Brace 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.
Still, the whole theory sounds quite interesting - especially if ones believes Jesus might have existed but been just a man and not divine. If that were the case there is always the chance some physical remnant might remain. Of course the question about why the tomb would exist as it does is valid, but I am assuming they have done their research and have a valid reason why this could be Jesus beyond just names - the whole "amassed evidence through DNA tests, archaeological evidence and Biblical studies" sounds promising.
__________________
From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent.
Last edited by Imperial_Samura on Feb 25th, 2007 at 02:07 AM
I don't see how the DNA testing will show anything more than that the family within the tomb is related and that they were Jews. I think Amos Kloner is on the right track. The Jews accused the followers of Jesus of stealing the body because it was no longer in the tomb. The Jews openly admit that the body was gone, so that would make it impossible for this to be the body of the Biblical Jesus.
What a massive, massive suprise! This guy is a hack! Talk about having an agenda! This guy is one of those members of the scientific community that sees only what he wants and uses his position to advance his religion. I've not seen one documentary by this man that has taken all the evidence into account.
He's one of those guys that presents an argument for biblical truth and then tweaks history to make the evidence look like it fits the stories in teh bible.
He's a hack and his involvment in this project makes me highly doubt it's going to be the bombshell Cameron wants to make it out to be. The fact that these tombs exist; with the combination of names; in the place it does; from the time they come, it's highly likely that this is the family mausoleum of the Jewish teacher, Jesus. But the logic behind it will escape anyone who is a bible thumping christian. They could find a bag of bones with a hand written note signed by Jesus himself with a post script from God saying Jesus was a good guy but not divine, and you'd call it a plot by the Jews.
__________________ "If I were you"
"If you were me, you'd know the safest place to hide...is in sanity!