Do Christians really think that the "Jesus" tomb is an elaborate hoax?

Question

I mean I have heard alot of Critisism on this subject in the last few days. How many people are actually planning on watching this? And how can anyone make judgements about it if it hasn't even been shown yet? www.pathofreason.com has a really good viewing guide for people who want to watch it with an open mind.
Do people really think this stuff was just made up to mess with Christians? I think that people have much better things to do with their time.

Answer 1

I'm an atheist, I think it's a work.

And yes, there ARE some Christians who believe people just sit around making things up in order to mess with them. What these people don't see is that Christianity disproves itself a little more every day.

Answer 2

I keep reading the opinions of a lot of Christians that are really hateful whenever something treats the basis of a dogma they believe in, however I have to say you need to know exactly where the information your basing your believe is coming from I know religions have make a real change in a lot of people lives but the bible as we know it is a group of books that where put together by men, many books didn't even make it because wasn't the ideas the church wanted to present, and even after that has been translated so many times, to so many versions is really crazy to think is a trustful source, I don't denied it has many good teachings and wisdom, plus reading some of the opinions I almost feel like back in the times when the Church burn people because they declare that our planet wasn't the center of the universe and on top of that was ROUND!!!! so what? after all we now know can't conceived the idea of a Jesus more human? to me if anything this would be a even bigger reason to heard his teachings, the idea of a Jesus who had to also struggle with marriage and fatherhood like I do and succeeded in been a example to all is a so much more valid reason for me to follow him than just the believe that he was able to do all he did just because his divine nature, I respect every ones opinions just make me sad sometimes that as humanity we haven't move much from the times of the inquisition.

Answer 3

I do. I do,nt know all the details of course about this (great find) but I do know what Gods word says.Jesus was laid in a borrowed tomb,new and unused. owned most probably by Joseph of Arimethea.he rose on the third day and left said tomb.He was seen by many witnesses after his Resurrection.so i do not feel that this "discovery" threatens me one way or the other.
the sight of the tomb (the church of the holy sepluchre) has been in the care of the same family for centuries.I cant see these people allowing hoards of people into this sacred place to desecrate it for the name of entertainment.
which this will turn out to be.Cheap entertainment hyped up to draw the masses .in the end of course the evidence will be "inconclusive" leaving the doubters to doubt and the believers to believe.I wont be watching it because it comes on at same time as my favorite show.><> ><> ><>

Answer 4

I think that nothing will make them happy. First they keep trying to convince us that he is not a myth and they cook up all kind of evidence to prove there was a historical figure that did all that they want us to believe he did. Now, someone claims to have found his grave and some coffins of family members, even some DNA in the coffin with his name on and still, they aren't happy. The only way to answer the question of whether it really is him will be to clone him from the DNA they found. And if they do will that be the second coming?

But why would they get so uptight about learning that he was burried like everyone else? Because if they admit it they will have to cancel Easter.

Answer 5

The finding of the so-called bones of Jesus Christ and his family is just another crude attempt to discredit Christianity. To prove that the bones are those of Jesus you need a tissue or blood sample of the Biblical Jesus. Since there is nothing to compare it with, everything will just be conjecture and theory. No one will benefit from it except those who are behind this story. It is a business venture that will make millions just like the Da Vinci code.

Amos Kloner, the Israeli archaeologist who wrote the original excavation report called the claim "nonsense." Kloner noted that Jesus was from Galilee and had no ties in Jerusalem. He added that the names found in the burial site were common during the time of Jesus. He also said the tomb belonged to a middle or upper-middle-class family during the the first century and that the cave had been vandalised. Commenting on the documentary Kloner said, "It is a beautiful story without any proof whatsoever."
Peace and every blessing!

Answer 6

I am Catholic and I will only watch just to see what they have to say. But my faith tells me that Jesus did die for 3 days and then resurrected and walked among the disciples for 40 days and then ascended into Heaven. Therefore there is no bones of Jesus. We think we already where the tomb is that Jesus' body laid in for 3 days. This 'new discovery' is tombs of a couple named Mary and Jesus that was actually found 20 years ago. The names of Mary and Jesus were common back then, like Bob and Sue today. There are 4 Marys mentioned in the Bible. And "Jesus" is the Latin name for Christ. Gabriel told Mary and Joseph to name Him Emmanuel. But I will watch, if I remember to turn it on, just out of curiosity to see what these men have to say. I am opened minded and will listen to or read anything. But so far I've never change my faith, it's actually strengthened my faith. Peace!

Answer 7

Filmmaker James Cameron is claiming he and some archeologists found the tomb of Jesus’s family. All the casket-like things called ossuaries are empty. I wonder what the archeologists were thinking when they found an ossuary with Jesus’s name on it. I can imagine the moment they removed the lid and looked in. If it were me, I’d wonder if I was going to see one of the following:

1. Nothing
2. Decomposed stuff
3. Jesus sitting up and saying, “What in Dad’s name took you so long?”

If you put an ordinary guy in an ossuary for 2,000 years, he’d clearly be dead. But if I were opening that ossuary I’d be wondering if maybe someone put Jesus in there after he died but before he arose. And maybe it’s hard to get out once you get in. I’d be worried that Jesus arose inside the stone box, and he’d be totally pissed that no one let him out until now.

