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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Jesus� Lost Tomb?
By Antonio C. Abaya Written on March 24, 2008 For the Standard Today, March 25 issue The documentary was supposed to be shown on the Discovery Channel weeks before Easter last year and would have given Easter preachers then something controversial to spice up their usual homilies.with.. On the appointed day (March 04, 2007), there was even a refutation of the documentary in the Philippine Daily Inquirer by Randolf C Flores, SVD, identified as a Bible and Hebrew Language professor at the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay. His article was titled �No Reason to Rewrite Christianity.� Because I have a layman�s interest in the history of Early Christianity, I watched out for the docu at all hours of the evening that day, since no time slot was given in the announcement. But, as far as I know, the documentary never appeared on TV. What happened? The documentary, titled The Lost Tomb of Jesus, produced by James �Titanic� Cameron and based on the investigative reporting of Simcha Jacobovici, who is a Hebrew-speaking Canadian Jew, purports to show that six ossuaries or bone boxes in the warehouse of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) MAY have contained the bones of Jesus of Nazareth and five members of his family. These six ossuaries were among ten that were discovered in 1980, when construction workers, digging for the foundation for an apartment complex in the town of Talpiot , near Jerusalem , stumbled upon what appeared to be a family tomb. The ten ossuaries were surrendered to the IAA, as required by Israeli law, where they gathered dust until Reporter Jacobovici chanced upon their story in 2005 and decided to dig deeper into their background. This documentary and an accompanying book, The Jesus Family Tomb, by Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino, narrate their detective work in trying to unravel the mystery. Because the docu failed to make it on TV as announced, or I simply missed it, I ordered both the DVD and the book from amazon.com. About two months ago, either the Talpiot landowner or the civil engineer who had excavated the site was interviewed and asked why he did not make a fuss about these ossuaries when he chanced upon them in 1980. He replied that he was afraid it would unleash a wave of anti-Semitism in the Christian world. Well, Jacobovici released his findings in 2007, in DVD and in book form and, according to the New York Times, it was met with skepticism by several archaeologists and New Testament scholars, as well as outrage by some Christian leaders. But, so far, no wave of anti-Semitism that I am aware of. Perhaps people have become jaded by the hullabaloo that attended The Da Vinci Code, and have realized that the more �guardians of the faith� pounce on an offending book or film, the more people will go out of their way to watch or read it, if only out of curiosity. The Da Vinci film was lousy, but 66 million people bought the book. If Jacobovici was hoping to duplicate that financial success, perhaps he should have sold the plot or story line to Dan Brown. Nevertheless Jacobovici has an interesting story to tell, even if, as Fr. Flores wrote in his Inquirer article, it is not enough reason to rewrite Christianity. The ten ossuaries discovered in Talpiot are said to date back to the first century AD when it was fashionable for prominent Jewish families to have �second burials� for their loved ones by placing their bones in ossuaries for burial in family tombs.. Six of them had names inscribed on them, in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. According to Jacobovici, about 20% of the ossuaries stored in the warehouse of the IAA also have names inscribed on them. One of the six ossuaries has the following inscription: Joshua bar Iosef, or Jesus son of Joseph. A second ossuary is inscribed Miriam, the Hebrew equivalent of Maria. Now Joshua, Miriam, and Iosef are very common Hebrew names. A statistician from the University of Toronto was consulted and he estimated that about 4% of men and boys in ancient Jerusalem were named Joshua or its derivatives, and 25% of women and girls were named Miriam or its derivatives. But the plot gets thicker. The third ossuary bore the inscription Matia or Matiahu or Matthew. This one stumped Jacobovici temporarily until a little research told him that the Biblical Miriam or Maria, mother of Jesus, belonged to a prominent family (as Jesus did, to the House of David) and had a brother named Matia or Matthew. The fourth ossuary was inscribed Yosa or Yose, the nickname for Yakob, a name which subsequently morphed into James for English readers of the New Testament. Jesus of Nazareth is known to have had a brother named James. The fifth ossuary was inscribed Mariamne in Greek, which is interpreted to refer to Mary Magdalene who is said to have had a speaking knowledge of Greek. In the 700-year old Gnostic Gospel known as the Acts of Philip, discovered in 1974, Mary Magdalene is referred to as Mariamne, which connoted a position of prominence among the followers of Jesus. If this was the family tomb of one Joshua � who had a father named Iosef or Joseph, a mother named Miriam or Maria, an uncle named Matia or Matthew, and a brother named Yosa or James, all of them (except Joseph) buried together in the same family tomb - why is Mariamne (or Mary Magdalene) buried with them? Jacobovici said that bone fragments found in the ossuaries of Joshua and Mariamne were submitted for mitochondrial DNA analysis to an institute in Thunder Bay , Ontario , Canada , and the DNA analysts were not told the source of the specimens. Mitochondrial DNA analysis establishes if two sources are related to each other through having the same mother. The DNA analysis showed a negative result: Joshua and Mariamne were not related to each other. Jacobovici draws the conclusion that the only reason they are buried in the same family tomb is that they were married to each other. Finally, the sixth ossuary carried the inscription Yehuda bar Joshua, or Judah son of Jesus. This suggests that Joshua and Mariamne were not only married to each other, they also had a son whom they named Judah . His ossuary was small, meaning he died when he was a child. Another interesting finding of Jacobovici is a photograph of the entrance to this tomb, taken in 1980 when it was excavated by construction workers. The entrance was prominently decorated