crucifixion as told in the New Testament.

CNN: Passion

Answering these questions have been at the core of Biblical scholarship for the past two centuries, and it appears that Biblical scholars may have a new tool in their arsenal for answering these questions.

FORBES: Can Computer Algorithms Determine Who Wrote the Bible?

But the novel, initially a flop, was not much read or even appreciated until after World War I, long after Ryder had finished the painting, so it is almost certain, scholars agree, that the biblical tale was the artist's sole starting point.

WSJ: Tale Told by a Modern Romantic | Jonah | Albert Pinkham Ryder | By Sidney Lawrence

Some scholars have called the region located in and around Basra, Thiqar and Maysan provinces the biblical Garden of Eden.

CNN: U.N.: Iraq's marshlands recovering

Many scholars contest the shroud's authenticity, saying it dates to the Middle Ages, when many purported biblical relics -- like splinters from Jesus' cross -- surfaced across Europe.

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