Posted on 02/26/2007 8:41:03 AM PST by Clive
Oscar-winning director James Cameron defended on Monday his controversial new documentary, which claims that Jesus may have been buried with a wife and son, against charges the film was trying to undermine Christianity.
Instead, the documentary that claims the discovery of the tomb of Jesus Christ and his family celebrates their existence, Cameron said at a press conference announcing the documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus."
The message that Jesus delivered 2,000 years ago resounds even today, Cameron said.
"My feeling is that his message of compassion, humility, love and forgiveness is every bit as much needed now in this divisive, materialistic and war-torn world."
But church representatives and archeologists are rejecting the claims of a Canadian documentary filmmaker who says he has found the tomb of Jesus Christ and his family, a claim that would have profound implications for the Christian faith.
"I think this is more fanciful and absurd theorizing. Every Christian knows that Jesus, the son of God and man, died and rose again on Easter Sunday," said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesperson for the Catholic Church in New York, where the news conference on the discovery will be held on Monday.
"No alleged DNA test or Hollywood film is going to change that," he told the New York Post.
Cameron and Emmy-award winning Toronto filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici
say that the tomb of Jesus Christ and his family has been found, a claim that would have profound implications for the Christian faith.
"This has been a three-year journey that seems more incredible than fiction," the Jacobovici said earlier. "The idea of possibly finding the tomb of Jesus and several members of his family, with compelling scientific evidence, is beyond anything I could have imagined."
The film suggests that ossuaries once containing the bones of Jesus and his family are now stored in a warehouse belonging to the Israel Antiquities Authority in Bet Shemesh, outside Jerusalem.
The tomb where the remains were found was unearthed in the Talpiot neighbourhood of Jerusalem during the construction of an apartment building in 1980.
During the excavation, archeologists found 10 ossuaries and three skulls. Six of the ossuaries had names inscribed into them: Jesus son of Joseph, Judah son of Jesus, Maria, Mariamne, Joseph and Matthew.
At the time, the finding raised few alarms, as these had been common names at the time of Jesus.
Years later, a BBC crew that stumbled across the collection in a store room belonging to the Israeli Antiquities Authorities began work program that focused on the tomb.
Jacobovici's documentary uses scientific methods, including DNA testing, statistical analysis and forensic examination, not available to the BBC 11 years ago.
If the claims are correct, and the tombs belonged to the holiest family in Christendom, the discovery could shake the foundations of the Christian faith with the speculation that Jesus fathered a child with Mary Magdalene.
DNA tests conducted for the documentary at Lakehead University on two ossuaries -- one inscribed Jesus son of Joseph and the other Mariamne, or Mary -- confirm that the two were not related by blood, so they were likely married.
"Perhaps Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married as the DNA results from the Talpiot ossuaries suggest and perhaps their union was kept secret to protect a potential dynasty - a secret hidden through the ages," narrator Ron White says in the documentary.
"A secret we just may be able to uncover in the holy family tomb."
Traditional Christian beliefs maintain that Jesus was physically resurrected to heaven while more liberal interpretations have permitted for a spiritual ascension.
The claims follow years of growing interest in the private life of Jesus, fuelled by the 2003 Dan Brown novel "The Da Vinci Code," which was made into a movie last year.
In Brown's novel, which was denounced by church figures around the world, Jesus is said to have married Mary Magdalene and sired a daughter.
Jacobovici has said the findings should not threaten anyone's belief in the resurrection, as he does not argue that Jesus did not ascend to heaven at least spiritually.
But critics are already speaking out against the documentary's claims.
"It's a beautiful story but without any proof whatsoever," Amos Kloner, professor at Israel's Bar-Ilan University, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Kloner researched the tomb for the Israeli periodical Atiqot in 1996.
"The names . . . found on the tombs are names that are similar to the names of the family of Jesus. But those were the most common names found among Jews in the first centuries BCE (before the common era) and CE (common era)."
In The Lost Tomb, however, University of Toronto statistician Andre Feuerverger calculates that the chances of the names being found together are 600 to one.
He says that the Maria on one of the ossuaries is the mother of the Jesus found on another box, that Mariamne is his wife and that Joseph -- inscribed as the nickname Jose -- is his brother.
Jesus' mother was known after his death as Maria, the Latin form of Mary, as more Romans became followers. Mariamne is the Greek form of Mary. Mary Magdalene is believed to have spoken and preached in Greek. Jose was the nickname used for Jesus' little brother.
Furthermore, the tomb is the only site where ossuaries have been found with the names Mariamne and Jose, the documentary's creators claim.
Another famous ossuary, inscribed James son of Joseph brother of Jesus, is also featured in the documentary.
Of the 10 ossuaries found at Talpiot, one later went missing. Many experts have speculated the coffin is that of James, which was put on public display at the Royal Ontario Museum.
Furthermore, forensic testing of the patina on the Jesus ossuary and that of James concluded they came from the same tomb.
