Tuesday, February 27, 2007

A "Documentary" on Jesus' Bones

By now you probably heard or read the news about a documentary prepared by a Canadian film maker and the famous director of the Titanic film. The documentary treats an issue which most Christians will find interesting, but also a waste of time. According to the news release information, the film maker asserts that the bones of Jesus Christ, "son of Joseph," of his "wife," and other members of his family were discovered in Jerusalem. Christians believe that Jesus Christ, Son of God the Father, raised in Nazareth in Galilee, and who was crucified by Pontius Pilate, rose from his tomb on the first Easter morning. Therefore, there are no bones about it. Jesus Christ is still very much alive. The names Jesus, Joseph and Mary was very common in the early first century C.E. (or A.D.)
I read two commentaries. One appeared this morning on CNA, a Catholic web news service. In the news article, the author states that he himself is the one who discovered the "bones" in question. He does not believe they belong to Jesus the Resurrected One. Another longer article was forwarded by our publishing house's acquisitions office. CNA's email address is: cna_news@acinews.net.
The longer article is written by Ben Witherington. The file name is: Ben_Witherington_on_the_Jesus_Tomb.doc. I am not sure if you can link to it from here, but give it a try. He also refers to a Toronto Star article which discusses the same topic: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/185708.
If you have ever read the works of Eusebius, Father of Church History, you will find a description of the tomb of "James 'brother' of Jesus." Of course, the term 'brother' here also can mean cousin. Eusebius' writings contradict the Talpiot tomb findings which will be discussed in the documentary.
Since I am a partial movie buff I was taken by Witherington's words: "So my response to this is clear--James Cameron, the producer of the movie Titanic, has now jumped on board another sinking ship full of holes, presumably in order to make a lot of money before the theory sinks into an early watery grave. Man the lifeboats and get out now."
May the Risen Jesus enlighten us and strengthen our faith.

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