Posted on 10/23/2002 3:47:09 PM PDT by knighthawk
The most remarkable aspect of the discovery of a 1st century ossuary in Jerusalem is the sobriety with which the news of possibly the first non-Biblical attestation of Christ has been greeted. Despite the startling inscription engraved on the limestone box's side -- "James, Son of Joseph, Brother of Jesus" -- international scholars are calmly debating the matter and refusing to get drawn into excited speculation. Good.
To this end, the Geological Survey of Israel is microscopically examining the chisel marks (are they authentic?); statisticians are estimating how many of the 40,000 men living in ancient Jerusalem were not only named James, Joseph and Jesus, but were related (three sets, apparently); and linguists are debating the exact, contemporary meaning of the word "brother."
This is archaeology as it is meant to be: detached, expert scholars engaging in a search for objective truth. It is worth comparing such an "old-fashioned" approach with that nowadays adopted by many activist "academics" who proudly declare they politicize facts (sorry, "facts") to serve their ends. Truth, for them, does not exist, so it becomes acceptable to pervert scholarship to advance the "progressive agenda."
It is a practice unfortunately not confined to the academy. In recent years, the Palestinian Authority's "archaeologists" have devoted a great deal of time to, of all things, disproving any Jewish link to Jerusalem or Israel. The aim is to strengthen Yasser Arafat's hand in claiming Jerusalem as his capital.
So it happens that the PA Director of Antiquities says there is no record of Judaism before Jesus (we are not making this up) and that a 6th century synagogue (complete with mosaics of the Holy Ark, menorahs and Hebrew writing) is a "church." The PA's Planning Ministry omits any mention of Jews, Judaism, the Bible or the Temple in its literature on Jerusalem, while PA officials bizarrely contend that no first or second Temple ever existed. When asked, then, what he made of Rome's famous Arch of Titus, which was built to commemorate the Second Temple's destruction, the chief PA archaeologist/denier said: "I've never seen it."
Granted, the sheer dishonesty and self-deception of politicized archaeology can be breathtaking, but we prefer to wait breathlessly for the findings of real scholars as they discover more about this intriguing ossuary.
"The mosaic floor of an ancient synagogue in the small island of Aegina, near Athens, probably dating from 400 BCE, the ruins of a synagogue in the island of Delos (near Mykonos), a 5th Century BCE " menorah " and a " lulav " carved on marble, found in the Ancient Agora of Athens (adjacent to Acropolis), an inscription dated 300 B.C. saying " Moschos, son of Moschion the Jew " found in Oropos (small coastal town between Athens and Boeotia) are only a few of the relics that witness the fact that Jewish presence in Greece has been in existence for over 2.400 years and maybe more. "
Found here.
It would be laughable but...
Don't matter if a thing is true or not, as long as you believe...hmm, sounds like worship of a false god to me.
The claims by Moslems that the Jews did not have their Temple in Jerusalem, or that Bethlehem was the home of their Davidic line of kings, etc., should not only offend Jews but should also alarm Christians. If the Arabs are successful in displacing the Jews while making these arguments, then they will argue further that New Testament events didn't happen in the Holy Land either - that if Jerusalem didn't have the Temple, then it wasn't there that Jesus drove out the money changers, or rode in on Palm Sunday, or dragged his cross through the streets. The arguments used today to drive out Jews will be used tomorrow to drive out Christians.
When Jesus chased the money changers out of the Temple, they all ran over to the Al Aqsa mosque to set up shop.
In my best Cheech and Chong patois! heh heh!
I see. So, the Jews are a Christian plot. My, but we infidels are a sneeky lot.
I hate it when they catch us doing that.
No, we know who's making stuff up ;o)
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