Posted on 11/01/2002 10:45:35 AM PST by Polycarp
COMMENTARY
A Discovery That's Just Too Perfect
Claims that stone box held remains of Jesus' brother may be suspect.
By Robert Eisenman Robert Eisenman is the author of "James the Brother of Jesus" (Penguin, 1998) and a professor of Middle East religions and archeology at Cal State Long Beach.
October 29 2002
James, the brother of Jesus, was so well known and important as a Jerusalem religious leader, according to 1st century sources, that taking the brother relationship seriously was perhaps the best confirmation that there ever was a historical Jesus. Put another way, it was not whether Jesus had a brother, but rather whether the brother had a "Jesus."
Now we are suddenly presented with this very "proof": the discovery, allegedly near Jerusalem, of an ossuary inscribed in the Aramaic language used at that time, with "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." An ossuary is a stone box in which bones previously laid out in rock-cut tombs, such as those in the Gospels, were placed after they were retrieved by relatives or followers.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/11/01/jesus.inscription.ap/index.html
Are we talking about this pic?
Actually, it looks doctored to me. The resolution seems crisper on the inscription, and the highlights are too bright and the shadows too dark, when compared to the surface of the ossuary.
The rock face is smother and brighter at the top left of the pic and darker and more pitted at the bottom right. Yet the brightest highlights and darkest shadows are in the middle, on the inscription.
I think that's more a testimony to Photoshop than the freshness (one way or the other) of the inscription. I could be wrong.
YOU GUYS ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS....JUST FOUND ON CNN WEBPAGE :
TORONTO, Canada (AP) -- An ancient limestone burial box that may be the oldest archaeological link to Jesus has been damaged in transit from Israel to Canada, Royal Ontario Museum officials said Friday. "There is some consultation going on right now," said Marilynne Friedman, senior publicist for the Royal Ontario Museum.
She said the ossuary arrived at the museum in "a damaged state" but didn't know the degree of damage or where in transit it occurred.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/11/01/jesus.inscription.ap/index.html
My point is more general. You should not assume that everything is in the Bible. You are not a Muslim and Bible is not Koran.
The Church is not based on the Bible but Bible is based on the Church. Old Testament was written by the Church ie by the Jews. New Testament was written by the New Church - early Christians. But not everything is included there - for example "there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written."(Jn:21:25)
If the inscription was recently carved, could that have resulted in cracks appearing slightly later?
I, and every other Evangelical Christian could not possibly disagree with you more.
The Bible is the rock solid foundation of everything we believe. It's the check and balance against ALL FALSE RELIGION.
The reason I'm not a Jehovah Witness or Christian Scientist or Mormon OR ROMAN CATHOLIC is because what they say does not hold up against the Bible.
Look at the epic struggle I had today with catholic apologist Polycarp trying to get him to simply state what he believes regarding a man named James. He couldn't/wouldn't do it.
The Bible is God's gift to the World because, to put it somewhat crassly, it cuts through all the B.S. that the world tries to sling. No false religion can stand up to the Bible. Thank God.
Luther, and other Protestants, relied upon Jewish rabbinical tradition to establish the proper texts of the Old Testament.
Sorry, but Job, Hebrews and James are all in our Bibles. Tobit, Judith, 1st Maccabbees, 2nd Maccabees, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus and Baruch are the books The Jewish tradition did not include in canonical scripture, which tradition has been followed by Protestants.
A question:
Do you believe that the Church is "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1Tm:3:15)?
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