Posted on 02/26/2007 7:39:12 AM PST by Mr. Brightside
Scholars, clergy slam Jesus documentary
By MARSHALL THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer
35 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - Archaeologists and clergymen in the Holy Land derided claims in a new documentary produced by the Oscar-winning director James Cameron that contradict major Christian tenets. "The Lost Tomb of Christ," which the Discovery Channel will run on March 4, argues that 10 ancient ossuaries — small caskets used to store bones — discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the Discovery Channel.
One of the caskets even bears the title, "Judah, son of Jesus," hinting that Jesus may have had a son. And the very fact that Jesus had an ossuary would contradict the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven.
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.
In 1996, when the BBC aired a short documentary on the same subject, archaeologists challenged the claims. 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.
The claims have raised the ire of Christian leaders in the Holy Land.
"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. The documentary, he said, "contradicts the religious principles and the historic and spiritual principles that we hold tightly to."
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," Pfann said. "But skeptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear."
"How possible is it?" Pfann said. "On a scale of one through 10 — 10 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's more likely the name "Hanun."
Kloner also said the filmmakers' assertions are false.
"It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave," Kloner said. "The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time."
Archaeologists also balk at the filmmaker's claim that the James Ossuary — the center of a famous antiquities fraud in Israel — might have originated from the same cave. In 2005, Israel charged five suspects with forgery in connection with the infamous bone box.
"I don't think the James Ossuary came from the same cave," said Dan Bahat, an archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University. "If it were found there, the man who made the forgery would have taken something better. He would have taken Jesus."
Although the documentary makers claim to have found the tomb of Jesus, the British Broadcasting Corporation beat them to the punch by 11 years.
Osnat Goaz, a spokeswoman for the Israeli government agency responsible for archaeology, declined to comment before the documentary was aired.
---"Pfann is even unsure that the name "Jesus" on the caskets was read correctly. He thinks it's more likely the name "Hanun."---
Heh heh heh. Well, since it's SOOOO clear.....
This whole Jesus bones story is such a joke.
The same guy who made the sign for the Iraqi "baby milk factory" is the guy who carved the names into the ossuaries.
The "bones of Christ" yet another of the "holy grails" that spawn secret societies, and information that remained secret for 1,000's of years now comes to light.
Like I had said in another thread, efforts to attack the Lord are becoming a regular Lenten staple.
Good information? Since when is inaccurate speculation and outright lies good information? As God warned, "Beware of false prohets".
What are you talking about?
Why are they caling it a "documentary"? It isn't.
We had a call to arms in our church this last weekend over this. Our pastor issued an edict to "kill the infidel filmmakers wherever you find them" to shouts of "Praise the Lord!" and "Amen, Brother!"
Then we went into the parking lot and fired AR-15s and Mini-14s into the air.
/sarcasm
I'm sure Christ was the ONLY man named "Jesus" ever in world history until someone in Mexico in the 1800s got the idea to name her son
"He thinks it's more likely the name "Hanun."---"
It's probably Hershal, my great great great and so on grandad. Grannie henpecked him to death and the brothers died of ulcers. The only one to flee was Mariam and she wound up in Schwabach, Germany.
(Hey, If Cameron can come up with a fairytale, so can I. At least my family was Jewish!)
Jesus was a very common name in the Hebrew culture of Christ. So a name on a box is weak indeed. And given the Romans and the Pharisees great need to make sure that Jesus was dead and buried I think we would have known this about 2,000 years ago instead of suddenly discovered by the director of Titanic.
I would file this under liberal fantasy with the other religion of the left, global warming.
"I'm sure Christ was the ONLY man named "Jesus" ever in world history..."
Nope. Check the Old Testament. Lots of Jesus' there. Just not THE Christ.
It will be interesting to see how this is portrayed in the Hollywood press.
Hanun? How does he get Iesus from Hanun? Bunch of heathen!
Probably as informative as AlGorezera's movie.
Christianity is the only religion founded on an historical event: The Resurrection. In 2000 years, beginning the day it happened, there have been numerous nonsensical and illogical attmepts to explain the empty tomb. The is merely the latest. Many skeptics hostile to the gospel account have investigated it and have come away believers. Maybe those who see this "documentary" will too.
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