with a mysterious symbol: an inverted chevron with a small circle under it. What it meant, or what organization used it, no one seems to know. But Jacobovici claims that an ossuary in the IAA warehouse, discovered in 1941 and identified as that of Simon of Cyrene � who had helped Jesus up when he stumbled with his cross on what is now the Via Dolorosa � also bore the mysterious symbol: an inverted chevron with a small circle under it. In another 2,000-yr old cemetery, discovered by Franciscan Fathers in 1953 and since named Dominus Flevit (or The Lord Weeps), an ossuary was found inscribed Simon bar Jonah (Peter son of Jonah). Jacobovici speculates that this was the ossuary of St. Peter, one of Jesus� apostles and the first pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Legend has it that Peter was buried in what is now the Vatican, under the floor of a basilica first built by Constantine the Great in the 4th century, on which the Basilica of St. Peter was later superimposed, but no archaeological evidence has ever been found to support that legend. Curiously, this ossuary of Simon bar Jonah also bears the mysterious symbol: an inverted chevron with a small circle under it. Jacobovici draws the conclusion that this symbol was used by the early Christians - who were all Jews, as were Jesus and his 12 apostles � who were known at that time as Ebionites and Nazarenes, depending on the scope of their beliefs. But he has no explanation for the meaning of the mysterious symbol. It was only later, sometime in the 3rd or 4th century, when Gentiles or non-Jews converted to the new religion, that the Cross became the enduring brand or symbol of Christianity. There is no space here to mention other details cited by Jacobovici in his book. There is no conclusive proof beyond reasonable doubt, that the Joshua buried with his immediate relatives in the family tomb in Talpiot, is the same Joshua of the New Testament. But the coincidences are mind-boggling and intriguing, to say the least. I agree with Fr. Flores that there is no reason � yet � to rewrite the story of Christianity. But I also agree with him that with this discovery, �we are faced with a theological problem � that there was no resurrection, or if there was, it was simply a spiritual resurrection.� ***** Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org and in acabaya.blogspot.com.. NOTE: Transmission to yahoo.com and mydestiny.net addresses is sometimes delayed or blocked by the servers for one reason or other. If you are experiencing these delays and blockings, we suggest you move to a hotmail or a gmail address. To subscribe, send a blank emil with the subject heading Subscribe. To Unsubscribe, send a blank email with the subject heading Unsubscribe. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Jesus� Lost Tomb?� Mr. Abaya, There are two positions to consider; one versus the other. The first is �Lost Tomb of Jesus, produced by James �Titanic� Cameron and based on the investigative reporting of Simcha Jacobovici. The other: �Reach for finger here; see my hands. Reach your hand here and put it into my side. Be unbelieving no longer, but believe.� (John 230:27). There is only One Truth. The above are two dissimilar and diametrically opposed postulations/�truths.� There cannot be two truths. Either is Truth; the other, falsehood. Pierre Tierra (by email), Great Falls , Virginia , March 25, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mang Tony, There is no debate or controversy here. No bones of the Lord Jesus will ever be dug. Our Lord Jesus died on the cross but on the third day he ressurected and joined our Creator, after saving us from sins. The bible has enough empirical accounts of His existence here on Earth. We humans created from the image of our Creator are more intelligent than those beings who evolved from the apes. Let them find their bananas. Edel Anit, (by email), March 25, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Ay, naku! That's what happens when you're old. I saw the docu in the States last Feb 2007. I may even have bought the magazine Archaeology with the article explaining that the carving or name was fake (one of those carbon dating things) but now can't remember whether I took it back with me. Maybe it�s because it turned out to be another hoax with someone interested in making money that withered my interest. If I can find further info I'll send it to you. Bambi Harper, (by email), March 25, 2008 (Please do. Be aware, however, that there were two docus here. One involved only one ossuary (with an inscription), acquired from an antiquities dealer in 2003. That docu was titled James, Brother of Jesus. The other involved ten ossuaries (six with names) stored in the warehouse of the Israel Antiquities Authority from 1980 up to the present. This docu was titled The Lost Tomb of Jesus. Both docus were shown on separate days, years apart, on Discovery Channel. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony, Allow me to comment on the lines "Legend has it that Peter was buried in what is now the Vatican , under the floor of a basilica first built by Emperor Constantine (the Great) in the 4th century, on which the Basilica of St. Peter was later superimposed. But no archaeological evidence is said to have ever been found to support that legend." Actually there is archaeological and scientific basis for the belief that Peter is indeed buried under St. Peter's basilica. I have a copy of the book The Bones of St. Peter which is a very clear account of how the bones were discovered and validated, and another book The Tomb of St. Peter is written by one of the scientists who worked on the discovery. A quick google of the topic will help provide you some info on the matter. Regards, Tonton Mapa, (by email), March 25, 2008 (Following your suggestion, I looked up the Catholic Encyclopedia and Wikipedia. The Catholic Encyclopedia says: �The history of the relics of the Apostles Peter and Paul is one which is involved in considerable difficulties and confusion. The primary authorities to be consulted are in opposition to one another, or at least appear to be so.� There were apparently two possible locations, one in the Vatican and the other in the Ostian Way . But now there is also a third: the Catacomb of St. Sebastian. (Wikipedia says: �On June 26, 1968, Pope Paul VI announced that the relics of St. Peter had been discovered.