Anna Nicole Who?
They can’t find Jimmy Hoffa, but they may have found Jesus, who supposedly died, then was "resurrected" three days later. So, how did he end up dead in a tomb with his wife and kid, Eddie, in a suburb of Jerusalem? Well, okay, I'm kidding about Eddie. But, people who believe in the resurrection dealie are a wee bit upset about the contention that the bones found belong to Jesus and Co. David Van Biema writes for TIME:
Here's the set-up. In 1980 a construction crew in the Jerusalem suburb of Talpiot chanced upon a first-century tomb, which are not uncommon in that city. The Israeli Antiquities Authority found 10 bone boxes there, and stored them in a warehouse. Some bore inscribed names: Jesus, son of Joseph; Maria; Mariamene e Mara; Matthew; Judas, son of Jesus; and Jose. Each name with the exception of Mariamene seemed common to their period, and it was only in 1996 that the BBC made a film suggesting that. given the combination, it might be that family. The idea was eventually discounted, however, because, as University of St. Andrews (Scotland) New Testament expert Richard Bauckham asserted in a subsequent book, the names with Biblical resonance are so common that even when you run the probabilities on the group, the odds of it being the famous Jesus's family are "very low."...Darrell Bock, a professor at the conservative Protestant Dallas Seminary, whom the Discovery Channel had vet the film two weeks ago, adds another objection: why would Jesus's family or followers bury his bones in a family plot and "then turn around and preach that he had been physically raised from the dead?" If that objection smacks secular readers as relying too heavily on scripture, then Bock's larger point is still trenchant: "I told them that there were too many assumptions being claimed as discoveries, and that they were trying to connect dots that didn't belong together."
Well, there's a coincidence. That's exactly why I always say about religion!
And just a thought, Professor Bock but could it be: "Jesus died, people lied"? Occam's razor, you know?
If you'd like to pursue this further, try to reconcile Nazareth with the life of Jesus. The present site of Nazareth wasn't anything but a burial ground, forbidden for human habitation, until maybe 100AD, and Nazareth appears nowhere in records of the time.
Then there's the differing accounts of where the infant went after his birth. Luke and Matthew say "Egypt" and "Nazareth". Since the Bible can't be wrong, that means that Nazareth is really in Egypt!
Pumped-up Bible fans exalted about the idea of Resurrection routinely ignore the fact that the opening of a tomb is only needed to let a real body out, and they refuse to think about where the real body went later.
Radwaste at February 27, 2007 2:34 AM
What an interesting find! Finally, there's a Jesus story that we Atheist's can possibly accept as reality. Of course, to buy into it, the story will be "evidence dependant", which those in the Bible are not. It will be interesting to see this one play out. Prediction: Christians will adamantly deny it, no matter how much evidence is produced to back the claim. To accept this as fact destroys a 2000 year old highly profitable scam that has done incalculable damage to mankind. My guess is, after all is said and done, there will be no way to definitively prove this is the "real" JC family. He's a tough guy to nail down!
Bill Henry at February 27, 2007 3:17 AM
The thing that gets me is that while James Cameron and co. are all over this being The Find, many archaeologists are saying, "Um, no". It doesn't matter to me whether or not it really is Jesus or not, but I really hate it when a documentary is universally decried by the scientific community. A couple of scholars have said that they think that the names on the ossuaries(sp?) may have even been mis-translated! Argh!
-CornerDemon
CornerDemon at February 27, 2007 8:57 AM
We know where Jesus Christ was entombed: Church of Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem. James Cameron is making and selling a movie.
Casca at February 27, 2007 9:33 AM
Cameron should stick to the movies. Life isn't a Hollywood movie.
Didn't he produce a documentary trying to prove the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt?
Joe at February 27, 2007 2:05 PM
Titanic was ok. My favorite movie of all time is from Justin to Kelly. Cameron should direct the sequel.
PurplePen at March 1, 2007 10:33 AM
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