TIME reports that names on ten burial caskets found near Jerusalem have been deciphered.
Let’s go back 27 years, when Israeli construction workers were gouging out the foundations for a new building in the industrial park in the Talpiyot, a Jerusalem suburb. of Jerusalem. The earth gave way, revealing a 2,000 year old cave with 10 stone caskets. Archologists were summoned, and the stone caskets carted away for examination. It took 20 years for experts to decipher the names on the ten tombs. They were: Jesua, son of Joseph, Mary, Mary, Mathew, Jofa and Judah, son of Jesua.
James Cameron is producing a new documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, detailing DNA tests and other findings proving that Jesus was not resurrected and he fathered a son with Mary Magdelene.
But film-makers Cameron and Jacobovici claim to have amassed evidence through DNA tests, archeological evidence and Biblical studies, that the 10 coffins belong to Jesus and his family.
The dirt is being flung both ways as are the puns. izzybee says, So does this mean that it’s nothing more than a cruci-fiction?
Some even took the time to write full manifestos on religious conflicts. From Bill Taylor, we have a 20 point essay, each point with its own sub-points.
Over on the New York Times Blog, Church authorities speak out:
But wherever the academics ultimately come down, there’s no mistaking where at least some members of the clergy already stand:
This is nothing more than a modern day circus sideshow,said The Rev. Schenk.At best it is pure presumption. At worst, it is pure chicanery.
From the comments, MARK KLEIN, M.D.: (yeah. i like all caps too.)
Mystifies me why our culture grasps at the thinnest of reeds to try to undermine the credibility and spirituality of the religious foundations of our civilization.
America’s devout Christian and Jewish communities are the last remnants of a once great civilization in which family stability and common sense still had widespread social currency.
Unless things very quickly, within a generation these communities will be gone with the wind.
MR. MARK KLEIN, M.D., we already know where you stand. I’ve got some nice seaside property in Kentucky to sell you. The most sensible variety of Christian, Mr. George C. Thomas, speaks about his practice of Christianity:
As practicing Christian, Cameron’s findings do not threaten my faith. I believe in the exemplary life and teachings of Jesus. The immaculate conception, the miracles and the ressurection are matters of faith and not fact. We can believe in Jesus without these articlers of faith. He still remains a remarkable man,
I wish this would truly abolish Christianity. It’s a lie more riddled with moth holes than your wedding gown. Sadly, it won’t destroy the faith. No living person will see the downfall of Christianity. It’s the faith that 79.28% of Americans hold as of 2001.
What I’d like to hear is the reaction of the Jewish or the Islamic communities to this. Are you going to make pronounced efforts to recruit Christians? Surely, some will convert after seeing the documentary.
The Reverend Bob Schenk said, A Hollywood director is the least qualified to render any determination of Biblical truth.
Why is he least qualified, Mr. Schenk? Because he represents a media outlet with moving pictures? According to a Globe and Mail article, Lakehead University’s Paleo-DNA laboratory was the source of the scientific analysis. I’d say it’s credibly backed. A study commissioned by James Tabor of religious department at the University of North Carolina places the odds at 42 million against there being more than one such combination of family names.