� Proof: �bone testing revealed that the remains belonged to a man in his sixties�..Although records suggest that Peter was in Rome , there is no incontrovertible proof�There has been controversy over the identity of the remains in the tomb�.� In my book, this does not constitute �solid archaeological evidence.� ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Sir Tony I 've read your article todat in Manila Standard regrading this discoveries of bone remains of whosoever or whereever or whatever or we may say what sense? Mind -boggling is one of the satan's way of destroying the Christians faith.. I wish you would consider this.. I respect your job as a writer, but if you are a Christian, please do not write such things.. rather giving hope, and encouraging our faith in GOD, we may give wrong perception of faith.. Faith is you believe in GOD without need to see proofs or bones on anything.. The Bible is more that enough.. Sir I dont want to offend you, please write something that will help us to be strong, hopeful and would increase our faith that GOD is always there to help us.. The Discovery Channel shows a lot of programs that destroys people's faith.. Same with the de vinci code, Dan Brown says it is just a story, but a story thjat was so bad in taste just to make money.... I believe that's the reason why it was not never shown in the TV... God will deal with them soon.. We will always pray fofr these people who has nothing to do in their lives, they may be pagans who dont beleve in GOD. Thank you very much. God bless you always. . Lito Bautista, (by email), March 25, 2008 (Some people, obviously not including you, are not satisfied with myths and folk tales to explain the world. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hello sir, The following is an article from National Review Online about the documentary which gives another angle to the story. Nathan, [email protected], March 25, 2008 Not Dead Yet The Lost of Tomb of Jesus�one year later. March 21, 2008, 5:00 a.m. By Thomas F. Madden A year ago the Discovery Channel delivered a cheery Easter message to America �s Christians: Jesus is dead�and we found his tomb. (Does anyone doubt that Jesus died almost 2,000 years ago? Doesn�t the Bible say so? ACA) After much fanfare and hype, The Lost Tomb of Jesus aired on March 4, 2007 to an audience of 4.1 million viewers. The documentary, which was directed by the journalist Simcha Jacobovici (better known as the host of The Naked Archaeologist) and produced by James Cameron (better known as the director of Titanic and True Lies), revealed that the Biblical account of Jesus� burial in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and subsequent Resurrection was just wishful thinking. The truth, they claimed, was that the deceased Jesus was brought to his family tomb in Jerusalem , where he remained good and dead. And Jacobovici and Cameron had the facts to prove it. For example, they revealed a stone ossuary (a repository for bones) that just possibly might have the words �Jesus, son of Joseph� on it. (The handwriting is poor, so scholars disagree on the actual inscription.) Another of the ossuaries has the name �Mary� on it. And another one is inscribed �Mariamene e Mara,� which�if you squint your eyes just right�looks like �Mariamne,� which was used by a writer more than 200 years later to refer to Mary Magdalene. Get it? That fits perfectly with the chronicle of ancient wisdom known as The Da Vinci Code, which asserts that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married! Even more startling, one of the other ossuaries bears the name �Judah, son of Jesus,� who must have been the son of Jesus and Mary (obviously born before Mary rushed off to have her daughter in Gaul , as The Da Vinci Code attests). With so much evidence to support their case, no sane person could deny that these filmmakers had made a monumental archaeological discovery. One wonders what real archaeologists do all day! The documentary further backed up its case with plenty of dramatic reenactments, high-tech graphics, and even a statistical study that put the odds against its being wrong at more than 600-to-1. Having presented their discovery, Jacobovici and Cameron sat back and waited for the accolades of the scholarly community to roll in. They�re still waiting. You see, as it turns out, the �Lost Tomb of Jesus� wasn�t lost at all. It wasn�t the tomb of Jesus either. Instead, it was the Talpiot Tomb, discovered by archaeologists�real ones�more than 25 years earlier. It had long since been analyzed, and the results published in a scholarly journal. The conclusion of the experts was that it was a fairly standard cave tomb of a wealthy Jewish family of the first century. The names on the ossuaries, including �Jesus,� which is a form of �Joshua�, were very common at that time. Heck, one in five women were named �Mary�! There was no more reason to believe that the Jesus of this tomb was Jesus of Nazareth than there is to believe that James Cameron is actually James Dean. Even before The Lost Tomb of Jesus aired, there arose a firestorm of scholarly objection to it. First Prof. Amos Kloner, the lead archaeologist and original author of the report of the Talpiot Tomb, declared that the whole documentary was �nonsense.� Then a swarm of other archaeologists and historians around the world (including myself) joined in, explaining why there was no good reason to believe that the tomb had anything to do with the Jesus of the New Testament. For example: Jesus and his family were not from Jerusalem , the location of the Talpiot Tomb. If we imagine that Joseph was not a carpenter but, say, a prosperous camel merchant, then he might have been able to afford a nice family tomb like this�but wouldn�t he have put it where he actually had a family? Like Bethlehem or Nazareth ? Certainly he would. Of course, Joseph was a carpenter, which means that he couldn�t have afforded the tomb in the first place. If Jesus did have a family tomb in Jerusalem , why does the New Testament insist that he was laid to rest in the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea? And why no mention of that Judah kid? There is absolutely no historical testimony to corroborate any of the claims of the documentary. Indeed, all of the ancient sources, from the Pauline letters to the Gospels to early Christian tracts to Eusebius, contradict its conclusions. The much touted 600-to-1 odds were based on assumptions for which there is no evidence�such as that the people of the tomb were of one generation, that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married, and that Jesus� family was from Jerusalem . The consulting statistician, Andrey Feuerverger of the University of Toronto , subsequently distanced himself from the documentary, saying that he was only working with the assumptions given to him. At some point the people at the Discovery Channel seem to have realized that they had purchased the archaeological equivalent of �cold fusion.