Feuerverger says that if James is added to the equation, there is a 30,000 to one chance that the Talpiot Tomb belonged to Jesus' family.
Another calculation, commissioned by James Tabor, chair of the department of religion studies at the University of North Carolina, puts the odds at one in 42 million.
Another researcher, whose work has focused on the Middle East, biblical anthropologist Joe Zias, has rejected the claims as "dishonest."
"It has nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus, he was known as Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus of Jerusalem, and if the family was wealthy enough to afford a tomb, which they probably weren't, it would have been in Nazareth, not here in Jerusalem," Zias told CBS.
The $4-million documentary will air on Canada's Vision TV on March 6 and two days earlier on Discovery U.S.
The companion book, "The Jesus Family Tomb" (HarperCollins) by Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino, has just been released.
Why hypothesize that? All of the names in question were quite common in first-century Judea.
I want a few of those pins ... and a couple of bumper stickers ... and at least a dozen coffee mugs with that wisdom on them so I can get the proper perspective in the mornin'. Where do I go to purchase them?
1. Joseph was a poor carpenter. Could he have afforded a tomb like this?
2. If this is the tomb of the Holy Family, why is it in Jerusalem and not in Galilee? Certainly, Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem and placed in a tomb owned by Joseph of Aramitheia. Even if his body were not raised and he was later placed in a "family tomb", why was his family placed there? As I understand Jewish burial customs, bodies are buried quickly, sometimes the same day. In those days, Nazareth was a long journey from Jerusalem. Transporting the body of a loved one for that distance could take several days and would be out of the question.
3. If most of the ossuaries were empty, how was enough DNA obtained to make an analysis and a match?
The fundamental issue is that Jesus was a Jew. That really irks Hollywood. Look for Cameron & Co to find some way to insert "...he was a palestinian..."
I'm paraphrasing here, but C.S. Lewis once said that if Jesus Christ were not in fact the risen Lord, then he was surely a crackpot.
In other words, it would be impossible, by His own words and deeds, to ever be construed as merely "a wise man". He must be taken as either the Savior or a nutcase--no safe middle ground.
Lewis talked about this in some depth in "Mere Christianity".
A friend of mine worked on "The Abyss." Everyone on the crew called it, "The Abuse."
I think the give-away is that they were found in the family tomb of BarKinko's,.....just look for the barKinko receipt...
Ahhh,...they're really going to be surprised when they discover He is much more present tense than past tense.
I hope they find out before the first death. Finding Him is much simpler than they are making it out to be....
LOL!
That movie sucked, too.
Jesus had to be buried before sundown. The rest of His family would have been buried elsewhere.
Silly.
1) It's just taken as a given in this piece that Jesus had a little brother, Jose -- never heard of this before.
2) It seems unlikely that any tomb of THAT Jesus would have been labeled -- the apostles would have been trying to COVER UP their lies about the resurrection if Jesus were in fact rotting somewhere, don't you think?
Isn't it more likely that even if we're dealing with the same Mary, James, etc, we are not dealing with the same Jesus?
cookcounty wrote: "Discovery, the National Geographic and others constantly speak in the name of "science" and the "scientific community" with no apparent objection from the scientists themselves."
These networks and shows are very careful to use terms like, "might be" or "possibly was" when they state their positions.
I'm reminded of a show on the History Channel about flight. They theorized the ancient Egyptians might have known about the principles of flight. Apparently someone found a bird-shaped toy in one tomb. The show proved it was flyable by making "minor" alterations, such as adding control surfaces and a rudder. The show was very careful to say, "the Egyptians MIGHT have known about flight." Well, duh.
These shows explore possibilities but ignore the most obvious explanations. Occam's Razor: the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible. In the case of the Egyptian toy, the most obvious explanation is it's a toy bird, made to look similar to real birds.
In the case of this tomb show, I detect a bit more enthusiasm than typical. I suspect Cameron and other nonbelievers are overjoyed to explore remote possibilities, especially when bashing Christian beliefs.
Shirley, you jest.
I have watched a lot of forums today - Freepers, RaptureReady, ChristianForum.com et el.....and nowhere am I seeing anyone saying they are going to call or write or even email a protest to the Discovery Channel....am I the only one?
Cameron can spend his own, or his investors' money and make a documentary about anything he wants. It doesn't make it true, and if someone is a strong Christian, the contentions in the film won't change any beliefs.
What a load.
Since he was buried in another tomb for the brief period he was dead, perhaps the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, this was definitely not his tomb.
They would not have been buried in Jerusalem anyway.
These names were very common during that time, and the idea that the odds are 600 to 1 or 30,000 to one is nonsense. No doubt many, many families had relatives with all the names in question.
Hope Cameron is getting a sinking feeling.
Great point.
If this was scientific, they would have proven that this was the correct Jesus.
Showing a genetic link between the bones is only going part of the way.
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