Fellow atheists, what do you think about this Jesus tomb discovery?

Question

Any credibility to it at all? Could it be possible? Wouldn't it be funny as hell if they could prove it was really him.

Christians need not answer this question. I already know what you "think" about it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070226/ts_alt_afp/usisraelreligionchristianityarchaeologyfilm;_ylt=AgrS42wISxdXBN37zDu0tE0DW7oF

theres the link for ya sara. :)

Answer 1

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 2

This tomb of Jesus is a fake. A panel of experts agreed the inscription had been added to the box at a much later date.

Answer 3

I think it's an interesting find, and I'll probably watch the show, but I'm skeptical that it's who they suggest it is. What are the chances that, out of the millions of people who've died in that area over the past 2000 years, they'd find THOSE particular people? I don't know. I'll keep an open mind about it, but I just don't think it's really them.

Answer 4

It'll be very difficult, if not impossible, to prove they are the bones of the Jesus of christianity. If they do somehow manage, it'll be a critical blow to christianity, but I'm sure some christians will find a way around it.

Answer 5

Impossible to prove.

All you have is a set of very common names, and some bone fragments.

We have nothing to compare the bone DNA against (if any even exists), and all that could be determined is if the skeletons were related.

Answer 6

Basically irrelevant. The religious problems have much less to do with Jesus than they do to scientific issues.

Answer 7

Any atheist should bring as much speculation to their own side as they do to those they don't agree with. Therefore we should be very skeptical, especially since it is pretty much only Cameron who is saying that this is 100%.

Answer 8

That would be crazy... Do you have a link to the story, because this is the first I've heard of it.

Answer 9

Why so hateful, dino?