William Aldis Wright and the Investigative Clowns - Nicolaides and doubts on the existence of Benedict

[Steven Avery]

The Mount Sinai manuscript of the Bible - Fourth Edition, Revised (1935)
by British Museum
https://archive.org/details/mountsinaimanusc0000brit_e2m8/page/14/mode/1up

It may be added that a monk Callinicus who was eventually found in St Catherine’s monastery declared that he had not written the letters so signed and did not know Simonides; that the brethren all agreed that no such person as Simonides had ever visited Sinai; that the manuscript was entered in ancient catalogues of the monastic library; and further that S. Nicolaides, formerly Archdeacon and first Secretary of the Metropolis of Salonica, who had five times visited Mount Athos and was well acquainted with all the monasteries, ridiculed Simonides’ story and threw doubts on the very existence of Benedict (The Parthenon, 28 February 1863).

 

[Steven Avery]

Elliott shows that Nicolaides was a big accuser against SImonides, and in terms of Benedict, clearly a big liar.

The fact that one informant, who says he is well acquainted with all the monasteries in Mount Athos, is entirely ignorant of the existence of so
important a character as Benedict, should make us pause before accepting as readily as you seem inclined to do the last set of imputations on the veracity of Simonides.