I realize that this would not be the most rational worry in the world. But I like to base my worries on an expected value calculation. So for example, a 90% chance of getting a sliver would worry me about the same as a .000001% chance of a nuclear bomb going off in the backyard. In this ossuary example, I’d be looking at maybe a 2% chance of waking up an angry Jesus. I say that’s worth a worry.

If Jesus was in there, and sat up when I took the lid off, I’d first try to judge how angry he looked. If he had that money-changers-in-the-temple look, I’d go with a joke, like “Ha ha! Turn the other cheek!” Or maybe I’d try to explain to him that the extra suffering was extra good for humanity, and after all, that’s his job. Then I’d say, “Hey, I don’t like my job either, but you don’t see me complaining all the time.”

I know that some of you will say that if Jesus could move that big rock that was allegedly in front of his tomb in the traditional telling of his life, he’d have no trouble removing an ossuary lid. But he wasn’t supposed to be in an ossuary in the first place, so obviously if this ossuary is genuine, some of the details of the story were wrong. And if God let Jesus be crucified, it’s not a huge stretch of the imagination to think he’d let him stay in a stone box for 2,000 years. It makes sense to save your coolest miracle for when it’s needed most. And I think you’ll agree that this would be a good time for a messiah. And if you were God, you’d want James Cameron attached to this production. So it makes sense to me.

That’s why I’d be a crappy archeologist. I’d be afraid to open anything.

Answer 8

This is an old issue. The writings on the box have been proven already to be a hoax by respected archaeologists.

A movie is just a movie....Research the findings of the professionals who have compared the writings to ancient writings.

Answer 9

I am sure the tomb itself is not a hoax. There may have been a couple named Jesus and Mary buried there. That could be completey true. Not the Christ but another Jesus.

Answer 10

Because MOST archaeologists who are involved thinks it is a fraud also!

Feb. 26, 2007, 2:11PM
James Cameron's Lost Tomb of Christ faces criticism

By KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Filmmakers and researchers on Monday unveiled two ancient stone boxes they said may have once contained the remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but several scholars derided the claims made in a new documentary as unfounded and contradictory to basic Christian beliefs.

"The Lost Tomb of Jesus," produced by Oscar-winning director James Cameron and scheduled to air March 4 on the Discovery Channel, argues that 10 small caskets discovered in 1980 in a Jerusalem suburb may have held the bones of Jesus and his family.

One of the caskets even bears the title, "Judah, son of Jesus," hinting that Jesus may have had a son, according to the film.

"There's a definite sense that you have to pinch yourself," Cameron said Monday at a news conference. He told NBC'S "Today" show earlier that statisticians found "in the range of a couple of million to one" in favor of the documentary's conclusions about the caskets, or ossuaries.

Simcha Jacobovici, the Toronto filmmaker who directed the film, said that a name on one of the ossuaries — "Mariamene" — offers evidence that the tomb is that of Jesus and his family. In early Christian texts, "Mariamene" is the name of Mary Magdalene, he said.

The very fact that Jesus had an ossuary would contradict the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven.

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.

In 1996, when the British Broadcasting Corp. aired a short documentary on the same subject, archaeologists challenged the claims. 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.

Shimon Gibson, one of three archaeologists who first discovered the tomb in 1980, said Monday of the film's claims: "I'm skeptical, but that's the way I am. I'm willing to accept the possibility."

The film's claims, however, have raised the ire of Christian leaders in the Holy Land.

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," Pfann said. "But skeptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear."

"How possible is it?" Pfann said. "On a scale of one through 10 — 10 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's more likely the name "Hanun." Ancient Semitic script is notoriously difficult to decipher.

Kloner also said the filmmakers' assertions are false. "The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time," he said.

William Dever, an expert on near eastern archaeology and anthropology, who has worked with Israeli archeologists for five decades, said specialists have known about the ossuaries for years.

"The fact that it's been ignored tells you something," said Dever, professor emeritus at the University of Arizona. "It would be amusing if it didn't mislead so many people."

Osnat Goaz, a spokeswoman for the Israeli government agency responsible for archaeology, said the Antiquities Authority agreed to send two ossuaries to New York, but they did not contain human remains. "We agreed to send the ossuaries, but it doesn't mean that we agree with" the filmmakers, she said.


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Associated Press Writer Marshall Thompson contributed to this report from Jerusalem and AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll contributed from New York.

Answer 11

I am not a "Christian," but yeah. This is a bunch of crap. Not even a "hoax" per se, just some bones that some people want to associate with the cast of gospel characters.

People who think it's a hoax because "Jesus rose from the grave!" are not even worth answering.