� As more and more scholars denounced the show, they made an unusual move: They called Ted Koppel and gave the hard-boiled newsman a few days to put together a post-documentary program in which Jacobovici could defend himself face-to-face against the academic naysayers. But before turning Jacobovici over to the professors, Koppel presented some research of his own: Written responses from experts used in the documentary who claimed that their remarks had been mischaracterized or falsified. Jacobovici strongly denied this, then spent the rest of the show dodging arguments lobbed at him by exasperated scholars itching for a fight. It was good TV. After a few days, though, the buzz died down, and The Lost Tomb of Jesus seemed as old as last week�s TV Guide. Having cashed his checks, James Cameron went back to making movies. Simcha Jacobovici, on the other hand, continued to maintain that there was a strong possibility he was right. Meanwhile he went back to his regular show, The Naked Archaeologist, in which he is neither naked nor an archaeologist. Over the past year, the scholarly consensus on the tomb has become virtually unanimous. As Dr. Jodi Magness of the Archaeological Institute of America wrote, the documentary�s claim is �inconsistent with all of the available information�historical and archaeological�about how Jews in the time of Jesus buried their dead, and specifically the evidence we have about poor, non-Judean families like that of Jesus. It is a sensationalistic claim without any scientific basis or support.� So that�s that? Well, not quite. On January 13-16, 2008, the Princeton Theological Seminary hosted a symposium in Jerusalem that brought together leading scholars and archaeologists, including Kloner and Joe Zias, the former curator of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Jacobovici attended as well, as did plenty of news cameras and journalists. When it was all over, Time reported that the symposium�s experts were �deeply divided� on the question of whether this was the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth or not. Jacobovici described himself as �vindicated.� And there was even a bombshell: The widow of Joseph Gat, one of the original archaeologists of the tomb, claimed that her husband had always believed it was the tomb of Jesus but had remained silent because he feared a backlash of anti-Semitism. Time and CNN left the impression that the stuffy scholarly community was finally coming around. When the symposium�s scholars returned home and picked up their copy of Time or switched on CNN, they got quite a shock. Deeply divided? That wasn�t the symposium that they had attended. Aside from that Naked Archaeologist sitting in the corner, they couldn�t remember much of anyone arguing that the Talpiot Tomb belonged to Jesus of Nazareth. Why did CNN give all that air time to Jacobovici and none at all to the fifty-some experts taking part in the symposium? They were upset, to say the least. And so the experts revolted. Geza Vermes, a fellow of the British Academy and professor emeritus of Jewish Studies at Oxford University, wrote that the arguments of Jacobovici and the documentary were �not just unconvincing but insignificant� and �most of the fifty or so participants shared this opinion.� A long list of distinguished symposium attendees wrote their own letter decrying the press reports: �Nothing further from the truth can be deduced from the discussion and presentations.� They noted that the deceased Mr. Gat, whatever he may or may not have said, �lacked the expertise to read the inscriptions� on the ossuaries. �To conclude, we wish to protest the misrepresentation of the conference proceedings in the media, and make it clear that the majority of scholars in attendance�including all of the archaeologists and epigraphers who presented papers relating to the tomb�either reject the identification of the Talpiot tomb as belonging to Jesus� family or find this claim highly speculative.� If the scholars were expecting an apology from Time or CNN, they were sorely disappointed. Neither one seems to have even noticed their protest. Both organizations still have the stories posted on their websites. After all, archaeologists are such spoilsports. There�s no sense in letting them ruin a perfectly good story. The scholarly case on the tomb may be essentially closed, but the sensationalist fantasies are alive and well. After all, Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, can�t make all the money, can he? It�s frustrating, though�particularly for scholars who have spent their careers trying to uncover and disseminate the truth. One cheesy documentary, it seems, is worth a thousand good books and journal articles. In time, though, the Lost Tomb of Jesus and its parent, The Da Vinci Code, will fade away, joining the long parade of past pseudo-history fads like Erich Von Daniken�s Chariot of the Gods? and Immanuel Velikovsky�s Worlds in Collision. Christians will just have to make due with the Empty Tomb. �Thomas F. Madden is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University . His newest book, Empires of Trust: How Rome Built�And America is Building�A New World (Dutton), will be released in July. � Thomas F. Madden, the author of A Concise History of the Crusades and coauthor of The Fourth Crusade, is associate professor and chair of the Department of History at Saint Louis University in St. Louis , Missouri . National Review Online - http://article.nationalreview.com/?q= YmQwZjI5NWQ4Zjg1NTlkYjgzY2Y4NGExOTNiYTE1YTE= (National Review is a conservative publication which achieved prominence under its founder and previous editor, the late William F. Buckley, a staunchly traditional Roman Catholic. It is therefore not surprising that National Review would be hostile to books/documentaries such as this. