The handling of\u00a0mummy masks\u00a0by Josh McDowell, allegedly in the interest of getting his hands (literally) on a first-century copy of Mark and perhaps other New Testament texts, has been getting a lot of attention. Some \u2013 including me at one point \u2013 have missed exactly what he said\u00a0as a result of not watching the video the entire way through. Thankfully, Beau Quilter has made a transcript of the relevant part of the video<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cNow, what you do, you take this mask \u2026 oh \u2026 [giggle] Scholars die when they hear, but we own \u2019em so you can do it. You take these manuscripts, we soak them in water. There is a process we use with huge microwaves to do it, but it\u2019s not quite as good \u2026 we take \u2026 show it \u2026 we put it down into water \u2026 can you put it up here too? We put it down into water at a certain temperature, and you can only use Palm Olive soap, the rest will start to destroy the manuscripts \u2026 Palm Olive soap won\u2019t. And you start massagin\u2019 it for about 30, 40 minutes. You\u2019ll pull it up, wring it out \u2014 literally wring it out! These are worth millions! And then you put it back in for about 30, 40 minutes. And then you pull it out, and this is what it\u2019ll look like, just like a gob \u2026 next one \u2026 a gob \u2026 it looks like a cattle \u2026 uh \u2026 a cow\u2019s head. But that\u2019s all papyrus manuscripts, folks. Over 2000 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you start pulling it apart. Say what?! Yep. They\u2019re layered on top of each other. You start pulling \u2019em apart \u2026 keep going .. see there? You put \u2019em right \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSee most scholars have never touched a manuscript, you have to have gloves on and everything \u2026 [giggle] \u2026 We just wash \u2019em and hold \u2019em in our hands. We don\u2019t even make you wash your hands before. See? This is a manuscript right there. See? A manuscript, by definition, is not an entire book; it\u2019s a portion of the book. It could just be a little piece to \u2026 to \u2026 we have one now that\u2019s 38 pages on Corinthians, probably greater discovery than the dead sea scrolls. And \u2026 uh \u2026 keep going here. This is all \u2026 now \u2026 see my hand up in the right hand, that\u2019s a pair of tweezers \u2026 and you take those tweezers, and you start pulling the layers of manuscripts off.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was so scared the first time I did it. It was last January \u2026 I mean I was \u2026 er, no, it was \u2026 little bit before then \u2026 I was so scared bec- \u2026 what if you tear it? And they say, well, you tear it. Since we own it, it\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here\u2019s the\u00a0video itself:<\/p>\n