Film claims discovery of nails from Jesus's cross

YahooNews.com ^ | 04/12/2011 | Ari Rabinovitch

[OldDeckHand]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Could two of the nails used to crucify Jesus have been discovered in a 2,000-year-old tomb in Jerusalem?

And could they have mysteriously disappeared for 20 years, only to turn up by chance in a Tel Aviv laboratory?

That is the premise of the new documentary film "The Nails of the Cross" by veteran investigator Simcha Jacobovici, which even before its release has prompted debate in the Holy Land.

The film follows three years of research during which Jacobovici presents his assertions -- some based on empirical data, others requiring much imagination and a leap of faith.

He hails the find as historic, but most experts and scholars contacted by Reuters dismissed his case as far-fetched, some calling it a publicity stunt.

[OldDeckHand]

One of the dozens of these kinds of "finds" in the last 50-years alone - FYI.

[circlecity]

After his trip to the Vatican, Martin Luther commented that he saw enough “nails from the cross” to shoe every horse in Europe.

[April Lexington]

Interesting how these amazing artifacts always seem to go missing for a few decades and then end up in the hands of an antiques dealer in Egypt or Jordan...I had better check my basement to see what I can find!

[sr4402]

Folks will come out to Worship the Nails. Mankind is an idol factory - they will worship anything other than the Lord God unless there is a compulsion like Salvation to do so.

[Alex Murphy]

After his trip to the Vatican, Martin Luther commented that he saw enough “nails from the cross” to shoe every horse in Europe.

That's a lot of nails. Maybe the Romans used extra nails, because Jesus wouldn't stay on the cross?

[justice14]

Folks will come out to Worship the Nails. Mankind is an idol factory - they will worship anything other than the Lord God unless there is a compulsion like Salvation to do so.

Very true. And very sad as well. People are always searching for something. It's evident everyday throughout the world.

[freepguy]

Thats Arnold after his 7th Mr. Olympia! I’m serious!

[Blue Turtle]

...next on Pawn Stars! Will the old man make a deal for the divine nails?

[dangus]

>> After his trip to the Vatican, Martin Luther commented that he saw enough “nails from the cross” to shoe every horse in Europe. <<

Funny thing is, Luther never discovered that the Vatican wasn’t in Rome. That’s right: It’s across the river from the ancient city of Rome, making “Pilgrim’s Progress” and the phrase “crossing the Tiber” kinda funny.

Luther never went to Rome. He just needed every form of vicious slander Satan could dream up for him.

Now, Erasmus stated similarly that if every relic of the True Cross were really from the Cross, the Jews must’ve cleared every Cedar in the Forests of Lebanon. There are splinters of the cross in literally hundreds of churches. The splinters weigh a fraction of a gram, typically. The cross probably weighed 100 kg, or 100,000 grams. Luther was a slanderer; Erasmus was a fool.

[ErnBatavia]

Simcha Jacobovici

"The Naked Archaeologist" is kind of a fun program to watch occasionally.

[dangus]

Just fact-checking my previous statement, I found this:

“There is no abbey so poor as not to have a specimen. In some places there are large fragments, as at the Holy Chapel in Paris, at Poitiers, and at Rome, where a good-sized crucifix is said to have been made of it. In brief, if all the pieces that could be found were collected together, they would make a big ship-load. Yet the Gospel testifies that a single man was able to carry it.”
— Calvin, Traité Des Reliques.

Conflicting with this is the finding of Charles Rohault de Fleury, who, in his Mémoire sur les instruments de la Passion 1870 made a study of the relics in reference to the criticisms of Calvin and Erasmus. He drew up a catalogue of all known relics of the True Cross showing that, in spite of what various authors have claimed, the fragments of the Cross brought together again would not reach one-third that of a cross which has been supposed to have been three or four meters in height, with transverse branch of two meters wide, proportions not at all abnormal. He calculated: supposing the Cross to have been of pine-wood (based on his microscopic analysis of the fragments) and giving it a weight of about seventy-five kilograms, we find the original volume of the cross to be .178 cubic meters. The total known volume of known relics of the True Cross, according to his catalogue, amounts to approximately .004 cubic meters (more specifically 3,942,000 cubic millimeters), leaving a volume of .174 cubic meters lost, destroyed, or otherwise unaccounted for

(For the record, the Rohault wasn’t perfect, either: The splinters that have been found to have been olive, not pine.)

[circlecity]

Luther’s battle against popery was a battle against Satan not for him.

[massgopguy]

Three trees stood on a hill outside Jerusalem. They pondered their future. The first tree said, I wish to be made into a Treasure chest and hold the wealth of nations. The second tree said, I wish to be made into a mighty sailing ship and carry those kings across the ocean sea. The third said, I never want to be cut down. I want people to look up at my truck and branches and behold me. One day, three carpenters came to chop them down. The first said, I will take this tree and fashion a fine Treasure Chest. The first tree was overjoyed. The second woodsman said, I will fashion the planks for the ships that sail to Rome. The second tree was equally please. The third woodsman said, I will take this tree for stock in the Lumber Yard. The third tree was horrified. Some time later, the first tree lamented being a feed through in a manger for livestock. One night a Star shone into him, illuminating a child who had just been born. Kings came to worship the child. The first tree said, “This child is worth more than all the wealth of nations.” Some years later, the second tree lamented being a small fishing boat, where the smell from the years of fish sickened him. One day a storm was raised and the fishermen were afraid as he was. Till one of the men stood in the boat and said “be still”. And the storm and sea were calm. The second tree said, “There is no king of this world who can calm the sea with a word.” A short time later, the third tree was alarmed when soldiers grabbed his planks and nailed a man to him on a hill.............

[freepertoo]

massgopguy, this answer isn’t to you, I’m just tacking onto the end of the last post!

The nails aren’t the issue...the man on the cross is. It never ceases to amaze me that people want to worship the relics and not God.

[Bringbackthedraft]

Ya gotta love this stuff. I have the original pistol that Hitler shot himself with. I’d be willing to sell it for the right price, limited 2 per buyer. you must act quickly. For the first 100 buyers we will throw in the original poison capsule used by Eva Braun. (That is what discoveries like these remind me of.)

[Anti-Bubba182]

Simcha is entertaining, but this is no subject for a schlockumentary.

[Joe Boucher]

Yeah I needs to get busy making some ancient relics to sell myself.

[Revolting cat!]

Nobody is worshiping the relics, the Catholics are in this regard smarter than the holy rollers mocking them.

[count-your-change]

Lead plates, ossuaries, pomegranates and now “the actual nails”. There's always a shekel to be made from the hopeful.

[Svartalfiar]

You don’t have any property in Arizona? Mayhaps with a nice ocean view?