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bogus
June 2008 
Ten Reasons Why The Jesus Tomb Claim is Bogus
Theway2k
Discovery Channel is hooking up with James Cameron of the dramatized movie of The Titanic. It is disturbing that the Discovery Channel is in a partnership that is full of conjecture with out reliable proof, viz. the finding of the family grave site of Jesus son of Joseph and Mary.
I can see Cameron doing this, he is Hollywood and that is how he makes his money. I always thought of the Discovery Channel as a place to dumb down the science so us scientifically diminished individual could have a shot at comprehension.
Anyway here is the scientific debunking via ChristianNewsWire.
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Ten Reasons Why The Jesus Tomb Claim is Bogus
Leading Scholars Say Discovery Channel 'Documentary' Makes for Good TV, Bad History and Bad Science
Mon, 26 Feb 2007
MEDIA ADVISORY, Feb. 26 /Christian Newswire/ -- The claim of James Cameron and the Discovery Channel that a tomb contains the bones of Jesus is bogus, said leading Biblical and archeological scholars today.
"Unfortunately, this is a story full of holes, conjectures and problems," said Dr. Ben Witherington, author of What Have They Done With Jesus? and New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary. "It will make good TV and involves a bad critical reading of history. Basically, this is old news with a new interpretation. We have known about this tomb since it was discovered in 1980. There are all sorts of reasons to see this as much ado about nothing much."
Witherington and other leading biblical scholars and archeologists say there are at least 10 reasons why the "Jesus Tomb" claim is completely bogus:
- There is no DNA evidence that this is the historical Jesus of Nazareth
- The statistical analysis is untrustworthy
- The name "Jesus" was a popular name in the first century, appearing in 98 other tombs and on 21 other ossuaries
- There is no historical evidence that Jesus was ever married or had a child
- The earliest followers of Jesus never called him "Jesus, son of Joseph"
- It is highly unlikely that Joseph, who died earlier in Galilee, was buried in Jerusalem, since the historical record connects him only to Nazareth or Bethlehem
- The Talipot tomb and ossuaries are such that they would have belonged to a rich family, which does not match the historical record for Jesus
- Fourth-century church historian Eusebius makes quite clear that the body of James, the brother of Jesus, was buried alone near the temple mount and that his tomb was visited in the early centuries, making very unlikely that the Talipot tomb was Jesus' "family tomb"
- The two Mary ossuaries do not mention anyone from Migdal, but simply has the name Mary, one of the most common of all ancient Jewish female names
- By all ancient accounts, the tomb of Jesus was empty, making it highly unlikely that it was moved to another tomb, decayed for one year's time, and then the bones put in an ossuary
"In light of all the incredible number of problems with the recent claim that Jesus' grave has been found, the time-honored, multi-faceted evidence for the bodily resurrection of Jesus is more convincing than ever," said Dr. Gary Habermas, an expert on the resurrection of Jesus and author of The Case for the Resurrection. "Even the early opponents of the Christian message acknowledged that Jesus' tomb was empty. And the evidence for Jesus' bodily resurrection appearances has never been refuted."
These leading Biblical and archeological experts are available for media interviews:
Dr. Ben Witherington
Bible scholar, speaker, author of 30 books including What Have They Done With Jesus? and The Jesus Quest
Professor of New Testament Interpretation
Asbury Theological Seminary
Wilmore, Kentucky
859-223-6308
Dr. Darrell Bock
Media spokesman / Editor-at-large for Christianity Today /Author, Breaking the Da Vinci Code and Jesus in Context
Professor of New Testament Studies
Dallas Theological Seminary
Dallas, Texas
214-824-3094 x3715
Dr. Craig Evans
Author, Jesus and the Ossuaries and Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels
Professor of New Testament
Acadia Divinity College
Wolfville, Nova Scotia
902-585-2221
Dr. Gary Habermas
Shroud of Turin expert / Author of 27 books including The Case for the Resurrection
Chair, Department of Philosophy and Theology
Liberty University
Lynchburg, Virginia
434-582-2577
Dr. Paul Maier
Bible scholar / author of more than 15 books including The Da Vinci Code - Fact or Fiction?, More Than a Skeleton and Josephus - The Essential Works
Professor of Ancient History
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, Michigan
(269) 387-4816
Joe Zias
- Thirty years professional experience in the field of Medical/ Physical anthropology
- Over 80 articles in peer reviewed medical and scientific journals
- Science and Archaeology Group at Hebrew University. Former senior curator of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Israel Antiquities Authority for which he was responsible for the curation of the antiquities stored in the Israel Antiquities Authority, ranging from the Pre-historic periods up to the 18th Century AD. These objects, numbering over 75,000, included the Dead Sea Scrolls, pre-historic human skeletal remains as well as artifacts from the regions premier archaeological sites such as Jericho, Megiddo, and Gezer.
972-2-588-2811 Hebrew University (from United States first dial 011)
Dr. Amos Kloner
Officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents
Professor, Department of Land of Israel Studies
Bar-Ilan University
Jerusalem, Israel
972-3-531-7283 (from United States first dial 011)
Access: Public
I think a far more interesting question to answer for the Christian faithful to answer would be, what if it were true?
To me personally the question of the tomb being Christ's is immaterial. I am not a Christian, nor do I question anyone's need or desire to be one. However, I do wonder why certain people of any faith system fear the possibilities that lie beyond what they believe and understand to be true.
Humankind would never have taken to the skies if someone hadn't questioned the veracity that a being without wings could never fly. What do we gain by not considering all possibilities?
In peace and respect,
Darshan
“Faith is a state of openness or trust. To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float. And the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging to belief, of holding on. In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe, becomes a person who has no faith at all. Instead they are holding tight. But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be.” – Alan Watts
I am hardcore faithful to Christ. If there is no Resurrection, then Jesus was merely a good man with some decent words. I am not intolerant as some hardcore Christians are, it is a silly thing to say one denomination or specific thought pattern of Faith is better than another. There is one thing I am intractable with though: Jesus was incarnated (the god with no beginning or ending becoming a man), died on the Cross, arose from the dead in bodily form becoming glorified at the Right hand of the Father. I am al trinitarian, but I don't get bent out of shape with non-trinitarians.
If some ever proved Jesus never was God, I would abandon the Faith and become some kind of Buddhist. There is simply way too much supernatural that I have seen to become an atheist. As I am a hardcore Christian, it would have to be some pretty hardcore evidence. Thus I do not fear finding the bones of Jesus, I know it will never happen.
Old Alan, he was into the Zen part of Buddhism, yes?
Peace friend. :-)
It's good to hear your perspective. I fully respect it.
To me when the arguements about “rightness” and “righteousness” when it comes to matters of faith, make about as much sense as arguing about the rightness and righteousness of one language of or another.
I am just about as far from an Atheist as one can get, and I carry very deeply rooted spiritual beliefs, but on the other hand I can see where many Atheists gain their perspective. All that matters to me is that eventually, we arrive at the same point, or at least we walk the road together in love (and I know you that I don't mean in the romantic sense)…
Watts was a Mahayana Zen Buddhist. In his lifetime he said some wonderful, invigorating and vibrant things about Christ, and indeed all faiths. It's part of what I love about his perspective and philosophy…
I get excited when I meet people of all faiths who are passionate about their beliefs, but have plenty of room for “the rest of us”… You certainly strike me as that kind of man.
Cheers. Here's to you and the Resurrection and the Life in the world to come!
Peace, friend indeed! :o)
Thanks pal.