Israeli expert quashes film claim about Jesus tomb

 

by Delphine Matthieussent

JERUSALEM (AFP) - A top Israeli archaeologist on Monday rubbished claims featured in a documentary by award-winning film directors that the burial site of Jesus has been located and which suggests he had a son.

 

The Oscar-winning James Cameron and Israel-born Simcha Jacobovici are to unveil their explosive conclusions at a New York news conference on Monday ahead of the March 4 premiere of their film on the Discovery Channel.

 

The claims in "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" are based on the 1980 discovery of a tomb containing 10 caskets in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Talpiot.

 

Some of the caskets were inscribed with the Hebrew names Yeshu Ben Yossef (Jesus son of Joseph), Yehuda Bar Yeshu (Judah son of Jesus), Martha and Myriam (Mary) -- all names associated with key players in the New Testament.

 

But archaeologist Professor Amos Kloner, who documented the tomb as the Jewish burial cave of a well-off family more than 10 years ago, is adamant there is no evidence to support claims that it was the burial site of Jesus.

 

"I'm a scholar. I do scholarly work which has nothing to do with documentary film-making. There's no way to take a religious story and to turn it into something scientific," he told AFP in a telephone interview.

 

"I still insist that it is a regular burial chamber from the 1st century BC," Kloner said, adding that the names were a coincidence.

 

"Who says that 'Maria' is Magdalena and 'Judah' is the son of Jesus? It cannot be proved. These are very popular and common names from the 1st century BC," said the academic at Israel's Bar Ilan University.

 

Kloner said that of 900 burial caves found within four kilometres (two and a half miles) of Jerusalem's Old City and from the same era, the name Jesus or Yeshu was found 71 times, and that "Jesus son of Joseph" had also been found.

 

Discovery News said new scientific evidence, including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world's top molecular genetics laboratories, suggests that the tomb could have once held the remains of Jesus and his family.

 

The findings also suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene might have had a son called Judah, it said on its website -- claims that Kloner ridiculed as impossible to prove.

 

"You would have to do DNA checks and see if the DNA of the bones found in the cave, which allegedly belong to the son of Jesus, match with God's DNA!" he said, referring to the Christian belief that Jesus was the son of God.

 

Israel's Antiquities Authority refused to comment, although in 1996 a spokesman said that the probability of the caskets belonging to the family of Jesus were "next to zero."

 

"It doesn't get bigger than this. We've done our homework; we've made the case; and now it's time for the debate to begin," said Cameron in a statement.

 

The Orthodox and Catholic Christian churches place Jesus's tomb below the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Old Jerusalem, while Protestants believe it is farther north outside the city walls.

I guess they missed the part in the Bible where Jesus rose from the dead, thus there are no bones to be found.

Discovery Channel......................or the Scoop Channel?.....

Jesus dont want me for a sunbeam...

sorry, this is bad science. Wishful thinking at BEST....its really funny though. They dont even have any facts to back up their shit and yet they want to claim this as fact....silly people

^^^ Agreed

I guess they missed the part in the Bible where Jesus rose from the dead, thus there are no bones to be found.

 

I'm not religious by any means, but did he spirtually rise from the dead, or physically?

I'm not religious by any means, but did he spirtually rise from the dead, or physically?

 

Both?

^^I'd say both.

 

But seriously, what are they going to do? Do a dna test on some of the gunk on the shroud of Turin? :rolleyes: Or maybe they should ask God for a dna sample.

 

The fact is, there were many people named Jesus in the first century, and even more people named Mary- at least three in the gospels alone.

 

To assume that the Jesus and Mary mentioned were the Christ, and Mary Magdeline? It's just bad science. Really lazy, bad science and wishful thinking.

I'm not religious by any means, but did he spirtually rise from the dead, or physically?

 

 

 

Not at all physically of course. Bible says he has, but everybody knows that those words are not to take litterally.

Not at all physically of course. Bible says he has, but everybody knows that those words are not to take litterally.

 

Why aren't you supposed to take it litteraly? The Bible makes it pretty clear that the tomb was empty, it wasn't just a metaphor.

And when Jesus walked on water, they meant ice, water is not to be taken literally!! DURRRR!!!

^ nice comeback haha

I guess they missed the part in the Bible where Jesus rose from the dead, thus there are no bones to be found.

 

I love that lol.:laugh3: so true. These people are stupid, Jesus didnt leave any bones behind. hes up in heaven

^ nice comeback haha

 

Oh, I was only kidding around, :P

:laugh4:

 

I wasn't to be taken litterally, no pun intended.

I think this docu is a crock of poo.

:)

I think this docu is a crock of poo.

:)

 

Why do people who come up with poo like this end up making money and getting thier 15 minutes in the spotlight. I could come up with more interesting reasonable poo than this!

because poo like this takes peoples attention away from poo that matters.... like the war, poverty, and world hunger, disease, and genocide. :)

because poo like this takes peoples attention away from poo that matters.... like the war, poverty, and world hunger, disease, and genocide. :)

 

But most of all alot of people out there want jesus to be dead so christianity will be fake...

^ exactly..... something to cause controversy and misdirect attention from things that matter.....

 

 

why can't believe what they want to believe... thats what faith is all about afterall..... its complete bullocks.

i don't agree here, analyzation of religion for some reason is taboo in society....and when you see all the conflict christianity stirs up, its very much worthwhile to put it under a microscope

But most of all alot of people out there want jesus to be dead so christianity will be fake...

 

Also Islam will be fake according to their claim, for that I'm sure that is another try from the Zionists to destroy the religions except Judism of course

Sometimes I really wonder why mankind could let the belief in something go this far that we're actually blowing ourselves to kill as much of the other side. Belief in something that nobody has ever proven to exist. Did mankind go nuts at some point in history ? Belief in something that we invented ourself to give a reason for natural things that we couldn't explain...

 

*the opinion of an atheist, not to offend*