THE LOST TOMB OF JESUS

[Beck]

dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/tomb.html?dcitc=w99-502-ah-1024

Pretty interesting find...

[krazeeboi]

Next thing, someone will claim to have found the remains of Jesus.

[Beck]

They dont deny having the remains of Jesus... they were burried... next next thing will be to open of the grave to see the nail prints....

[keita]

I believe Jesus so prophetically speaks to things like this in the entirety of Matthew "chapter 24"... in this particular case, most especially and specifically in "verse 28".

That verse has been translated both/either as:

“Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

And/Or

“Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”

This is an instance where I say "Amen!" to the Truth of either/both. Nobody can work a parable like Jesus, the Christ.


The "quick, powerful, and sharper than any double-edged sword"-ness of God's Word (Christ) and word (scriptures) is ever stunning to me in its precision.

En Garde!

[Nikkol]

Recent article:

JERUSALEM -- A scholar looking into the factual basis of a popular but widely criticized documentary that claims to have located the tomb of Jesus said Tuesday that a crucial piece of evidence filmmakers used to support their claim is a mistake.

Stephen Pfann, a textual scholar and paleographer at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, said he has released a paper claiming the makers of "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" were mistaken when they identified an ancient ossuary from the cave as belonging to the New Testament's Mary Magdalene.

The film's director, Simcha Jacobovici, responded that other researchers agreed with the documentary's conclusions.


Produced by Oscar-winning director James Cameron, the documentary has drawn intense media coverage for its claims challenging accepted Christian dogma.

Despite widespread ridicule from scholars, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" drew more than 4 million viewers when it aired on the Discovery Channel on March 4. A companion book, "The Jesus Family Tomb," has rocketed to sixth place on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list.

The film and book suggest that a first-century ossuary found in a south Jerusalem cave in 1980 contained the remains of Jesus, contradicting the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven. Ossuaries are stone boxes used at the time to store the bones of the dead.

The filmmakers also suggest that Mary Magdalene was buried in the tomb, that she and Jesus were married, and that an ossuary labeled "Judah son of Jesus" belonged to their son.

The scholars who analyzed the Greek inscription on one of the ossuaries after its discovery read it as "Mariamene e Mara," meaning "Mary the teacher" or "Mary the master."

Before the movie was screened, Jacobovici said that particular inscription provided crucial support for his claim. The name Mariamene is rare, and in some early Christian texts it is believed to refer to Mary Magdalene.

But having analyzed the inscription, Pfann published a detailed article on his university's Web site asserting that it doesn't read "Mariamene" at all.

The inscription, Pfann said, is made up of two names inscribed by two different hands: the first, "Mariame," was inscribed in a formal Greek script, and later, when the bones of another woman were added to the box, another scribe using a different cursive script added the words "kai Mara," meaning "and Mara." Mara is a different form of the name Martha.

According to Pfann's reading, the ossuary did not house the bones of "Mary the teacher," but rather of two women, "Mary and Martha."

"In view of the above, there is no longer any reason to be tempted to link this ossuary ... to Mary Magdalene or any other person in biblical, non-biblical or church tradition," Pfann wrote.

In the interest of telling a good story, Pfann said, the documentary engaged in some "fudging" of the facts.

"James Cameron is a great guru of science fiction, and he's taking it to a new level with Simcha Jacobovici. You take a little bit of science, spin a good yarn out of it and you get another 'Terminator' or 'Life of Brian,"' said Pfann, who briefly appeared as an ossuary expert in the documentary.

In Israel on Tuesday for a screening of the film, the Toronto-based Jacobovici welcomed Pfann's criticism, saying "every inscription should be re-examined."

But Jacobovici said scholars who researched the ossuary in the past agreed with the film's reading. "Anyone who looks at it can see that the script was written by the same hand," he added.

Jacobovici has faced criticism much tougher than Pfann's academic critique. The film has been termed "archaeo-porn," and Jacobovici has been accused of "pimping the Bible."

Jacobovici attributes most of the criticism to scholars' discomfort with journalists "casting light into their ossuary monopoly."

"What we're doing is democratizing this knowledge, and this is driving some people crazy," he said.

[keita]

BECAUSE HE LIVES - Lost tomb, a farce

by Eddie Hyatt www.EddieHyatt.com

Email: [e-mail]


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Why “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” Film is a Farce


This Sunday, March 4, the Discovery Channel will air a so-called documentary produced by Hollywood filmmaker, David Cameron, entitled “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” In it Cameron presents so-called evidence that this tomb, near Jerusalem, holds the bones of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, their son, Judah, and others. Here are 7 reasons why the film is a farce.

1) David Cameron is an unbelieving Hollywood filmmaker whose goal is to produce exciting drama and make money, not to uncover and present historical fact.

2) This same tomb was deemed insignificant by the archaeologists who examined it at the time of its discovery in 1980. The district archeologist of Jerusalem, Amos Kloner, who oversaw the initial dig, says, "I don't accept the claim that this tomb was the burial place for the family of Jesus. They just want to get money for it."

3) The names on the caskets are all common names in 1st century Israel. Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Judah were very common names in 1st century Israel. They were like Michelle, Joyce, William and Robert in modern America. Our Lord was called Jesus of Nazareth to distinguish him from Jesus of Bethany and Jesus of Capernaum, etc. Kloner says of the tomb, "It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave. The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time."

4) All epigraphersadmit that the inscription of Jesus (Heb. Yeshua) on one of the caskets is difficult to decipher. Dr. Stephen Phann, of the University of the Holy Land, who has examined the caskets, thinks it is more likely the name "Hanun." Ancient Semitic script, he says, is notoriously difficult to decipher.

5) The so-called statistical probability for this being the tomb of Jesus is based on fallacious facts and reasoning. The so-called statistical experts consulted for the film have said that the chances are 600-1 that the tomb is that of Jesus and His family. Dr. Phann says, “This statement is based upon a number of fallacies and a general misuse of statistics.” He goes on to ask, "What database serves as the basis for establishing the probability of this claim? There are no surviving genealogies or records of family names in Judea and Galilee to make any statement concerning frequency of various personal names in families there. Only Jesus' genealogy appears to have survived, as presented in the Gospels."

6) This film ignores every historical record about Jesus. The 4 gospels, Acts and Paul’s letters have been established as authentic historical documents. They contain eyewitness accounts of Jesus, His life and resurrection. The film ignores this most authentic historical evidence. Jesus is also mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus and by Latin authors, such as Pliny the Younger, and Greek authors, such as Lucian. None of these ancient sources mention Jesus as having a wife or family other than his birth family.

7) Multiplied millions, from Paul to Augustine to Wesley to Moody to many of you and myself, have experienced the life transforming power that comes when one believes the Good News and puts his/her faith in the risen Lord and Savior—Jesus Christ. We can all testify, “Because He Lives!”