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, I viewed the documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, last year during its first run. (Don't ask me how, but an inquisitive mind finds a way!) This was during the time when the program elicited a rather sharp retort from the CBCP; which was strange because it had yet to make its world premier. The program, like any serious documentary, presented its case in a clear, logical and scientific manner; which is something the Philippine church and mass media apparently seem to lack an aptitude for. If as you say, "there is no reason � yet � to rewrite the story of Christianity", then you are merely confirming my long held belief that media practitioners, like yourself, are never really interested in the facts as they are; only in the facts that you can parlay into economic benefit (i.e., larger circulation, wider readership and, yes, greater fame). Philippine mass media has become, if it hasn't always been, one huge propaganda machine. Same goes for the Philippine Catholic Church. (Come to think of it, the word "propaganda" is a Catholic concept - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda#Etymology.) You are only too quick to dismiss things or concepts that do not fit into your world view, conform with your preconceived notions and versions of the "truth" or disturb your comfort zones; opting instead to peddle convoluted schemes and scenarios, such as your junta delusions (as well as your other "tele novelas"), to those who are only to willing to believe your wild imaginings. James Cameron presented his thesis and the evidence he has uncovered to support it; on the other hand, Mr. Lozada, and his band of propagandists, wove a litany of unsupported facts. And you, like so many many media practitioners, chose to propagate the latter while summarily dismissing the former (which, incidentally, you stated you haven't even seen)! How then can you be credible? Doddie Batac, (by email), March 25, 2008 (You got your facts wrong. Cameron was the producer or financier of the project. It was Simcha Jacobovici who was the forensic investigator, theorist and presentor. How can you be credible if you cannot even get that straight? And you claim to have an inquisitive mind! (And how did Jun Lozada got inserted into this, anyway? I elected to be cautious about The Lost Tomb of Jesus because any theory such as this, with a serious potential for undermining a 2,000-year old global religion with 1.1 billion followers, requires more rigorous proof than has so far been presented by Jacobovici. (Such rigorous proof beyond reasonable doubt is not necessary regarding yet another corruption scandal around the president of an inconsequential country who is a congenital liar, cheat and crook, whose own economics planner stated under oath before the Senate that he had informed her about the bribe attempt, but that she told him to approve the project anyway. (And don�t you understand English? Although I failed to catch the docu when it was shown in March 2007 on Discovery Channel, I did write in my article that I ordered the DVD and the accompanying book from amazon.com. I watched that 105-munte DVD twice � probably much longer than the Discovery version - and read the much more detailed book once, before I wrote my article. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, We will note that there is hardly any attempt to discredit the discovery of the ossuaries of St. Peter and Simon of Cyrene. There is not a whimper of protest at the enthusiasm to dig up the place some more. There is only a desire to prove to anyone who cares to listen that some truth is indeed out there. However, when there arises an interesting possibility on the life and times of Jesus Christ, along comes someone who invariably introduces himself as an authority on the subject, saying "Hold it right there." Consequently, I don't think we will learn any more than what we already know about the life and times of this great man, Jesus son of Mary.[1] Ever since the Nazarenes overwhelmed the Ebionites, and the doctrine of Divinity became the norm, Christendom has been at a disadvantage. Dynamic but stymied. Awesome but always on the defensive. By necessity, it may not entertain any new discovery �� like, Jesus could be a son but not a father, you know. Fra Randolf Flores could be right; there is no reason to rewrite Christianity. After all, Christians could just walk away and become Ebionites all over again. Warm regards [1] A true blue Christian would have marked Jesus' ossuary in this way, as against "Jesus son of Joseph," for obvious reasons. Jacobovici's claims disregard this important point. Willy Calinawan, (by email), March 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww . Dear Mr. Abaya, Please find below an article that was posted on the American TFP website at around the time Jacobovici's documentary was released last year. I retrieved it from the site's archives by doing a search. Sincerely, Jose Maria Alcasid, (by email), March 26, 2008 Original link: http://www.tfp.org/TFPForum/catholic_perspective/jesus_family_tomb.htm The "Jesus Family Tomb:" One More Gnostic Onslaught By Luis Sergio Solimeo It just does not stop. Following in the footsteps of The Da Vinci Code, the Gnostic offensive against Christianity is forging ahead with new pretexts, and, once again, with massive media coverage. The New Onslaught: Archeological Fiction This time, it is not a pseudo-historic novel,1 but a pseudo-scientific Discovery Channel documentary, titled: The Lost Tomb of Jesus, which was directed by James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici. The two are well-suited for the task. Mr. Cameron is a science fiction2 fan, while Mr. Jacobovici could be considered an archeological fiction aficionado. Four years ago, he produced another Discovery Channel documentary claiming a funeral urn had been discovered with the inscription, �James son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.� Later, Israel 's Antiquities Authority officially declared the inscription a forgery.3 He and Mr. Cameron now suggest that a set of ossuary-urns, engraved with the names, Jesus, Mary, a second Mary, Matthew, Joshua and Judah, proves that the Divine Savior did not resurrect and ascend to Heaven, but married Saint Mary Magdalene and had a son named Judah, not a daughter named Sarah, as The Da Vinci Code claimed. A Twenty-seven-year-old �Novelty� The factual basis, or rather, the pretext for this new onslaught is a mausoleum discovered in Tilot, Jerusalem , by Israeli archeologist Prof. Amos Kloner of Bar Ilan University in 1980. The burial chamber contains several funeral urns engraved with the names mentioned above. Ten years later, he publicly announced his discovery, with little excitement. Nevertheless, the documentary�s authors claim it to be the tomb of Jesus� �family.