Jesus Family Tomb

[zartan]

Has anybody seen the documentary or read the book about the archaeological discovery of a tomb that possibly belonged to Jesus and his family?

I read the book recently, and it did a good job of convincing me that the evidence is worth consideration. Basically, in 1980 a bulldozer uncovered a tomb (a common occurence), and construction stopped until archaeologists could recover the ossuaries within (little bone coffins that can primarily be traced to the first century). These ossuaries were quite unusual because their inscriptions were a cluster of biblical names: Jesus, son of Joseph, two Marys, Joseph, and Matthew. The two names that distracted the archaeologist from leaping to conclusions were that one Mary was actually written in Greek as Mariemne (thus not Magdelene as some conspirators might theorize), and the other was an ossuary with the inscription "Judah, son of Jesus", and we all know that Jesus never had a child. Or did he?

The filmmaker Simcha started piecing together some of the information, and made a startling discovery- Mariemne was the name assigned to Mary Magdelene in the lost gospel of Philip. In this gospel, this female disciple of Jesus travels to Greece to spread the word of Christianity. So now we have a Greek connection to the Greek inscription on the ossuary. Keep in mind that the filmmakers didn't force this connection; it was just the missing link that they needed to go further in their theory that this may be Jesus' tomb.

There are all kinds of other bits of evidence that people are trying to pick apart. The truth is that the names in the tomb are all very common, but the cluster of names and their connections to the bible make the probablility of this being a possible Jesus tomb a conservative estimate of 600:1. There have been all kinds of attempts to discredit that ratio, but nothing that changes the facts of the arrived at probablility.

So, that leaves us with lots of questions, an interesting story, and all kinds of exciting theories concerning arguably the most important man in history.

So, what do you think?

[Digger]

I've seen the Documentary, but haven't read the book. The documentary on television was amazing. I don't understand how someone could just say 'you have to stop digging here' when the evidence is that overwhelming, but I can also see how some people could say 'you've got to stop digging here' as well.

I'm currently finishing this book (http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Papers-Exposing-Greatest-Cover-Up/dp/0061146609/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-2802700-4168842?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177194677&sr=1-1) and it's fascinating.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/512UzU7I0jL._AA240_.jpg

There's so much out there I'd really like to know. I've read a lot of Michael Baigent's stuff in the past (along with his pals Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln), and it's all great reading.

I just want to know.

-B

[zartan]

I was kind of disappointed with the end of Jesus Papers. He seemed to be leading up to something important, but it turned out to be somebody else's secret document that he couldn't translate, only saw a glimpse of, and never saw again. It was odd that he just took on faith the contents of this controversial document belonging to some random relic hunter.

[Stephen K]

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2007/04/12/lost-tomb.html?ref=rss

[zartan]

I've examined the hoax claims, and the hesitance of experts to jump to conclusions, and yet, very few have made an argument that would change my mind (about the possibility). Any time you find Jesus, son of Joseph, and Mary together in a tomb dated to the first century, I think it's worthy of consideration. Nobody has argued with those facts.

Now whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a kid with her, and they are in the tomb too, I can only theorize. Nothing can be stated for sure definite fact, which is why the scholars are backing away from being conclusive about the evidence.

To me, the clues in the actual tomb are the most convincing. At the entrance of the tomb is carved a pyramid with a circle within. Look on any dollar bill, and you will see this symbol- the all seeing eye. Google secret societies such as masons and templars, and you will see that this symbol also belongs to them. And this isn't conspiracy, the Templars (later to be Masons etc) were formed after the crusades in Israel; they returned with a secret society, lots of money, and eventually became enemies of the church to the point of a mass execution. So, why would the church want to execute them, and why do they have the same symbol that is found in this tomb (and no other tomb on record).

[Stephen K]

Wow.

Nevermind, believe what you want.

[Monahan]

Wow.

Nevermind, believe what you want.

So there's inconclusive evidence on one side and inconclusive skepticism on the other... there's really no need to be a dick about it.

If you don't want to discuss a topic, try not posting. And definitely refrain from calling out others as closed-minded by, in turn, being closed-minded.

[schaefe]

The original St. Peter was originally a Rabbit. "South Park" said so....

:)

[zartan]

I'm actually a skeptic too. I don't believe in anything that doesn't have some type of scientific evidence to support it. The thing is that unlike the miracles claimed in the bible, this is a situation where there is actual evidence that can be examined and considered.

I've tried to make it clear by the wording in my posts that this theory is a possibility that should be considered. Not that the case is closed- we've found the bones of Jesus.

There are a lot of christian organizations eager to pick apart this theory, but in my opinion they haven't done anything but exxagerate the hesitance of experts and scientists to make definitive statements about the evidence. Scientists SHOULD be careful about jumping to conclusions, but that doesn't change certain facts in the documentary.

I must have scared you by talking about Templars and Masons. Sorry about that.

[schaefe]

Aw...I'm just funnin'....

I just get a kick out of the sides of the Jesus archeological debate...

Methinks that sometimes this harkens back to the old Arianist debate of the 4th-6th centuries that everyone got so worked up about...then Monophysitism, Nestorianism, etc. et al....

[Edison]

If real evidence was unearthed, ..like, ..oh, let's just say, some ancient 'papyrus scrolls' or 'parchments', ..that potentially questioned accounts regarding 'recorded' biblical history, I'm sure the Vatican would go to great lengths to get their hands on every bit of it. You know, so real honest-to-god true Catholic bible scholars can examine it, and discuss it at great length amongst themselves, inside the Vatican, safe from nosey intruders.
...and what they'd do with it beyond that is your guess as well as mine.

I suspect they'd just do what they've done for the last thousand years or so;

http://www.sullivanclinton.com/gallery/albums/album04/Raiders_Of_The_Lost_Ark_Government_Warehouse2.jpg

..But I digress.

I read Holy Blood, Holy Grail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holy_Blood_and_the_Holy_Grail) in college, back when it came out, so it's been quite a while, but my friend Dave and I discussed all of this quite a bit. He read it, as well as The Gnostic Gospels (http://www.amazon.com/Gnostic-Gospels-Elaine-Pagels/dp/0679724532).

As with tons of 'theory' books, there's always fact blurred by some mis-information, reason and conjecture. Most of them are usually discredited outright because of all the drama inherent in that. But in spite of it's flaws, Baigent, Leigh, and even the Gnostic Gospels shed some interesting light on accounts and interpretations that have been effectively edited, supressed, or 're-interpreted' for political reasons.

Remember the crusades? The Inquisition?
Effective ways to deal with any conflicting accounts and beliefs?

[Monahan]

What's that?

The Ark of the Covenant.

Are you sure?

Pretty sure.

[zartan]

Or alternatively...

What do you believe?

That a man 2000 years ago was born from a virgin, turned water into wine and other miracles, died on a cross and came back to life.

Are you sure?

Positive!