My lunch companions were all atwitter about the news of a “Jesus tomb” that was supposedly found; it was on all the national news channels!
James Cameron of “Titanic” directorial fame is involved and I suppose his involvement adds a small amount of credibility to the whole thing.
Christian scholars from around the world jumped on this with vigor and probably correctly, called it a clever promotion of a documentary film on the Discovery channel, a book and a DVD.
The timing of the whole thing is also interesting with Easter just around the corner.
I feel these types of so called “religious discoveries” play a positive role in our society because they bring up discussions that usually reveal how totally ignorant the religious public is about the historicity of their religion; I am talking about Christians here.
Many Christians are still surprised to learn that Jesus had a family. They all know about Mary and Joseph but few are taught that the Bible (New Testament) talks about brothers and sisters of Jesus. One brother is supposedly older than Jesus – virgin birth?
One immediate scholarly criticism was how Jesus’ family burial tomb could be located in Jerusalem; they were all from Galilee and they were dirt poor – the tomb belongs to an obviously middle class family.
Well, it is obvious that Jesus was in Jerusalem when he was crucified. His mother was there and his disciples were there also. Were they there just for the Passover? Did they ever go back to Nazareth after the crucifixion?
St. Paul indicates that the followers of Jesus were headquartered in Jerusalem after Jesus’ death, ostensibly waiting for him to materialize after death. His brother James was the head of the clan in Jerusalem and one would assume that he would keep his mother close by. James is known to have been buried in Jerusalem.
St. Paul also indicates that he raised a lot of money for the “saints” in Jerusalem and for this reason they did not throw Paul out on his ass when he came around saying he knew what Jesus was all about even though he never met him. It is quite possible that the Jesus “family/clan” was actually well to do with all the contributions coming in so they actually may have been able to afford a tomb.
There is very little evidence about the “Jesus people” after his crucifixion. We know that the group was called the “Ebonites” and that they left Jerusalem after the Roman destruction of the city in 70AD. Some scholars suggest that they headed for Syria where they all eventually died out.
We do know that this group never considered Jesus as divine but as a holy prophet. Obviously, the people that invented Christianity wanted nothing to do with the original followers of Jesus; they were heretics!
My point is that the Gospels are not historic documents so there is much we don’t know and probably will never know. Even if we do find the tomb of Jesus; how do we confirm his bones as his?
The group that made the documentary base all on the coincidence of the names found on in the tomb: Jesus son of Joseph, Judah son of Jesus, Maria, Marianne, Joseph and Mathew. Since all these names were quite common at the time of Jesus, what are the odds that they could be THE Jesus family?
Just a quick note before I end, scholars rationalize that if miracles do not occur and have not occurred in recorded history then they probably never occurred in biblical times either. The assumption of Jesus into “heaven” is a nice story but just that; he is buried somewhere but where?
Even if we found him, Christians will not buy it cause’ to buy it would mean that the whole religion is based on a fallacy.
More as the story develops…
James Cameron of “Titanic” directorial fame is involved and I suppose his involvement adds a small amount of credibility to the whole thing.
Christian scholars from around the world jumped on this with vigor and probably correctly, called it a clever promotion of a documentary film on the Discovery channel, a book and a DVD.
The timing of the whole thing is also interesting with Easter just around the corner.
I feel these types of so called “religious discoveries” play a positive role in our society because they bring up discussions that usually reveal how totally ignorant the religious public is about the historicity of their religion; I am talking about Christians here.
Many Christians are still surprised to learn that Jesus had a family. They all know about Mary and Joseph but few are taught that the Bible (New Testament) talks about brothers and sisters of Jesus. One brother is supposedly older than Jesus – virgin birth?
One immediate scholarly criticism was how Jesus’ family burial tomb could be located in Jerusalem; they were all from Galilee and they were dirt poor – the tomb belongs to an obviously middle class family.
Well, it is obvious that Jesus was in Jerusalem when he was crucified. His mother was there and his disciples were there also. Were they there just for the Passover? Did they ever go back to Nazareth after the crucifixion?
St. Paul indicates that the followers of Jesus were headquartered in Jerusalem after Jesus’ death, ostensibly waiting for him to materialize after death. His brother James was the head of the clan in Jerusalem and one would assume that he would keep his mother close by. James is known to have been buried in Jerusalem.
St. Paul also indicates that he raised a lot of money for the “saints” in Jerusalem and for this reason they did not throw Paul out on his ass when he came around saying he knew what Jesus was all about even though he never met him. It is quite possible that the Jesus “family/clan” was actually well to do with all the contributions coming in so they actually may have been able to afford a tomb.
There is very little evidence about the “Jesus people” after his crucifixion. We know that the group was called the “Ebonites” and that they left Jerusalem after the Roman destruction of the city in 70AD. Some scholars suggest that they headed for Syria where they all eventually died out.
We do know that this group never considered Jesus as divine but as a holy prophet. Obviously, the people that invented Christianity wanted nothing to do with the original followers of Jesus; they were heretics!
My point is that the Gospels are not historic documents so there is much we don’t know and probably will never know. Even if we do find the tomb of Jesus; how do we confirm his bones as his?
The group that made the documentary base all on the coincidence of the names found on in the tomb: Jesus son of Joseph, Judah son of Jesus, Maria, Marianne, Joseph and Mathew. Since all these names were quite common at the time of Jesus, what are the odds that they could be THE Jesus family?
Just a quick note before I end, scholars rationalize that if miracles do not occur and have not occurred in recorded history then they probably never occurred in biblical times either. The assumption of Jesus into “heaven” is a nice story but just that; he is buried somewhere but where?
Even if we found him, Christians will not buy it cause’ to buy it would mean that the whole religion is based on a fallacy.
More as the story develops…
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