� However, even Professor Kloner disagrees with their claim: ��Jesus son of Joseph� inscriptions had been found on several other ossuaries over the years. There is no likelihood that Jesus and his relatives had a family tomb. They were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem . The Talpiot tomb belonged to a middle-class family from the first century CE [A.D.]."4 Speaking of the documentary, Prof. Kloner went even further: "It makes a great story for a TV film, but it's impossible. It's nonsense."5 He also stated: "In their movie they are billing it as 'never before reported information,' but it is not new. I published all the details in the Antiqot journal in 1996 and I didn't say it was the tomb of Jesus' family. I think it is very unserious work. I do scholarly work ... based on other studies."6 Gnostic Propaganda The Lost Tomb of Jesus� web site indicates clearly that this is simply another bit of Gnostic propaganda.7 Among the �holy books� which allegedly provide a theological basis for the documentary�s absurd thesis are various Gnostic works, including the Acts of Philip, The Gospel of Mary [Magdalene] and The Gospel of Thomas. Curiously enough, these are the same �sources� cited by The Da Vinci Code. Gnostic partisanship here is obvious. According to the site, the Gnostic �Acts of Phillip� were part of the canon of the New Testament in the fourth century but were removed �because they did not adhere to common cultural and church practices established at the time.�8 However, the Church has always rejected the Gnostic writings. They were never part of the canon of the New Testament, which was pretty much defined by the end of the second century.9 The site recognizes that the Acts of Philip was attributed to �Christian Gnostics� and adds: �As is the case with the other Gnostic writings, the spiritual role of Mary Magdalene has proved to be the most contentious subject in the text. Some believe that passages relate Mary's privileged status and leadership role amongst the apostles, a view that has not been espoused by Christian theology in the past.�10 According to the same source, one must know Gnosticism to understand Christianity. Christianity is allegedly an eclectic mixture of Jesus� doctrines and paganism. Thus, the site reads: In fact, the religion as it is currently practiced is actually a fusion of the teachings of Jesus himself (as well as their interpretations by his followers), Judaism, paganism, Greek thought, and even mystical religions. To begin, get the basics on the Judeo-Christians, and their contribution to the development of Christian thought. Then read about the Nazarenes and the Ebionites, two Judeo-Christian [Gnostic] sects that were arguably the earliest followers of Jesus - although each enjoyed divergent legacies within the context of Christian history. Next, learn about the Gnostics, the Essenes, and the Gentile Romans - all of whom have been at the center of debate at some point during the evolution of the Christian faith.11 After Liberalism and Marxism, Gnosticism Beginning in the nineteenth century, the Church was the object of a savage attack by liberalism, which denied the existence of the supernatural and grace on the pretext of exalting human liberty. Throughout most of the twentieth century, the Church faced political and cultural persecution by Marxist materialism that deemed religion �the opium of the people.� As the twenty-first century begins, the Church continues to suffer from these two offensives, but now is attacked once again by the �eternal heresy,� irrational Gnosticism. Facing this new onslaught, we must hold fast to our Faith and deepen our knowledge of it. We must also manifest our indignation against these public attacks on the adorable Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not forget we are members of the Church Militant. By Baptism and Confirmation, we are made milites Christi, soldiers of Christ. One only really loves that which he is willing to defend. If we truly love Christ and his Church, we must oppose these pernicious ideas. ______________________ 1. Cf. TFP Committee on American Studies, Rejecting the Da Vinci Code (Spring Grove: 2005). 2. Cf. Biography for James Cameron http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000116/bio. 3. Dion Nissenbaum, Tomb of Jesus, son found, film reportsDirector claims titanic `new' evidence; experts call it bunk, McClatchy Newspapers, Published February 27, 2007, Chicago Tribune www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0702270145feb27 ,1,1790100.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed 4. David Horovitz, New film claims Jesus buried in Talpiot, �The Jerusalem Post,� Feb. 25, 2007, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1171894508893& pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull 5. Ibid. 6. Judith Sudilovsky (Catholic News Service) Biblical scholars reject filmmakers' claim about tomb of Jesus, Feb-27-2007, http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0701131.htm. 7. http://www.jesusfamilytomb.com/holy_books.html. 8. http://www.jesusfamilytomb.com/holy_books/apochryphal/acts_philip.html. 9. Cfr. TFP Committee on American Issues, Rejecting the Da Vinci Code, (Spring Grove-PA, 2005) pp. 57-58. 10. http://www.jesusfamilytomb.com/holy_books/apochryphal/acts_philip.html. 11. http://www.jesusfamilytomb.com/back_to_basics/early_christianity.html. (Flagellating a document/relic/book because it is supposedly Gnostic in origin does not score any points among people to whom Gnosticism is not necessarily such an evil or misguided belief system. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww NOTES: Because of limited space, this post may be truncated in acabaya.blogspot.com. It appears or will appear complete in www.tapatt.org. