The BBC news website is carrying the story: Jesus tomb found, says film-maker. the last part of that headline really does set the context for the rest of the article. Read on through it and you see that the archaeologists do not claim it to be the tomb of Christ rather; [they] said that the burial cave was probably that of a Jewish family with similar names to that of Jesus."
It is also claimed by the film-maker that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were a couple (yes that old nonsense again!). However the evidence simply does not support this. With all the brouhouha about the Davinci Code we saw clearly that it is not possible for Jesus & Mary to have been a couple and there is NO evidence anywhere in the scriptures to support that notion. Dan Brown based his claim on Luke 8:1-3, read it and you'll see just how tenuous a claim Brown's was.
With a claim like this about Jesus it's always good to stick to the facts. Firstly, Jesus rose from the tomb. This is a clearly documented fact agreed upon by theists and atheists alike. The evidence isn't just limited to the four gospels but other contemporary writers/historians recorded the fact. Also, Jesus was seen by thousands after his resurrection from the tomb. It would have taken a publicity stunt greater than a David Blaine circus act to have pulled the wool over so many eyes. It simply wasn't possible to dupe so many people.
Secondly, Jesus and Mary were not married and did not have a son. There is no evidence on this planet to suggest otherwise. There is plenty of speculation and supposition, but the fact that Jesus' closest friends never mentioned anything about them being married and the fact that no other eye witness to his life ever made such a claim tells us more than any speculation ever could.
Thirdly, the film-maker clearly has an agenda, to sell a film! Just as Brown had a book to sell, money has to be made and what better way to do it than by resurrecting some half baked conspiracy theory that has more holes than the titanic?
Ben Witherington once again deals with this far better than I could ever hope to and I fully recommend his Blog.
I guess it is true that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
ReplyDeleteSo far, only the press in Witherington’s native Kentucky have delicately raised the issue of the pot calling the kettle bla…that is, the pot calling the ossuary cracked in Witherington’s overheated (the gentleman protests too much) protestations against the latest “biggest New Testament find”* in his lifetime.
Lexington County Herald, 2/27/07
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/nation/16791591.htm
On his blog, Witherington fired a final salvo by referring to the Titanic and saying Cameron “has now jumped on board another sinking ship full of holes, presumably in order to make a lot of money before the theory sinks into an early watery grave. Man the lifeboats and get out now.”
In 2003, Witherington and co-author Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review, wrote in The Brother of Jesus that they believed an ossuary bearing the inscription “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” was authentic.
A few months after The Brother of Jesus was published, Israel’s Antiquities Authority decided that the ossuary was a fake. It charged the ossuary’s owner, Oded Golan, with fraud and illegally selling archaeological artifacts outside of Israel. His trial continues, 21/2 years after it began.
Witherington said that he and Shanks stand by their conclusion that the ossuary is authentic and are not likely to change their minds, regardless of the trial’s outcome.
—–—
* “This is probably going to be the biggest New Testament find in my lifetime, as big as the Dead Sea scrolls,” said Ben Witherington, a New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.
National Geographic News
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1021_021021_christianrelicbox.html
—–
If Witherington can be such a zealot about HIS OWN wacky claims about HIS OWN phony ossuary, it would only seem sporting that he would cut Simcha Jacobovici (Witherington’s former partner in crime. He was the man who helped Witherington create and hype his documentary on the phony “James Ossuary” about 4 years ago - shown on, you guessed it! The Discovery Channel!) and James Cameron some slack.
Hi 'Anonymous'
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting it's always good to have discussion but it's a shame you don't reveal yourself. Nevermind.
Regarding your comments about Ben Witherington, I see where you're coming from and I have no intention of defending Ben (he's big enough & ugly enough to do that himself) but I would say that he does actually address most of your points in his post: http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2007/02/jesus-tomb-titanic-talpiot-tomb-theory.html
Cheers
Dean