Jesus Tomb Story
This Sunday, Discovery channel is going to air a documentary entitled "The Lost Tomb of Jesus." The basic claim of the film, directed by James Cameron of "Titanic" fame, is that a tomb excavated in 1980 contained the tomb of Jesus himself, plus his "wife" Mary Magdalene, his child Judah and Joseph and Mary. The claims are far-fetched, but the data is complex. The best sorting through of all the data I've found is on Ben Witherington's blog, he also had a column in the front section of the Wall Street Journal today.
Check out these links on Ben Witherington's blog:
March 1
February 28
February 27
The link to "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" website.
The link to the book "The Jesus Family Tomb."
UPDATE: Check out Richard Bauckham's statement on the tomb
Also, Bauckham's own corrections.
This Sunday, Discovery channel is going to air a documentary entitled "The Lost Tomb of Jesus." The basic claim of the film, directed by James Cameron of "Titanic" fame, is that a tomb excavated in 1980 contained the tomb of Jesus himself, plus his "wife" Mary Magdalene, his child Judah and Joseph and Mary. The claims are far-fetched, but the data is complex. The best sorting through of all the data I've found is on Ben Witherington's blog, he also had a column in the front section of the Wall Street Journal today.
Check out these links on Ben Witherington's blog:
March 1
February 28
February 27
The link to "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" website.
The link to the book "The Jesus Family Tomb."
UPDATE: Check out Richard Bauckham's statement on the tomb
Also, Bauckham's own corrections.
1 Comments:
In 2002 Ben Witherington said this about his phony James Ossuary:
“This is probably going to be the biggest New Testament find in my lifetime, as big as the Dead Sea scrolls.”
In 2007, James Cameron said this about HIS phony ossuaries:
“This is the biggest archeological story of the century. It’s absolutely not a publicity stunt.”
It’s true that a prophet has no honor in his own country. The press in Witherington’s native Kentucky have delicately raised the issue of the pot calling the kettle black, I mean, 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.
See: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/nation/16791591.htm
The IAA decided that the unprovenanced ossuary on which Ben Witherington gambled and loss his credibility was a fake. He is left with supporting conspiracy theories about the IAA in support of a forger and seller of fake antiquities, Oded Golan, and little else.
But Witherington's protestations aren't really about Golan, or even about the so-called James Ossuary. They're all about Witherington.
He used the so-called "James Ossuary" as a base to launch attacks on some very precious elements of the Faith of both Roman Catholic and Orthodox believers.*
Consumed with the desire to "one up," so to speak, these confessions, he overreached and is still overreaching.
I almost feel sorry for Witherington, now that his precious, yet phony James Ossuary is being sold as the missing 10th ossuary in the Jesus Tomb by Cameron and Jacobovici. (the same Jacobvici who helped him with HIS documentary on the phony James Ossuary, shown on, you guessed it, The Discovery Channel!).
In news coverage of the ongoing trial of antiquities forger Oded Golan, Witherington said that he would stand by his conclusion that the phony James Ossuary is authentic REGARDLESS of the trial's outcome!
He's not interested in proof. He's only interested in getting the word of Witherington out.
Too bad that he cannot see that he has reaped what he has sown. One phony ossuary has yielded a crop of ten.
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* "It is possible the inscription on the ossuary -- "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" -- provides us with a challenge in regard to some basic Christian assumptions about James. The Roman Catholic tradition is that Jesus' brothers and sisters actually were cousins; Orthodox Christians believe they were Joseph's children by a previous marriage. The inscription conflicts with both of those Christian traditions, in fact, for there certainly was an Aramaic word for "cousin" that could have been used in this inscription but was not. If Jesus was the son of only Mary, and James was the son of only Joseph, then Jesus and James would not literally have been brothers, as this inscription states."
- Ben Witherington in USA Today Weekend
http://www.usaweekend.com/03_issues/030413/030413jesus.html
Catholic Rebuttal:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Bad_Aramaic_Made_Easy.asp
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