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Antonio Abaya, There are accounts that Jesus survived the crucifixion, continued his mission of teaching and later died in Kashmir, a Muslim area. His grave it is said, was not far from that of his mother. There are a good number of writings on this topic. Last Easter, one Chicago talk show had a Catholic priest saying the "Resurrection" was spiritual, not physical. (I am familiar with the Kashmir theory, according to which Jesus� tomb is located in the city of Srinagar , and a picture of it appears in one book. This theory claims that there is a tribe in Kashmir (called Bin Israel, or Children of Israel) who claim to be descendants of a community of Jews who walked from Jerusalem all the way to Kashmir in the company of Jesus and his mother Mary, who supposedly died in the town of Murree �said to have been named after her - in what is now Pakistan. This was six centuries before the birth of Islam. But it is only a theory that has never been proven and is not taken seriously. ACA) Years ago a column in the once popular weekly tabloid published by the late Joe Burgos, Sr., ("MetroMail" carried a narrative about how Jesus' body was removed from the tomb. The story I think shows a great miracle based on acceptable principles of reason and common sense that are not at all hinged on the supernatural or inexplicable. There is need to rewrite Christianity in terms of the laws of nature which I think Jesus intended to reaffirm, and not disprove; in order to recognize him better as the Teacher who was a Jew, a Christ, the inspiration of Islam. He would just love to see followers of these three great religions in harmony today, instead of tearing up one another. In this manner, Christianity would flourish even among those who wish to be scientific about religion. Belated Happy Easter ! Lourdes Ceballos, (by email), March 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya: Apparently you swallowed everything -- hook, line and sinker -- when you wrote the above-mentioned article. The CBS newsmagazine's "60 Minutes" aired last Easter Sunday an investigative report that confirmed the fact that the ossuaries (that you mentioned in your article) were all fakes (F-A-K-E-S). For the transcript of the "60 Minutes" story, please go to this article, "The Stone Box And Jesus' Brother's Bones" at this URL http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/20/60minutes/main3954980.shtml I think that you owe your tens of thousands of readers an apology for telling them a tall story. Mabuhay, Bobby M. Reyes, (by email), March 26, 2008 (Apparently you swallowed everything � hook, line and sinker � that CBS� 60 Minutes� dished out. What makes �60 Minutes� suddenly such an infallible authority on First Century AD archaeology? (Actually, the CBS� 60 Minutes, as per the URL you sent above, dealt exclusively with the an ossuary acquired from an antiquities dealer in 2003 and which is the subject of the documentary James, Brother of Jesus, aired on Discovery in 2003. This ossuary, about which allegations of forgery have been hurled, is mentioned in Jacobovici�s book on pages 25 to 31. (CBS� 60 Minutes, as per your URL, does not mention (repeat, DOES NOT MENTION) a single word about the ten ossuaries (six with inscriptions) stored in the warehouse of the Israel Antiquities Authority, from the time they were discovered in Talpiot in 1980 up to the present, which was the subject of the 2007 docu titled The Lost Tomb of Jesus, which was the subject of MY article. (I do not owe any true believer any apology. In the second to the last paragraph of my article, I wrote: �(Jacobovici�s)� discovery does not constitute proof beyond reasonable doubt that the Joshua buried with his immediate relatives in the family tomb in Talpiot was the same Joshua of the New Testament�� Didn�t you understand that? ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Thanks for this article...Maganda kasi mapanood muna yung documentary... As for me, I still hold what the Bible says..Maraming sinsasabi ang Bible about the present times and future as well. However, I would like to see it.. Mike Delgado, (by email), March 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Very interesting. The inverted chevron with a circle could be the symbol of the Essenes, one of the three principal sects among the Jews in the first century, the other two being the Sadduces and the Pharisees. Narciso Ner, (by email), Davao City , March 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww If Christ did not really rise from the dead, then as the apostle Paul said, our Christian faith would be useless and we Christians would be the most miserable people on earth. BUT CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD! The apostles who had left Jesus to die alone, suddenly found the courage to give up their lives rather than deny the Ressurrection. Bakit biglang tumapang si Pedro, na itinangging kakilala niya si Kristo? At bakit naging Kristiyano si Pablo, na dati'y kalaban? Because they had seen the risen Lord. David Tabaniag, (by email), March 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hello Tony! I can't wait for that future article of yours. As always, your article was thought-provoking. I find it incredible that people of today can find the tomb of Jesus and his family among the maybe thousands that are existent in Israel . I doubt if scholars can definitely identify the purported remains of Jesus or Joshuah as his as there is no known bloodline at present of Jesus with which to compare DNAs. Dan Brown of Da Vinci Code also made thought-provoking reading; this tomb discovery is also of the same value. The net effect is that my faith in Catholic Church, such as it is, has not been shaken one bit. The Church should not be overly sensitive to adverse ideas. One thing about religion is that it is not based on scientific truth. My scientific training tells me that certain doctrines are bull__t but my upbringing (i.e. those years of "indoctrination" in Catholic schools) tells me to separate science from faith. That's why it is called faith (i.e. not subject to scientific verification). Faith does not always win out but letting it win from time to time makes for a less stressful living. So what if Jesus married Mary of Magdalene and had children with her? So what if he did not resurrect and was in fact in that tomb? I find no difficulty in reconciling these "truths" with my idea of the Catholic Church. I will still follow the teachings of Jesus and nod on whatever my priest says. We are social beings that need something like a church for our survival as a species. If not the Catholic Church, it will be something else and I still wont be sure if that alternative is better. Herminigildo Gutierrez, (by email), March 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww My dear Tony, Thank you for your article "Jesus� Lost Tomb?". We have believed this a very long time. Best regards.... George Sison, (by email), March 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww May I direct you to a blog post by Ben Witherington, a well-known New Testament scholar, on this big fraud of a documentary: