From the first century B.C. to about A.D. 70, it was the Jewish burial custom to place their dead in a cave for a year, then retrieve the bones and put them in an ossuary—also known as a bone box. Several hundred bone boxes from that era have been found; some ornately carved, some plain, some with feet, some not.
The box in question caused a sensation because it bears the inscription "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."
The filmaker also claims they found the ossary for Mary...I can't help but think these two quotes from the Washington Post article are probably closest to the truth:
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."
3 comments:
I'm skeptical of anybody who dismisses the thought out of hand ... but then, most would have to, because to accept that this ossuary might actually have contained the bones of Jesus is to shatter the very foundation of Christianity's faith.
The truth is, we'll never know for sure, just like we'll never know for sure if a man died and was resurrected, then rose into heaven.
I agree that dismissing out of hand would be equally wrong. Yet it appears there are those who believe it's a fraud and those who believe it is true and those who aren't quite sure.
I agree the truth is we will probably never know, as long as man exists we will probably debate the existance of God, Jesus and most of what is written in the Bible.
On the other hand, there's faith...
Post a Comment