Posted on 02/26/2007 2:03:46 PM PST by SirLinksalot
Scorn poured on James Cameron's 'coffin of Christ' theory
Archaeologists and biblical scholars have poured scorn on a Hollywood film director's sensational claim that he has discovered the coffin of Jesus Christ.
Oscar-winning 'Titanic' director James Cameron's assertion that the bones of Jesus and his family were hidden for centuries in a Jerusalem tomb caused an outcry in the Holy Land.
Even a British archeologist who worked with Cameron, Dr. Shimon Gibson, admitted he's "sceptical" about the claims that challenge some of the central tenets of Christianity.
The very fact that Jesus had a grave would contradict the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven.
'The Lost Tomb of Christ', a documentary set to air on Channel Four next month, argues that ten ancient ossuaries, small caskets used to store bones, which were found when bulldozers flattened a Jerusalem suburb in 1980, may have contained the remains of Jesus and his wife and child.
One of the caskets even bears the title, 'Judah, son of Jesus,' which Cameron claims as evidence that Jesus may have had a son. Another coffin was said to hold the bones of Mary Magdalene, also known as 'Mariamne'.
Cameron unveiled two of the small limestone caskets at a press conference in New York, but the director could offer little proof to support his claims, other than the mathematical probability of a tomb containing a set of ossuaries with names linked to Jesus.
Of the ten ossuaries found, six were inscribed with the names of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Mary Magdalene, as well as Judah, Son of Jesus, and a Matthew, of which there were many in Mary's family, according to Luke 3:23.
Critics said all the names were commonplace in Biblical times.
Apparently surprised at the hostility over his 'discovery', the director who famously claimed to be 'the king of the world' when he won an Oscar for Titanic, insisted it was not a publicity stunt and said his critics should wait and see the film.
"I'm not a theologist. I'm not an archaeologist. I'm a documentary filmmaker," he said.
Dr. Gibson, who was one of the first people to examine the caskets 27 years ago, now says: "Entering the tomb in 1980 I didn't imagine this would become such an international focus.
"These are typical stone caskets from the first century. There are a lot of aspects that need to be looked at. A lot of new research has to be done. I'm sceptical."
Even Cameron, pushed to support his claims, said statisticians found "in the range of a couple of million to one in favor of it being them."
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.
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. "It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave," he added. "The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time."
"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.
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," he said. "But sceptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear."
"How possible is it?" he added. "On a scale of one through ten, with ten 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 is more likely the name Hanun. Ancient Semitic script is notoriously difficult to decipher.
Cameron spent two years working with a team of experts to make the controversial film. Director Simcha Jacobovici told the press conference: "For millions of readers, the Da Vinci Code was a fantasy, a fiction. Here is a Judah, son of Jesus, next to a Jesus and a Mariamne."
ooooooooh . . . . you could be shot for that.
Literally.
Or beheaded.
TS
Have a nice day.
Blahmen.
True. He is risen!
I just feel it real strong down in my bones that this is all a bunch of "hokum" and wishful thinking among Christian haters. . also, the Bible speaks to this clearly, so I won't be spending any time or money on any movies or anything about it.
He is Risen indeed!
Actually only the Gospel of Mark would have been written by the time of the death of the alleged son.
Most scholars date the other gospels in the second and third centuries. Mark is believed to be the only Gospel writer to have lived in the time of any eye witnesses.
The question I wish to see answered in the “documentary” is; we know for sources out side of the Bible that Jesus was crucified, do the bones in the ossuary of this Jesus show the evidence of the wounds inherent in this documented death?
If they do not then all of this is just hype.
I'm not a theologist. I'm not an archaeologist. I'm a documentary filmmaker," he said.
And Michael Moore said the same thing. And HE IS A LIAR AS WELL.
Documentary. More like PackALiesAmentary
Is Camaron related to King James I of England? They're both named "James", after all.
("Jesus" is one rendering of the Hebrew name "Y'shua". The other rendering is the oh-so-exotic "Joshua".)
Here we go again. The left will do anything possible to destroy Christianity.
I swear I heard on the radio they were going to do DNA testing on the bones. And compare it to what?
That's my point. Where are the documentaries proclaiming Mohammed was a hoax? Maybe they aren't done because the producers don't want to be the subject of a Fatwah.
I also point out the hypocracy of the Christ-deniers who have spent decades trying to prove that there was no Jesus and now are perfectly willing to claim there *was* a Jesus so long as you believe He was a mere mortal.
The only good coming from this is that a few may be curious enough to find the truth and realize how the liberal left has lied to them yet again.
hypocrisy. Hypocracy is "government by hypocrites".
Now we're getting into chain-of-custody problems. When the burial cave was first discovered, some 20 years ago, the bones were removed from the ossuaries. Cameron & his partner never actually dealt with the bones -- only residual fragments. I would think that the Israeli government is directly in charge of the remains.
One would think that at the very least photographs would be available.
If they have not even written detailed reports of the condition of the bones then all they have is supposition to support their claims.
They appear to have less ground to stand on than the Bible supporters. Bible at least has the written reports of unbiased individuals.
I've boycotted Fox News ever since they've gone into constant pop-trash-culture reporting mode. CNN, with Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs, is better than phony conservative Sean Vanity and arrogant, jerk O'Reilly. O'Reilly said that anyone who doesn't believe in global warming is stupid, and he's pro-gun control and anti-SUV. You've also got Gretta "the scientologist" with her constant missing pretty white girl stories. FNC has become a joke.
thanks go to GoLightly and xcamel for compiling the list (thus far) of such topics:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1789769/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1789966/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1790456/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1790579/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1790608/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1790818/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1790884/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1790953/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791244/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1791251/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791352/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791365/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791383/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791513/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791544/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791583/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791588/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791610/posts
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Hey maybe King of the world Cameron can find Jimmy Hoffa.
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