how true do you think it is....?

Question

Have read from the newspaper that one of the famous director James Cameron and his team have found evidence from limestone ossuaries, in Jerusalem, Jesus Christ did married with Mary Magdalene. He and his team even proved their discovered by DNA and others technique.

How true do you think this can be?

Answer 1

No,its not true at all.It's full of shoddy statistics and science,at least the way they are touting it.
It relies heavily on statistics.But,they start out with false premises and assumptions.
To come up with the statistics on the film,they had to assume 5 things.These things are:
1.That the ‘Jesus’ and the ‘Jose’ in these caskets,are brothers.
2. That the ‘Mariamne’ in the tomb, is Mary Magdalene.
Guess where the makers of the film get this idea? From a book known as the ‘Gospel of Phillip’,written by a group known as the Gnostics in the 4th century AD,hundreds of years after Jesus.It is not a reliable historical document at all.
3. That Jesus was married to Mary, and they had a son named Judah.
There is absolutely no evidence for this claim,in either credible Biblical or non-Biblical sources.None at all.Why assume something you have no proof of?
4.That the Matthew found in this tomb was somehow related to Jesus’ mother but is not her son.
The New Testament does not say anything about a brother of Jesus being called ‘Matthew’,but it does mention Jesus’ other siblings.There is no evidence of this Matthew being a brother of Jesus anywhere,and the makers of the film have to somehow provide an explanation as to why he would be in the tomb.In addition,the tomb is missing the other brothers of Jesus.
5. They also assume that the ‘James,son of Jospeh,brother of Jesus’ ossuary,discovered a few years ago,originated from the same tomb as the recently discovered caskets.That is a major piece of evidence that they use to try and back up their claims.
The problem?If the ‘James,son of Jospeh,brother of Jesus’ ossuary had originated from the tomb,it would have needed to be discovered after 1980,as that was when the recent tomb was opened.But was the James ossuary discovered after that? No,not at all.The James ossuary was discovered in the 1970’s.That puts a huge hole in the movie.How couild the ossuary have come from an un-opened tomb?

The film-makers were also choosy with what evidence thaty would use to come up with their statistics.They excluded the names of Matthew and Judah,yet kept in the name of Mariamne,based on the Gnostic book!
After this,the probability decreases dramatically.There is only a 1 in 15,000 chance that the tomb is that of Jesus’ family.

Now,onto the DNA evidence they have supposedly used.
They cannot look at the DNA they have taken from the Jesus casket,and conclude that it is Jesus’.They do not have a sample of Jesus’ DNA to compare it to.
The scientists were only able to extract DNA from two of the caskets.Just two.What did this DNA evidence prove? That the one in the ‘Jesus’ casket,and the one in the ‘Mary’ casket,were not maternally related.Hardly groundbreaking evidence.

There are other reasons why the tomb is not that of Jesus.


1.Joespeh,who was born in Bethlehem,lived in Nazerath,and died in Galilee,would not have bought a tomb in Jerusalem.He had no connections there. It is highly unlikely that he would have bought a tomb in Jeruslame,which is over 131 miles from Nazareth.
2. The two Mary ossuaries,which suppsedly prove that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene,do not even mention Migdal anywhere!

3. The tomb and ossuaries are the type which only the rich would have been able to afford.Jesus and His family were certainly not rich.

4.The names on the tomb,while sounding convincing,were extremely common in that time.In fact,21% of Jewish women in the era were named Mary,with the names of the males on the caskets also being extremely popular.

The experts:

Prof. Amos Kloner, the Jerusalem District archeologist who officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents, on Saturday night dismissed the claims. "It makes a great story for a TV film," he told The Jerusalem Post. "But it's impossible. It's nonsense." “"They just want to get money for it,"

Professor Amos Kloner,"..those were the most common names found among Jews in the first centuries BCE and CE"


Prof. Kloner said there was no way the tomb housed the Holy Family.
The senior Israeli archaeologist who thoroughly researched the tombs after their discovery, and at the time deciphered the inscriptions, cast serious doubt on it.
"It is just not possible that a family who came from Galilee, as the New Testament tells us of Joseph and Mary, would be buried over several generations in Jerusalem."

Kloner said the names found on the ossuaries were common, and the fact that such apparently resonant names had been found together was of no significance. He added that "Jesus son of Joseph" inscriptions had been found on several other ossuaries over the years."There is no likelihood that Jesus and his relatives had a family tomb," Kloner said. "They were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem. The Talpiot tomb belonged to a middle-class family from the 1st century CE."

"Archeological evidence shows that chances of these being the actual
burials of the Holy Family are almost nil," said Motti Neiger, a spokesman for the
Antiquities Authority.

"Simcha has no credibility whatsoever," says Joe Zias, who was the curator for anthropology and archeology at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem from 1972 to 1997 and personally numbered the Talpiot ossuaries. "He's pimping off the Bible … He got this guy Cameron, who made 'Titanic' or something like that—what does this guy know about archeology? I am an archeologist, but if I were to write a book about brain surgery, you would say, 'Who is this guy?' People want signs and wonders. Projects like these make a mockery of the archeological profession."

