Opinions on the Lost Tomb of Jesus?

Question

After watching this show, how many of you actually believe that they found Jesus' tomb? Why or why do you not agree? I myself think it was kewl, the tomb they found and it's weird that all the ppl buried there have the same names of his family. What most gets me though is they found the Judah thing in there that Jesus talks about. I dunno really what to think about it. What about you ppl?

thats what I didn't understand also, how would they get DNA from 2000 years ago? That seems a little far to me.

Oh and why would everyone else's tombs be wiped completely clean and yet JESUS and Mary Magdoline {not sure how to spell it} would just coincidently be there.

Answer 1

Cameron is pandering to the public and his "discovery" will be proven to be just bad science:

- The statistical analysis is not rigorous

- The name "Jesus" was a popular name at that time, appearing in 98 other tombs and on 21 other ossuaries

- There is no historical evidence that Jesus was ever married or had a child

- The earliest followers of Jesus never called him, "Jesus, son of Joseph"

- It's unlikely Joseph, who had died earlier in Galilee, would have been buried in Jerusalem

- The Talipot tomb and ossuaries probably would have belonged to a rich family, which is not a historical match for Jesus

- Fourth-century church historian Eusebius makes quite clear the body of James, brother of Jesus, was buried alone near the temple mount.

- The two Mary ossuaries do not mention anyone from Migdal, but just Mary, a common name

- By all ancient accounts, the tomb of Jesus was empty, making it unlikely that any body was moved, allowed to decay for a year, then be put into an ossuary.

- If Jesus had remained in the tomb, first-century opponents of Christianity would most certainly have found His body and put it on public display.

- Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the conclusions cannot be supported by the evidence but it's a way to make money on television. He would have nothing to do with supporting the movie's assertions. "It's nonsense," he said.

- James, the half-brother of Jesus and author of the book of James, the early leader of the church in Jerusalem, was martyred for his faith. Why does James make no mention in his letter that Jesus was not bodily resurrected? When he was about to die why didn't he just recant his beliefs and say, 'Okay, okay! My brother didn't rise from the dead. Here's where we took him. Here's where his bones are. Here's our family tomb. We made the whole thing up?' People will generally not die for a lie when they know it's a lie. Why would James die perpetuating a lie when it would have been so easy to disprove? In fact why would any of the apostles go to their deaths for something they knew to be false?

As I have expected, there has been **no scientific or historical find** that has ever been shown to disprove the authenticity of the bible's history or theology.

Kind of disappointing to see that all it takes is a press conference and a slick TV show for some folks to form life-altering opinions versus taking the time to rationally examine all the issues and dig a little deeper. It is the Macdonald's generation: fast, superficial, and never satisfying.

Answer 2

I think this is one of the times that science is best served by an atheist and a Christian working together. It is hard not to look for evidence proving that it is Christ's tomb, it can be difficult to look at the evidence non-partially. What are the chances that, even with common names, they would all be the same and found together. I know at least 3 couples where a John is married to a Sharon. All of their children have different names though. I believe that there will never be an answer as to whether that is really the tomb of the Jesus of the Christians. There is no way to prove it is or isn't and even if it was proven, the Christians would absolutely deny the evidence, like they do evolution, etc. As I said, it could never be proven, but if I had to wager a cosmic guess, I would say it probably is, that has been protected and kept secret all these years, never accidently built on etc. I'm not Christian though, I don't really care if it is or isn't, it wouldn't change how I live my life unless there was global hysteria or something of the sort.

Answer 3

Some facts that were not mentioned in the documentary:

*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.

*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.

*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. 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.

*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."

*Jesus appeared to over 500 eyewitnesses after his crucifixion. He talked to people and allowed them to touch Him. Many of these eyewitnesses were killed because they would not deny what they saw. His half-brother James died preaching that Jesus rose from the dead.

Please don't believe everything you see on television, dear. You can find everything you need to know within the pages of the Bible.

Answer 4

Truthfully, I am amazed that the Christians aren't happy about it!
I think it has been known, and suppressed for years by the Israel government. The interesting thing to see, is if they will exhume the bones of Jesus to look for nail markings on them. If they can show that, it'll be pretty much undeniable!
They really need to take a strong look at the difference between metaphoric and literal as far as the Bible goes. I think people are open minded enough to deal with it now. And it would start a new soul searching for the true teachings of Jesus and lend less credibility to a book that has set these poor people up for the fall.

Answer 5

It's not Jesus' tomb. What isn't widely known is that this is not a new discovery. Other archaeologists found this tomb over 20 years ago...looked at the boxes inside and discarded them as having any particular historical significance. The bible tells us that Jesus appeared to over 500 people after His resurrection, a bodily appearance. The tomb in which He was buried was offered to Him by a rich man, who asked Pilate for the body. The bible tells us when the apostles raced to the empty tomb that morning, there was nothing in it. Except the linens he had been buried in.

He rose. That's the truth of it. And lies will never negate what God has done.

Answer 6

100% fiction.
Throughout the 2,00year history of the new testament, many stories have been fabricated to debunk or question the Catholic Faith. Anybody can claim anything. Besides, during that time, many Jews had those names.
The Church has a compilation of "proofs" of the New Testament accounts, so no need to doubt the teachings of the Church:
Check these out in google search or ewtn.com:
-The Shroud of Turin (science could not explain the glow of power that caused the imprint--it's Jesus ressurection power, dude!),
-the Dead Sea Scrolls
-The written account of 1st Century historian, Josephus, on the man called Jesus whom the Romans crucified.
These among others.

Answer 7

It's not His tomb.
There is no evidence that Jesus had a son.
The names back the were *extremely* common.For instance,over 21% of Jewish women were named Mary.The male names in the tomb were also very common.

Says Lawrence E. Stager:" [the documentary] was exploiting the whole trend that caught on with The Da Vinci Code. One of the problems is there are so many biblically illiterate people around the world that they don’t know what is real judicious assessment and what is what some of us in the field call ‘fantastic archaeology.’"
Says Jodi Magness:"[the filmmakers] have set it up as if it's a legitimate academic debate, when the vast majority of scholars who specialize in archeology of this period have flatly rejected this."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Tomb_of_Jesus#Criticism_of_the_documentary

Answer 8

It was an interesting show, intriguing, but none of it can be proved (as was brought out in the show). So basically it's just controversial speculation.
Christianity hinges on the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and also His ascension into heaven to take His seat and the right hand of God the Father. If His bones were found, and it could be proven that they were His (and the program I saw, interviewees pointed out that that cannot be done), that would undermine Christianity. If...

Answer 9

9 other tombs in area w/ same names, but not all in the same one. I don't know what this other proof outside the bible is but I keep hearing about it. The only other "truth" about Jesus was Josephus and he lived decades after Jesus' supposed time and it has been proven a forgery.

Anyhow, I fell asleep so I didn't think much about it.

Answer 10

Like all the other great discoveries that 'prove' the Bible wrong it will turn out to be false.

Then the next person who wants to sell a book or film will make another astonishing discovery...

It seems to me that because there are so many people who want the Bible to be proved wrong that they will grasp at anything, believe anything, and because of this some people make a lot of money.

My advice would be keep your money, it won't be proved wrong.

JB