Source: Fox News
Scholars, Clergymen Criticize New Documentary on Alleged Tomb of Jesus Christ
JERUSALEM — Archaeologists and clergymen in the Holy Land derided claims in a new documentary produced by the Oscar-winning director James Cameron that contradict major Christian tenets.
“The Lost Tomb of Christ,” which the Discovery Channel will run on March 4, argues that 10 ancient ossuaries — small caskets used to store bones — discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the Discovery Channel.
One of the caskets even bears the title, “Judah, son of Jesus,” hinting that Jesus may have had a son. And the very fact that Jesus had an ossuary would contradict the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven.
Most Christians believe Jesus’ body spent three days at the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem’s Old City. The burial site identified in Cameron’s documentary is in a southern Jerusalem neighborhood nowhere near the church.
In 1996, when the BBC aired a short documentary on the same subject, archaeologists challenged the claims. Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television.
“They just want to get money for it,” Kloner said.
The claims have raised the ire of Christian leaders in the Holy Land.
“The historical, religious and archaeological evidence show that the place where Christ was buried is the Church of the Resurrection,” said Attallah Hana, a Greek Orthodox clergyman in Jerusalem. The documentary, he said, “contradicts the religious principles and the historic and spiritual principles that we hold tightly to.”
Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem who was interviewed in the documentary, said the film’s hypothesis holds little weight.
“I don’t think that Christians are going to buy into this,” Pfann said. “But skeptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear.”
“How possible is it?” Pfann said. “On a scale of one through 10 — 10 being completely possible — it’s probably a one, maybe a one and a half.”
Pfann is even unsure that the name “Jesus” on the caskets was read correctly. He thinks it’s more likely the name “Hanun.”
Kloner also said the filmmakers’ assertions are false.
“It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave,” Kloner said. “The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time.”
Archaeologists also balk at the filmmaker’s claim that the James Ossuary — the center of a famous antiquities fraud in Israel — might have originated from the same cave. In 2005, Israel charged five suspects with forgery in connection with the infamous bone box.
“I don’t think the James Ossuary came from the same cave,” said Dan Bahat, an archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University. “If it were found there, the man who made the forgery would have taken something better. He would have taken Jesus.”
Although the documentary makers claim to have found the tomb of Jesus, the British Broadcasting Corporation beat them to the punch by 11 years.
Osnat Goaz, a spokeswoman for the Israeli government agency responsible for archaeology, declined to comment before the documentary was aired.
I read this on BBC news, complete nonsense IMHO.
And i’m surprised it wasn’t found underwater.
James Cameron is involved after all
Yeah, I’ve read a couple of news articles on this and it seems, even scientifically speaking, there isn’t a lot of credibility to it, and I’m a skeptic!
We’ll know for sure, if Jim is wearing this tee shirt:
http://www.jinx.com/scripts/details.asp?productID=283
Well true or not it does raise some interesting questions that archeologists will have to deal with over the next several years. Yes, Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew) was a pretty common name of the period as was Miriyam (Mary), Yosef (Joseph) and Y’huda (Jude or Judah) but the fact that all of these names have been found in one family tomb is intriquing to say the least.
One bone crate read: Yeshua bar Yosef or Jesus son of Joseph, another read Y’hud(a) bar Yeshua, Jude son of Jesus and there were two Mary’s listed as having their remains in the family tomb. One was the actual name of Mary of Magdela, the assumed wife of Jesus.
I don’t believe James Cameron would put his own reputation on the line if he didn’t at least feel there was some historical validity to the claim that this is indeed the family plot of the New Testament Jesus and his family. He sat on the Titanic ruins for quite some time to verify its accuracy before going public with the group of researchers involved with that project and there was a lot less riding on that discovery than on this one.
My contention is we should not just automatically dismiss this as nonsense or a hoax. We should be skeptical, without doubt, but the rules of science should apply. Afterall, the only source notes we even have on Jesus is a set of religious, non-historically verifiable legends about the man. If we are to be true scientists then we cannot assume they are accurate and these current findings are not. Let the research and digging continue and allow the truth to come forth, even if in doing so, a 2000 year old story that billions have placed their faith in, lived and died for ends up being nothing more than a mythical tale.
I opt for the truth…that I can live with in clear conscience.
Why is it so hard to believe that Jesus’ eartly remains were discovered? Did they just disappear when He went to Heaven? Or is it possible that there could be a family tomb with Jesus’ body in it? This possible finding doesn’t have to be the end of Christianity or disprove anything, it could be evidence that He did live.
A couple of years ago there was another of these ossuary’s discovered which had “James brother of Jesus” carved on it. That ossuary turned out to be a fake.
This sounds very similar to the earlier discovery. I wouldn’t put any money on this find holding up to close scrutiny.
Frankly, I don’t think it matters much one way or the other. The believers will continue to believe and the non-believers will continue to believe in their non-belief.
Let’s leave it to the scientists — archiologists and palaeontologists — to judge the discovery based on hard evidence. The article says that some of these folks have doubts. So the jury is still out.
It’s a little silly for the rest of us to speculate one way or another, especially if our conclusions derive from preconceived notions based on faith or the lack of same.
He probably has discovered the tomb. Jesus was interred in the land which the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was later built. The physical body of Jesus according to the Bible did not ascend to heaven, only His Divine Spirit, as He said: “no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man”. What came down from heaven was not the physical body of Jesus, but His Spirit, so it is the Spirit that ascended to heaven because according to Jesus, not even the Son of man. For more information on this subject see the chapter on The Ascension of Christ in the book Promises Fulfilled.
Jesus saves!
… And Moses gets the rebound.
No, no, no! That joke’s supposed to go:
Jesus Saves!
Gretzky grabs the rebound… he shoots, he scores!
I saw it on a bumper sticker, so it must be true 🙂
Oliver Stone didn’t seem concerned about HIS reputation by making the JFK film. Millions claim to believe in evolution with NO historical facts whatsoever. “Bones of Jesus” is not about truth. It’s about money and it’s about dissing God- a very popular pass-time these days.
JESUS TOMB UPDATE:
Today in a startling revelation from the archeologists that are examining the tomb,reported to hold the bones of Jesus and his family, the leader of the investigative team said they have uncovered proof positive that one set of bones defintely belong to the man many consider the Messiah and Son of God.
“We found a gold bracelet around the wrist of one of the male skeletons that dates to around 2000 years ago,” stated the chief archeologist. “We know it belongs to Jesus because inscribed in Aramaic it says ‘What would I do?’ on it.”