Posted on 02/26/2007 2:03:46 PM PST by SirLinksalot
Scorn poured on James Cameron's 'coffin of Christ' theory
Archaeologists and biblical scholars have poured scorn on a Hollywood film director's sensational claim that he has discovered the coffin of Jesus Christ.
Oscar-winning 'Titanic' director James Cameron's assertion that the bones of Jesus and his family were hidden for centuries in a Jerusalem tomb caused an outcry in the Holy Land.
Even a British archeologist who worked with Cameron, Dr. Shimon Gibson, admitted he's "sceptical" about the claims that challenge some of the central tenets of Christianity.
The very fact that Jesus had a grave would contradict the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven.
'The Lost Tomb of Christ', a documentary set to air on Channel Four next month, argues that ten ancient ossuaries, small caskets used to store bones, which were found when bulldozers flattened a Jerusalem suburb in 1980, may have contained the remains of Jesus and his wife and child.
One of the caskets even bears the title, 'Judah, son of Jesus,' which Cameron claims as evidence that Jesus may have had a son. Another coffin was said to hold the bones of Mary Magdalene, also known as 'Mariamne'.
Cameron unveiled two of the small limestone caskets at a press conference in New York, but the director could offer little proof to support his claims, other than the mathematical probability of a tomb containing a set of ossuaries with names linked to Jesus.
Of the ten ossuaries found, six were inscribed with the names of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Mary Magdalene, as well as Judah, Son of Jesus, and a Matthew, of which there were many in Mary's family, according to Luke 3:23.
Critics said all the names were commonplace in Biblical times.
Apparently surprised at the hostility over his 'discovery', the director who famously claimed to be 'the king of the world' when he won an Oscar for Titanic, insisted it was not a publicity stunt and said his critics should wait and see the film.
"I'm not a theologist. I'm not an archaeologist. I'm a documentary filmmaker," he said.
Dr. Gibson, who was one of the first people to examine the caskets 27 years ago, now says: "Entering the tomb in 1980 I didn't imagine this would become such an international focus.
"These are typical stone caskets from the first century. There are a lot of aspects that need to be looked at. A lot of new research has to be done. I'm sceptical."
Even Cameron, pushed to support his claims, said statisticians found "in the range of a couple of million to one in favor of it being them."
Most Christians believe Jesus' body spent three days at the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City. The burial site identified in Cameron's documentary is in a southern Jerusalem neighborhood nowhere near the church.
Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television.
"They just want to get money for it," Kloner said. "It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave," he added. "The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time."
"The historical, religious and archaeological evidence show that the place where Christ was buried is the Church of the Resurrection," said Attallah Hana, a Greek Orthodox clergyman in Jerusalem.
Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem who was interviewed in the documentary, said the film's hypothesis holds little weight.
"I don't think that Christians are going to buy into this," he said. "But sceptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear."
"How possible is it?" he added. "On a scale of one through ten, with ten being completely possible, it's probably a one, maybe a one and a half."
Pfann is even unsure that the name Jesus on the caskets was read correctly. He thinks it is more likely the name Hanun. Ancient Semitic script is notoriously difficult to decipher.
Cameron spent two years working with a team of experts to make the controversial film. Director Simcha Jacobovici told the press conference: "For millions of readers, the Da Vinci Code was a fantasy, a fiction. Here is a Judah, son of Jesus, next to a Jesus and a Mariamne."
I think it's time for Christians to play hard-ball when the annual "Debunk the Bible" books and movies come out between Lent and Easter. We need to let it be known that we will boycott Fox if they put these enemies of Christianity on their shows, as Shep and Cavuto have done today, with Sean sure to follow. I know no self-respecting Christian watches CNN, but Larry King loves to put these authors and producers on his show. Every sponsor of the TV special should be boycotted permanently.
To the argument that this is news and must be covered, someone should inform these clowns that the BBC did a special on this tomb find in 1997...hardly a current topic.
