Posted on 10/29/2008 7:42:25 PM PDT by BGHater
A judge is set to throw out charges against experts accused of faking a stone box that claimed to offer the first physical proof of the existence of Christ - raising the possibility once again that it could be genuine.
The discovery of the 2,000-year-old ossuary, or bone box, bearing the words, 'James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus', was regarded as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries when it emerged nearly a decade ago.
Fake or genuine: Men accused of forging an inscription of the 'Jesus Box' could be released
The disputed inscription on the 'Jesus Box'
But other experts decided the inscription on the 'priceless' limestone artefact had been added at a later date.
It was dismissed as a fake and Israeli authorities began criminal investigations.
But yesterday a three-year forgery trial in Israel was close to collapse, reopening the possibility it might indeed be the only tangible evidence for the life of Jesus.
Jerusalem judge Aharon Farkash told prosecutors trying Israeli collector Oded Golan: 'Have you really proved beyond a reasonable doubt that these artefacts are fakes as charged in the indictment?
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
There’s no Biblical proof that the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph had a conjugal relationship.
“That’s stretching things”
Perhaps but as you point out the ossuarys ID relatives
therefore they don’t have things like sect identification (Nazarene) on them them.
I don’t find it hard to believe a man who witnessed this would call himself “Brother of Jesus”.
“stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.” Matthew 49
should be>
Thats stretching things
Perhaps but as you point out the ossuarys ID relatives therefore they dont have things like sect identification (Nazarene) on them.
I dont find it hard to believe a man who witnessed this would call himself Brother of Jesus.
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers. Matthew 49
Jacob (James) understood Jewish rhetoric and hyperbole better than most who read the Scriptures today. Anyway, where are all of the other ossuaries claiming to be the “brothers” of Yeshua?
I’ve just scoured my bible, and can find no proof that Joseph wiped after doing his business. Guess we can’t assume anything
but it adds a little to the Controversy that Jesus had a Brother named James.
When did the practice of identifying the deceased as Christian begin? At some early point it became standard practice. This ossuary might be an early example of an unusual practice for the time. Jewish ossuary burial was a short lived phenomenon. There really aren’t that many of them.
Bill Clinton.
Arthur (Conan) Doyle.
Again, you’re really stretching to avoid the obvious.
You could hardly expect a fair trial in Israel as to whether the box inscription is real or not. They would have to acknowledge that Jesus was real, something no Jew is about to do unless they are Christian Jews.
Don’t think so. Someone who can call himself a “brother of Jesus” at this point in history would be one of two sets; group 1-biologically affiliated or group 2- theologically affiliated. Group 1 has a small set size. Group 2 has a much larger set size. Then you have the small number of extant ossuaries. I think it’s more probable that the group with more members would be more likely to have a surviving ossuary than the group with fewer members.
BTW even if this is a bio-brother/cousin that says nothing about Mary. This ossuary can’t answer that question.
Based upon what evidence can you call out to trust you? There is a box, a literal object, what is your evidence it is not what it appears to be?
Totally agree this is what the Bible says... now in whose vested interest is it then this object be proved a fake?
That goes back to my question from earlier: Where are the other ossuaries with the title, “brother of Yeshua” written on them? You’re making a claim that this was a common practice in the 1st-2nd Century Church. Prove it.
Catholics tend to accept the find, but to try to explain away the inscription, as we've seen here.
Secularists, both Jew and Gentile, who have accepted the "Christ-myth" baloney are the ones the most threatened by this find.
Shalom.
So you have absolutely no evidence to back up your claim then?
Actually it’s you making a claim that there should be other ossuaries with the same inscription. The fact that a thousand or so ossuaries have survived this long is great but it in no way tells us how many there were to start.
I’m saying that there are various ways this can be interpreted but any interpretation has to be based on the culture and theology of the time (hopefully that will be hashed out in the universities). Plain sense readings of ancient scripts from extinct cultures is only one approach to interpretation. From my POV not a very good one.
You maybe correct regarding who feels most threatened. Original language of Scripture says what it says and ultimately we all will be judged individually upon what we individually believe, and there is no Scripture that says any one of us will get to blame anyone but ourselves for what we believe. Now I am aware that God did say he blinded some in this flesh age, for their own protection. Paul did say the preacher/priest class would be first in line for their works.
You're the one who, in order to preserve a much later tradition that is already disproven by the Biblical text, is trying to twist "brother" into "disciple."
The person with the plain-text interpretation is not the one who has to disprove anything. It is up to you, with your somewhat more esoteric interpretation of the inscription, to prove that this is a plausible and probable interpretation by providing other like inscriptions.
If you can't, admit it. If the find proves genuine and you still find it necessary for your faith to preserve an eternally-virgin Mary for the sake of your tradition, you can always appeal to the Eastern Orthodox tradition that Jacob, Jude, etc. were Joseph's children by a previous marriage.
Shalom.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.