More on the Tomb of Jesus

Brock researched the documentary of finding the tomb of Jesus and came up with this:

after the press conference about the lost tomb of jesus people were scared to death about this film made by james cameron. once again, the name of the film is, "the lost tomb of jesus". they claim that they have found the tomb and remains of jesus.

so they found jesus. i guess we should cancel easter. the easter bunny is gonna be unemployed. now that they have "proven" that jesus body is still buried in a tomb, what are we gonna do? sense my sarcasm? hope so.

if this film is true then christianity is a fraud.. we should all go find another religion. atheism would be appropriate.
this film is a total fraud. here is why. i have been researching this today to make sure i understood this all. i am overwhelmed by the amount of information. i have much to say about this. i found some great info on http://www.y-zine.com/yjesus.htm. thanks to some of you readers who helped me search. this was worded really well so i willl let this be my thoughts.


1. Why don’t Cameron and Jacobovici cite scholars who disagree with their conclusions? For example, in 1996, when the British Broadcasting Corp. aired a short documentary on the same subject, archaeologists challenged the claims. In fact, the vast majority of archaeologists dispute their claim.

2. Since the custom was to bury the dead in their home town, why would Mary and Joseph’s family tomb be in Jerusalem instead of Nazareth? Middle East researcher and biblical anthropologist Joe Zias states, "It has nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus, he was known as Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus of Jerusalem, and if the family was wealthy enough to afford a tomb, which they probably weren't, it would have been in Nazareth, not here in Jerusalem.” Zias dismisses Cameron's claims as "dishonest".

3. Why didn’t Jesus’ enemies, the Jewish leaders, expose the tomb? They searched unsuccessfully throughout Jerusalem for any evidence of Jesus’ body, claiming that Jesus’ disciples had stolen it. They hated Jesus enough to want him crucified, and would have been elated to discover his tomb, if it indeed existed.

4. Why didn’t the Romans expose the inscriptions as belonging to Jesus? Roman soldiers controlled the entire city of Jerusalem, and they knew his body was missing from a tomb they had been guarding.

5. Why didn’t contemporary Roman or Jewish historians write about the tomb? Not one single contemporary historian mentions the tomb in question.

6. Why was the James Ossuary, which has been labeled a forgery, cited by Cameron and Jacobovici as one of the reasons for the tomb‘s validity? CBS News correspondent Mark Philips reports “the archeological establishment has lined up to label this claim as bunk. This is the second time The Discovery Channel has been involved in a disputed claim about an ancient tomb,” reports Phillips. The man at the center of the previous case is now facing trial for forgery.” Ben Witherington, an early Christianity expert who was deeply involved with the James Ossuary, says “there are physical reasons to believe it couldn't have originated in the Talpiot plot.”

7. Why are Jacobovici and Cameron waiting until just prior to Easter to launch both the book and documentary? Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television. "They just want to get money for it," Kloner said.
8. Why would Jesus’ disciples endure torture for claiming he was resurrected, if they knew it was a hoax? New Testament scholar Darrell Bock asks, “why would Jesus' family or followers bury his bones in a family plot and then turn around and preach that he had been physically raised from the dead?"


JESUS’ TOMB DISCOVERED IN INDIA?

So called experts claim to have discovered Jesus’ tomb in India. The website [http://www.tombofjesus.com] cites eight lines of evidence that leads to the conclusion that Jesus was buried in Srinagar, Kashmir, India. Among other “evidence” it cites:


“The Tomb of Yus Asaph is a fascinating site. The tomb is said to be that of a Prophet who came from a foreign land. His parables, teachings, and burial direction all suggest he was Jesus Christ.”


JESUS’ TOMB DISCOVERED IN JAPAN?

Another theory puts Jesus’ tomb in the Shingo Village (Herai) in Japan. This is also supposedly based upon solid evidence from scholars. For example, the website, http://www.thiaoouba.com/tomb.htm cites the following as evidence:


“In 1935, Kiyomaro Takeuchi discovered a 1900 year old document stored in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, containing evidence Jesus (Joshua) born in Bethlehem to virgin Mary is buried in Herai Village in Aomori district of Japan….The document was SO authentic and new, and so explosive at the time that the Japanese government banned the document from public view and locked it in a museum in Tokyo.”


SCHOLARS’ VERDICT

So has Jesus’ tomb really been discovered? If so, is it in Jerusalem, Japan, or India---or somewhere else? They can’t all be true.

Jodi Magness, an archaeologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, expressed irritation that the claims were made at a news conference rather than in a peer-reviewed scientific article. By going directly to the media, she said, the filmmakers "have set it up as if it's a legitimate academic debate, when the vast majority of scholars who specialize in archaeology of this period have flatly rejected this," she said.

Magness noted that at the time of Jesus, wealthy families buried their dead in tombs cut by hand from solid rock, putting the bones in niches in the walls and then, later, transferring them to ossuaries.

She said Jesus came from a poor family that, like most Jews of the time, probably buried their dead in ordinary graves. "If Jesus' family had been wealthy enough to afford a rock-cut tomb, it would have been in Nazareth, not Jerusalem," she said.

Magness also said the names on the Talpiyot ossuaries indicate that the tomb belonged to a family from Judea, the area around Jerusalem, where people were known by their first name and father's name. As Galileans, Jesus and his family members would have used their first name and home town, she said.

"This whole case [for the tomb of Jesus] is flawed from beginning to end," she said.

And that conclusion seems to be the consensus of the vast number of archaeologists. Let us hear from William G. Dever, an unbiased scholar who has been excavating ancient sites in Israel for 50 years and is widely considered the dean of biblical archaeology among U.S. scholars. Dever writes, "I'm not a Christian. I'm not a believer. I don't have a dog in this fight," said "I just think it's a shame the way this story is being hyped and manipulated."





ok. this is pretty amazing huh? very interesting stuff. here is another crazy fact. and i am not being sarcastic here. the film uses a gnostic text called the acts of phillip. this text is not to be taken seriously by anyone. it says that mary magdalene and the disciples went to preach to the world and saw many converts such as... are you ready for this? a talking leopard, and a talking goat. i guess jesus loves the goat as much as us. poor sinning goat and leopard needs jesus too? you cant be serious.

james cameron has no integrity. this film is deceptive and downright scary. for those who are weak in the faith or those who are searching, or even those who are on the fence when it comes to faith, this will send them the wrong direction. my challenge to you is, go educate yourself. watch this film it is important for you to know what it is all about. know that you know the facts you will see thru the deception and psuedoscience that is used to entice the viewer.

people have asked me about what i think about this whole thing. i have already said it. we did a 3 hour tv special on discovery channel. its called the "miracles of jesus". if you havent seen it then buy the dvd right now at www.brockgill.com
the producer that i worked with on our film from the bbc said that they also did a documentary on the so called tomb of jesus. they found it to be a fraud as well. they did this in 1996. i have much more to say about this but i will go short . for an excellent podcast on this subject listen to this http://004f597.netsolhost.com/losttomb/losttomb.mp3 it is about 45 minutes or so i believe. if you want more details about this issue then listen to it. report back here and share your thoughts.