Last week I told you about a claim that was made by a Hollywood producer to have found the tomb of Jesus Christ. The tomb was found in a cave a couple years ago, while there was some construction being done in a suburb of Jerusalem. James Cameron, the producer of "The Titanic", and one of the people behind the new documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus", said that he believes that inside of this tomb lies Jesus, and his family. This is primarily based on a number of names that are found in the tomb.
It turns out that their film may become the first ever documentary to be proven wrong before it even airs. It wasn't Christians, who are used to their faith being mocked and ridiculed, it was scholars that took offense at the nature of the claims. It turns out that much of the results that came from their hard work had been manipulated, and twisted to meet the ends that Cameron was attempting to reach. It only took a number of days for the whole house of cards to come falling down.
The first strand of evidence to fall apart for the film makers is the DNA, according to researchers who have analyzed the DNA, it fails to support the claims that have been made by Cameron.
From Prof. Richard Bauckham per Ben Whiterington's blog:
"The form of the name on the ossuary in question is Mariamenou. This is a Greek genitive case, used to indicate that the ossuary belongs to Mary (it means 'Mary's' or 'belonging to Mary'). The nominative would be Mariamenon. Mariamenon is a diminutive form [...] It is better to suppose that the bones of two women (or perhaps a woman and her child, the diminutive Mariamenon being used for the latter) were placed in the same ossuary (this would not be not unusual)."
L.I. Rahmani explained that if it was the tomb of Jesus, we could expect that it would have a notation about where he was from. According to Rahmani, an Israeli archaeologist, "In Jerusalem's tombs, the deceased's place of origin was noted when someone from outside Jerusalem was interred in a local tomb,".
The claim is said to not only be counter to biblical versions of the story of Jesus's death, it is also counter to the early traditions of the church, it is counter to the way that Jews at that time buried the dead - especially those of a lower class or those who were not from the local area. In the end it turns out to be a fantastic claim, but little more. It has been said that this tomb is not the final resting place of Jesus, it is the final resting place of James Cameron's career.
The claim is said to not only be counter to biblical versions of the story of Jesus's death, it is also counter to the early traditions of the church, it is counter to the way that Jews at that time buried the dead - especially those of a lower class or those who were not from the local area. In the end it turns out to be a fantastic claim, but little more. It has been said that this tomb is not the final resting place of Jesus, it is the final resting place of James Cameron's career.