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. "How possible is it?" he said. "On a scale of one through 10 - 10 being completely possible , it's probably a one, maybe a one and a half."


The official report written by Prof. Kloner found nothing remarkable in the discovery. The cave, it said, was probably in use by three or four generations of Jews from the beginning of the Common Era. It was disturbed in antiquity, and vandalized.

Pfann is even unsure that the name "Jesus'' on the caskets was read correctly. He thinks it's more likely the name "Hanun.''

Professor Juergen Zangenberg, an expert on the New Testament at the Dutch University of Leiden, said the documentary's claim was unrealistic, and more likely "about money and headlines".

Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site,also said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television.

Answer 2

I think it is rather hypocritical for some christians to accept the James (brother of Jesus) ossuary as genuine, and reject these Jesus family ossuaries as false based on absolutely no evidence.

As an atheist, I am always fascinated with the evidence. I am willing to wait and hear the evidence presented to me on March 4. I wonder if christians are open-minded enough to do the same?

Answer 3

Why don't people just read their Bibles? If you recall, when Mary Magdalene and associates went to the tomb where Jesus was laid, the stone had been moved and Jesus' body was gone. There were Roman soldiers posted at the tomb so nobody could take Jesus' body, yet it was gone. Now, rmember in Jude, Michael the archangel and Satan were disputing about Moses' body? Jude 9. God took Moses' body and buried it or something himself, he did the same with Jesus' body, God was the one who took Jesus' body and buried it or something himself as he new what the people would do if they were able to possess it, they would worship it and erect some type of monument around it to worship, look at the supposed site they believe Jesus was buried at before, erected a embelished church around it like a shrine to worship. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary were very popular names at the time of Jesus, just look in your Bible, there were 6 different Marys that are mentioned, and those are just the ones mentioned, it was the same with the names Jesus and Joseph, look today how many people name their kids after someone popular and you have a whole slew of Britneys or Jeremys born in the same year or years.

Answer 4

Not sure how true this is. Might be a fake.

But according to the news source I read, the mary ossuary isn't just the name Mariamene, it is instead Mariamene e Mara. The latter translates to Mary the Master. Probably weren't alot of women walking around calling themselves "the master..." in epithet.

Answer 5

That is a well known controversy. Da Vinci Code brought it to everyones attention. Its possible, but how come we haven't heard of it before now? In the picture of the last supper, it is said that is a picture containing Mary Magdalene. I don't think it is, I might be wrong, but I just don't believe it.

Answer 6

Not at all. No true believer would buy this for a number of reasons....but every year...just about Easter time...or Lent....some new "discovery" to disprove the truth of the Bible comes up.

What a non-believer doesn't realize is a number of things....

The resurrection of Jesus is one of the most documented event in history...and the easiest to prove. Many many people saw Jesus in person before he actually ascended back to heaven...as many as 500 at a time...and is is documented.

And think about it...do you really think Jesus' followers would have been willing to die horrible, painful deaths to defend a lie? Would you in their place? They knew the truth...and defended the truth to their death......

All they discovered was a box with some names on it...common names of the day....and DNA?...they admitted there weren't any bones in the box.....that's pretty convenient!

And...one thing more. Any believer knows Jesus in a personal way....it is not just blind faith. It's hard to explain to a non-Christian, but a true believer knows that when he chooses to follow Christ, He sends the Holy Spirit to live in their lives. He is active and living in each believer....and anyone who has experienced His guidance, His teaching, His presence in his life knows that what God says is true....not what someone dreams up to try to disprove it. He experiences it..and it is real...not made up.

It's a little like someone saying....I don't believe in electricity...because I can't see it....and comes up with some other explanation for it....and you say...."I know it exists, because I have seen the evidence of it in my life". Which are you going to believe. You see...a true Christian KNOWS....Jesus is God....and nowhere is there any teaching of a marriage or a child.....in fact Jesus was caring for his mother, and gave her care over to John on the cross.....don't you think he would have mentioned a wife?.....

What these people want to do is disprove the truth. And they work very hard at it. and God says "The fool says in his heart, there is no God"! God teaches us the truth...and the truth will make you free! It is God's promise.

Answer 7

They could not have proven it by DNA. There is no known relative or anything substantial to link it to. Except for the SHroud of Turin maybe, but last I heard they dated that to 400yrs after his death. Is there something I'm missing?

Answer 8

Why would Jesus a man from Nazareth, with his whole family in Nazareth, have his tomb built in Jerusalem?

Answer 9

Newsflash...How can they say they have found the DNA of Christ himself (via his bones), when they have nothing else to compare it to?!

How can they prove what they claim without other confirmed samples of his DNA?

That's just bad science if nothing else.

Answer 10

NOT TRUE- Jesus is Resurrected- bones not there. Nothing is going to make me believe anything other than the fact that Jesus has risen, He is no longer here- and no he was never married. God's Word is truth- this is not!!!!!!!!!!!