The news story coming out today that they have found the tomb of Jesus, that Jesus was married to a woman named Mary (presumed then to be Mary Magdalene), and that they had a son named Judah, will surely raise all kinds of questions and problems. I haven't seen the evidence, but I will be studying what I can find. Here are my first two questions:
First, how can they say this is Jesus' DNA? Well, what they may have is the DNA of the person whose bones remained in this ossuary, and that person may have been named "Jesus" (if the names are not forgeries), but there is no way to know if this DNA matches the DNA of Jesus of Nazareth until they've got some DNA from the latter to match it with the DNA of the former.
Second, how likely is it that the early Christians built and sustained a tomb of Jesus if they -- at the same time -- were declaring his resurrection and ascension, and were undergoing persecution for the following him? What this tomb requires is a long-term preservation of the remains of the members of Jesus' so-called family. Unlikely to the extreme.
I'll be editing this post as I learn more.
Ben Witherington has already posted on it; he's been involved with a similar project and has some clear information.
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Douglass,
I'm sorry you feel I'm being exclusive in saying saying if there is no physical resurrection of Jesus then my faith, or the faith of others who feel the same, is pointless or my life is a waste. The fact remains that if Jesus didn't physically rise from the dead he wasn't who he said he was. Jesus was loving and inclusive and the church needs a dose of that. But Jesus drew some exclusive lines in his ministry, too. He said he is the way, he talked about entering through the narrow gate, etc.
My own faith has evolved much over the past several years. So much so that it sometimes scares me. I grew up in a conservative, evangelical environment. Now I'd consider myself aligned with the emerging church and most of its theology. One thing I enjoy about this blog is having a mature, theologically orthodox voice moderating the conversations. Scot, and other "mature" folks IRL, give me boundaries I feel like I need right now.
Douglass, I'm just not ready to accept that it's ok if Jesus' bones are in a tomb somewhere. If someone were to prove that conclusively I'd be devestated.
I find the comments interesting especially those that give any weight to the silly ploys of 'enlightened intelligencia' seeking to undermine the foundations of the Christian faith.
For me, let them find the 'tomb' of Jesus. It matters not what they find. I have learned from the experiences of the disciples, post-crucifixion, that (apparent) disappointment, disillusionment and an element of despair seems to attach itself to our earthly and finite paradigms as we attach ourselves to Jesus. Gods ways and thinking are not ours. The disciples were completely (but temporarily) disillusioned because their paradigm was earthly.
Let this world find out whatever it wants about Jesus, but I have a reliable historical record, corresponding testimonies of millions of believers, and more importantly, a personal experience with this man that assures me that I will be resurrected just as Jesus of Nazareth was.
Doug-
Right you are that you can be a "follower of Jesus" and not a Christian-- sort of. You can follow his moral teachings, while ignoring his claims to deity and his mandates about faith in Him alone as necessary for eternal life in heaven and escape from hell. You can follow Jesus the prophet, while ignoring Jesus the Priest and Jesus the King. Except that Jesus prophetically admitted that He was and is the messiah prophesied about in the Old Testament. But praise God that you aren't claiming to be a Christian. At least you're honest about it.
Jason (#28)-
Rehashing the same old debates over and over can certain become taxing, even borderline ludicrous. Why don't people just go do the research for themselves rather than wasting our time on these blogs! Oh wait. We're not just talking about answers to questions. See, there are people behind those questions. And maybe this blog (or another) is just the place to create enough cognitive dissonance in their minds to actually go and invest the time to look up the answers in a more thorough fashion.
As Christians (indeed as fellow human beings), we have a duty to others to make ourselves available to "be ready to give an answer to everyone" for the hope that we have. And that means giving one answer after another, after another, after another... lest we cease to express the love that Christ has so extravagantly expressed to us.
Ben Witherington, iMonk (M. Spencer), and James White have some initial thoughts posted.
Ben, Michael, James and Scot are unified on a single theological effort? Pinch me for the Rapture has truly come! ;)
This baloney people are feeding into about finding Jesus' supposed tomb is really making me sick--we Catholics are getting bashed a lot these days because of sins of depraved pedophiles who went into the priesthood some years ago and now no one takes us seriously. Jesus' supposed brothers and sisters were his immediate family--cousins and close friends, that is what it is like in European countries even these days--I had five friends of my Dad's that I called uncles who were no relation to me, but he would've paid for a tomb if they were alone and had no other family--and this Judah as his son is ridiculous too--Jesus would've been as popular a name then as Michael is here in North America--and then people are really burying themselves by saying the Virgin Mary had other children after having Jesus? It's MADDENING! She has appeared to countless children over the years and made her presence known to us through the miracles at Fatima, Lourdes, and Guadalupe and has said that mankind has wounded her precious heart with these blasphemies--I'd just like to know when goofs like Dan Brown and James Cameron are going to get their heads out of their stupid behinds and look at the proof of our faith and DARE to challenge that!!
Deirdre Berardi
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