A little more related to my post this morning, this one from the Time blog. There are more than 1200 comments on this blog post as of the time I copied it. Many look to be from folks who are rejoicing that Christianity will be debunked by this "evidence." (Should we expect otherwise on a blog connected with Time and CNN?)
I couldn’t help thinking, as I was driving to church, about men through the centuries who have set out to prove that Jesus isn’t God, that He didn’t rise from the tomb, that all Christians are fools. And some, perhaps many, of these same men ended up proving to themselves that Jesus’ claims were true and became believers themselves. If memory serves (I hope I’m right), there are two from my own lifetime who this could describe. One is the author of Evidence That Demands a Verdict, and More than a Carpenter, Josh McDowell. Another is the author of The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel.
I wouldn’t care about any of this except for those people who will buy into the lie and never try to discover the truth for themselves. But then I remember that no one comes to Jesus except the Father draws them. And if the Father draws them, no lies spread in a documentary will stop God from speaking to their hearts.
February 23, 2007 6:55
Jesus: Tales from the CryptBrace yourself. James Cameron, the man who brought you ‘The Titanic’ is back with another blockbuster. This time, the ship he’s sinking is Christianity.
In a new documentary, Producer Cameron and his director, Simcha Jacobovici, make the starting claim that Jesus wasn’t resurrected –the cornerstone of Christian faith– and that his burial cave was discovered near Jerusalem. And, get this, Jesus sired a son with Mary Magdelene.
No, it’s not a re-make of "The Da Vinci Codes’. It’s supposed to be true.
Let’s go back 27 years, when Israeli construction workers were gouging out the foundations for a new building in the industrial park in the Talpiyot, a Jerusalem suburb. of Jerusalem. The earth gave way, revealing a 2,000 year old cave with 10 stone caskets. Archologists were summoned, and the stone caskets carted away for examination. It took 20 years for experts to decipher the names on the ten tombs. They were: Jesua, son of Joseph, Mary, Mary, Mathew, Jofa and Judah, son of Jesua.
Israel’s prominent archeologist Professor Amos Kloner didn’t associate the crypt with the New Testament Jesus. His father, after all, was a humble carpenter who couldn’t afford a luxury crypt for his family. And all were common Jewish names.
There was also this little inconvenience that a few miles away, in the old city of Jerusalem, Christians for centuries had been worshipping the empty tomb of Christ at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Christ’s resurrection, after all, is the main foundation of the faith, proof that a boy born to a carpenter’s wife in a manger is the Son of God.
But film-makers Cameron and Jacobovici claim to have amassed evidence through DNA tests, archeological evidence and Biblical studies, that the 10 coffins belong to Jesus and his family.
Ever the showman, (Why does this remind me of the impresario in another movie,"King Kong", whose hubris blinds him to the dangers of an angry and very large ape?) Cameron is holding a New York press conference on Monday at which he will reveal three coffins, supposedly those of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. News about the film, which will be shown soon on Discovery Channel, Britain’s Channel 4, Canada’s Vision, and Israel’s Channel 8, has been a hot blog topic in the Middle East (check out a personal favorite: Israelity Bites) Here in the Holy Land, Biblical Archeology is a dangerous profession. This 90-minute documentary is bound to outrage Christians and stir up a titanic debate between believers and skeptics. Stay tuned.
–Tim McGirk/Jerusalem
If you know Christ, I encourage you to be in prayer about this documentary. And pray for James Cameron who is lost and needs to find the truth.
-rlh-
The assault never ends, does it? I am heartened by an article in the latest Christianity Today which talked about how atheism is actually weakening. Their arguments are simply not strong enough to stand up to the arguments for Christianity–as you noted with the conversions of two very brilliant and skeptical men, McDowell and Strobel. Of course, C.S. Lewis was one of the biggest skeptics ever!
It is amazing to me how scientific bias scholars sound. For example, using DNA evidence to set forth evidence that the ossuraies contained the remains of Jesus and His family is totally absurd. A basic knowledge of biological science suggests that we have to take an independent control sample from a member of Jesus’ family in order for that to happen. The DNA part of this so-called evidence is just a bluff to catch the gullible off guard.
as humans, it is our nature to take things literally. if we widen our horizens enough to see the light, this may still ring true. maybe christ was risen from the grave in an apperhission, maybe he was risen from the grave in the form of “a son” (holy trinity-jesus and God are one). and maybe the 2nd coming of jesus is in the form of his dna. all are saved by believing in Jesus. by faith. ask and it shall be given. we have asked for signs. God gives signs, yet we still do not believe. it is not wether we believe this “lost tomb” that will save us. with God, all things are possible.