http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2008/03/rolling-stone-in-front-of-jesus-tomb.html Belated Easter cheers, Romel Regalado Bagares, (by email), March 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, This is a total U-turn from our regular fare on country politics.. its actually quite refreshing. I was waiting for the show to air only to be disappointed that its actually a 'teaser' for the sale of the DVD [and book] I guess. Like the Da Vinci Code book of Dan Brown, it stirred up a global level of controversy and debates and these people (the producers of the Lost Tomb) may have debated just as well as to the consequences of their discovery. The possibility that there was no physical resurrection will indeed open another Pandora's Box which could be a reason why the show wasn't aired before the Lent. If you would allow me to share my thoughts on this - rewriting Christianity won't have much impact on faith - if faith was strong enough. I would put more weight on the lessons Jesus taught and left us than what happened to him during his life and after he died. I know the absence of a physical resurrection may affect our concept of "eternal life" since we were promised to be raised from the dead - but I often thought of it as a spiritual resurrection rather than a physical one. The idea alone of moving on to a higher level of consciousness (heaven) after we depart from this earth gives us hope that all physical hardships and sufferings end where heaven begins. I remember a question posted as a chain mail - "Would you rather live your life believing there is NO God only to die and find out there is? Or would you rather live your life believing there IS a God only to die and find out there isn't?" I'd rather live believing there IS a God because this - here and now - is where my conscious being is - I feel every emotion and physical joys and pains here on this earth - and the lessons Jesus left us, what the Bible says - are guides to living with one another and with ourselves - in peace and harmony. It�s cliche but that's how it is and how it should be. If there isn't a God after I die - then I didn't waste much since I did live my life to the fullest... or at least I tried to in accordance to his teachings. It would be interesting though, to find out the entire scope of that documentary and what they did prove [if any irrefutable proof was offered]. If the proof is strong enough to rewrite History, then so be it. Like in the Da Vinci Code debates - if Jesus and Mary were indeed married and had offspring - does that lessen the essence of the gift He left us? I find it absurd that some Catholics are offended by the notion he was married when in fact it makes him human which is why he was 'sent' in the first place - to bridge the gap between being a God and a man - makes him 'reachable', making his lessons doable as well. Hope to read the second part of your thoughts on the Lost Tomb soon. Happy Easter! Regards, Jenny Aquino-Xavier, (by email), March 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww You might find it relevant to read *Jesus the Man (Paperback)* by Barbara Thiering <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?%5Fencoding= UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Barbara%20Thiering> A very scholarly work which supports your article well. Malcolm J. Pick, (by email), March 26, 2008 National Director, Profiles Asia Pacific Inc. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I forwarded your article -Jesus' Lost Tomb? - to a friend of mine in the US and he sent me this reply: "60 Minutes just did a whole segment about this last Sunday (Easter). They focused on the James's ossuary. They went undercover and interviewed an antiquities shop owner in Cairo who admitted forging many artifacts for an art dealer in Jerusalem -- the same art dealer who came forward with the ossuary. Israeli officials are trying to sue the dealer and have asked Egypt to allow the forger in Cairo to testify. Egypt has refused. It's a big controversy because many prominent archeologists declared the tomb to be authentic -- which raises the question: how many more times have they been duped? How many fakes are on display in museums today? Fascinating". Alan D. R. de Luzuriaga, (by email), March 26, 2008 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Shalom, I just read your article, way, way out of date. As someone who was directly involved in the story, I put up a 'readers guide to the doc' at www.joezias.com I also would like to add the fact that one of those indirectly involved, but tied in with Simcha is on trial here in Jerusalem for forging antiquities, which they have denied, however if you go to the 60 Minutes web site you will see something on it this last Sunday along with an interview of the Egyptian working/forging antiquities for them the past 15 years. Joe Zias, (by email), Jerusalem , Israel , March 26, 2008 Science and Archaeology Group @ The Hebrew University (But why are you pushing the CBS� 60 Minutes program as if it were the last word on the subject? As one directly involved with the case, being curator of the IAA from 1970s to the 1990s, you know very well that CBS focused exclusively on the ossuary marked James, Brother of Jesus, not on the ten ossuaries discovered in Talpiot. Since these ten ossuaries were in the custody of the IAA, from 1980 to the present, how could anyone � most of all an Arab � have managed to get his hands on them and forged the inscriptions? Or are the inscriptions genuine, and you are just contesting SJ�s interpretations, probably because he does not have the academic bona fides? ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Too many research and justifications mostly coming from the Jews who never recognize Christ messianic & divinity status. I understand their agenda. If it is difficult to find facts, likewise not easy to remove the faith inculcated over a span of many centuries brought down from one generation to another. For me, it's now a matter of faith beyond any rational reason. Nonoy Ramos, (by email), Pennsylvania , March 27, 2008 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOTE: Transmissions to yahoo.com and mydestiny.net addresses are sometimes delayed or blocked by the servers for one reason or another. If you are encountering these delays or blocking, we suggest you move to a hotmail or a gmail address. To subscribe, send a blank email with the subject heading Subscribe. To unsubscribe, send a blank email with the subject heading Unsubscribe. |