We don't have to slit anyone's throat, as the Muslims would do if anyone disrespected Mohammed, but we can refuse to support the purveyors of blasphemy against Jesus with our money.
"How about a documentary about the life of Mohammed?
Nope... there's no prophet in it.
_____________________________
Speaking of prophet....
Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television.
"They just want to get money for it," Kloner said. "It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave," he added. "The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time."
Hey Cameron, I am a proctologist, so "up yours!"/sarcasm on.
Heh.
Is there a consensus among sober archeologists as to the translation of the words actually engraved on the ossuaries?
That summed it up pretty well.
At the end of a long, hard, bad day at work - I needed that joke.
So they have DNA. Just who, or what are you going to match it too? Hummmmm. They've already "proven" that the Shroud of Torin was a fake, no DNA there. Where are you going to get a sample of Jesus Christ's DNA for a match? Tell me that!
I thought the term was "theologian" not "theologist".
What fools these "celebrities" are.
I don't believe this crap for a second.
But there is another angle to this too: Let's accept, merely for the sake of argument, that this is exactly what Cameron says it is, and that it disproves the ressurection. OK, now ask yourself, what kind of human being would be so mean-spirited as to publicize it and utterly destroy the lives of millions and millions of good people -- some of whom have nothing else going for them -- whose sense of peace, joy and hope depend on their faith in the resurrection of Christ?
You owe me a Starbuck's, dude.....and a new keyboard.
Yes, he was buried. He just didn't stay buried.
How would you know that?
I got news for James Cameron, even bigger news than his latest faux discovery, and that is: Jesus is alive and well, sitting at the right hand side of God the Father Almighty, and I just talked to him this morning.
And I might add, a few years ago I was struck from behind while driving down an interstate highway on night, a half ton truck was running with no lights on, I never saw him coming, I was running about 60, he hit me about 90+ according to the highway patrol. I was knocked into the shoulder, came back across the highway, into the median, went airborne, flipped, rolled and landed on the other side of the interstate. I tried to regain control of my car, but there was nothing left to control. My last words were 'Lord Jesus save me!' and I walked away with injuries, some serious injuries, but I walked away from a wreck the cops said I should not have survived. I had broken ribs, almost lost my right eye, fractured left wrist, I was a mess.
But that Scripture that says 'whosoever calleth upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved' was never more true, and in a further demonstration of how God had that night firmly under His control, there was an operating room nurse 5 minutes behind me on her way to work at the hospital I would end up being taken to, she stopped to assist. The highway patrol was about 5 to 10 minutes behind her, and if that isn't enough, an ambulance was coming my way from the other direction, having just finished a patient transfer to the very hospital I needed to go to. They stopped as well.
I was in the emergency room in record time. My eye healed up, my left wrist is healed up 100 percent and I'm back playing piano as well as I ever did, my ribs are sore sometimes, but basically ok.
Not only did the Lord Jesus deliver me from certain death, He demonstrated why He is also called 'The Great Physician', and I am alive and well because of Him.
So James Cameron better rethink what he thinks he's found, because the tomb of the Jesus *I* know is *EMPTY*, because He arose, and lives Forevermore.
Amen!
I've heard of her being referred to by that name.
How could they have found her bones in Jerusalem though, Dan Brown said she died in secret in France or someplace.
While I agree completely that this is just a hype to promote a show, and agree that there is no yet known way of distinguishing among the many named Jesus or Mary or Marianne, I can't help but wonder about the mindset of the believers. Suppose, at some time in the future, real and provable evidence of Jesus's death and burial were to be revealed. Would science rule the day? Or would faith rule the day? Would Christians rally round their long established truths? Or would they seek some new adaptation of their old beliefs? Fascinating thoughts.
LOL, if they did one they would not use the Koran as a script.
This particular brand of anti-christ is just out to make a buck.
Whoops. Wrong religion.
"Love your enemies and bless those who curse you."
No one ever said being a Christian would be easy..
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