James Cameron claims to have found the ossuary boxes belonging to Jesus and Mary Magdalene. An ossuary is simply a "bone" or "collection box" common to the Ancient Near Eastern world. Some will remember the big hoopla that was raised by believing archaeologists a few years ago when the "James Ossuary" emerged on the scene. The ossuary read "James, the son of Joseph, the brother of Jesus"--to which many people joked, "at least it did not read 'Jesus, the son of Joseph, the brother of James.'"
Well, Cameron now claims claims that he's found this little piece of archaeological intrigue.
Here is a piece of the article:
The filmmakers said that statistically there was a one in 600 chance that the names found on the inscriptions were not the family of Jesus.
They also argued that the name 'Mariamene e Mara, the only inscription written in Greek, translated to Magdalene's real name.
If this was the tomb of Jesus, the revelations are likely to raise the ire of Christians because the discoverywould challenge the belief that Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven.
The documentary comes on the heels of the huge success of the novel The Da Vinci Code, which contends that Mary Magdalene had a child with Jesus.
But Dr. Shimon Gibson, one of the archaeologists who discovered the tomb, told Reuters at the news conference he had a "healthy scepticism" the tomb may have belonged to the family of Jesus.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli archaeologist who also carried out excavations at the tomb on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, disputed the documentary's conclusions.
The archaeologist, Amos Kloner, said the 2,000-year-old cave contained coffins belonging to a Jewish family whose names were similar to those of Jesus and his relatives.
"I can say positively that I don't accept the identification (as) ... belonging to the family of Jesus in Jerusalem," Kloner told Reuters. "I don't accept that the family of Miriam and Yosef (Mary and Joseph), the parents of Jesus, had a family tomb in Jerusalem."
"They were a very poor family. They resided in Nazareth, they came to Bethlehem in order to have the birth done there - so I don't accept it, not historically, not archeologically," said Kloner, a professor in the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv.
After they were discovered, the bones were reburied according to Orthodox tradition, leaving just the boxes with inscriptions and human residue to be examined though DNA testing.
Professor L. Michael White, of the University of Texas, said he also doubted the claims were true.
"This is trying to sell documentaries," he said, adding a series of strict tests needed to be conducted before a bone box or inscription could be confirmed as ancient. "This is not archeologically sound, this is fanfare."
Jay Leno, not typically thought of as a theologian made an interesting point this week concering the insinuation that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child together and the new evidence supports this: "If we can't even identify who the father of Anna Nicole Smith is, what makes us so arrogant that we think we can identify a two thousand year old relic and how Jesus might be the father?" (my paraphrase).
Ultimately, belief in Jesus and the resurrection starts with belief. One cannot prove or disprove the ressurection. We cannot go back and watch the instant replay or videotape history. One must start with faith in order to see a raised Christ. Or, as C.S. Lewis once wrote, "I believe in Christianity as I do the sun. Not only because it is risen, but by it, I see everything else."
Something or someone happened to those earliest followers of Jesus. Something or someone that would cause them to risk and lose their lives. They did not benefit financially or socially from preaching the risen carpenter--their lives got more and more difficult. Yet, the early churched really believed that Jesus, through God's power, had overcome death, sin, darnkness and violence.
The greatest argument for an empty tomb, is a spirit filled carried away church (paraphrase of Clarence Jordan's comments in The Sermon on the Mount).
4 comments:
haha, that last line sounded dangerously charismatic! :)
Have safe journeys, Josh. I predict a quick death to this story. It seems that the producer and director are all alone on this one as the archaeologists and scientists are lining up against it.
this wasn't much of a stor when the tomb was found in 1980, i doubt it will amount to much today.
though i am assuredly not charismatic, i think your last line is your best. though, i might tweak it a bit to say, "The greatest argument for an empty tomb is a church where one still encounters the risen Christ present in one another."
good thoughts, thanks.
i agree. we will never know if this was the tomb or not. and i'm not really sure it matters now. 2000 years removed. we will never be able to certify that any of the gospels record actual historical events. but what we can certify is that the message of renewal and redemption from the mouth of a a jewish carpenter has lasted into our modern age. that is pretty amazing.
www.jesusisnowhere.blogspot.com
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