Jesus Documentary Stirs Heated Debate

Scholars Dismiss Film's Claim That Jesus' Remains Were Found In Jerusalem Tomb

(CBS/AP)  To resolve the question of whether the remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene may have rested in two limestone boxes discovered in a Jerusalem suburb, the filmmakers of a new documentary took novel approaches — including turning to statisticians.

Some religious scholars and archaeologists, however, have not been convinced by the numbers.

Filmmakers showed the two boxes on Monday while promoting their documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," produced by Oscar-winning director James Cameron and airing on the Discovery Channel on March 4.

It argues that 10 first-century bone boxes, called ossuaries, discovered in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family.

One of the boxes even bears the title, "Judah son of Jesus," hinting that Jesus had a son. The claim that Jesus even had an ossuary contradicts the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven.

A panel of scholars that joined the filmmakers Monday at the New York Public Library addressed that criticism and others.

James Tabor, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said that while literal interpreters of the Bible say Jesus' physical body rose from the dead, "one might affirm resurrection in a more spiritual way in which the husk of the body is left behind."

But Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said Christianity "has always understood the physical resurrection of Christ to be at the very center of the faith."

Cameron, who won an Academy Award for directing "Titanic," said he was excited to be associated with the Jesus film, which was directed by Toronto filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici.

"We don't have any physical record of Jesus' existence," he said. "So what this film ... shows is for the first time tangible, physical, archaeological and in some cases forensic evidence."

He said that to a layman's eye "it seemed pretty darn compelling."

Jacobovici denied that his film is an attack on one of the basic tenets of Christianity, that Jesus rose from the dead.

"I'm not a theologian. I'm not attacking anybody," Jacobovici told CBS' The Early Show. "I'm a reporter. I'm reporting a set of facts. … It's a fact the tomb was found. It's a fact that Jesus son of Joseph was buried in this tomb. There's two Marys, there's a Judah son of Jesus. These are facts. So what we're doing is reporting saying, hey world, pay attention, don't discuss theology. First, let's discuss the facts and then let's see the implications on theology."

Jacobovici and archaeologist Charles Pellegrino also are the authors of "The Jesus Family Tomb," newly published by HarperSan Francisco. Jacobovici said that a name on one of the ossuaries, Mariamene, is a major support to the argument that the tomb is that of Jesus and his family. In early Christian texts, Mariamene is a name of Mary Magdalene, he said.

Most Christians believe Jesus' body spent three days at the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City. The burial site identified in the documentary is in a southern Jerusalem neighborhood nowhere near the church.

[jwhitetenn]

"Does any book give you this information??? The answer is NO. Heck even if you wanted to find out a modern day person's entire life history you wouldn't be able to."

your claim is that the bible is more than just a book. So why are you comparing it to "any book"?
the bible is the word of god, right.
if there were life on other planets then the bible would say so, so they will never discover life anywhere else in the universe aside from earth.
thats a bold statement that needs to be backed up with bold conviction, yet you just compared your rational of this statement with "any book".

[jwhitetenn]

one more, read this.

http://www.bidstrup.com/virus.htm

[jwhitetenn]

hey, you said "the Bible does not contradict itself and does not contain any errors."
I simply directed you to a website that showed that that is a false statement.
I'm being no more stubborn than you are.
if jesus loves me thats great, then i love jesus.
I just dont like people who wont consider all sides of an issue. to you, any logic or reason brought forth by anyone saying something different than you believe is just wrong. I'v considered that the bible was the truth. and the more I've learned the more I realized that it just wasn't the case. what angers me about organized religion is that their ideas and morals are forced into law on a regular basis without any thought for "non-believers" feelings and opinions.I think it would make the world a better place if religion kept its nose out of polotics as a rule. like the stem cell thing or the war on drugs. behind at least these two examples lies a heavy religious influence and I personally believe that they are wrong.live and let live, but if you run your mouth about something i whole-heartedly disagree with don't expect me not to say anything.
once again, I don't believe I've been any more stubborn than you, and if I make fun of certain things its just because I find them utterly ridiculous and totally lacking logic and critical thinking.

[jwhitetenn]

"the Bible does not contradict itself and does not contain any errors."

http://www.bidstrup.com/bible2.htm

[jwhitetenn]

"the Bible does not contradict itself and does not contain any errors."

http://www.bidstrup.com/bible2.htm

[jwhitetenn]

"There will be a general resurrection of the dead at that time."
hel) yeah zombies, I got my shotgun ready

[jwhitetenn]

no, the eccumenical council brought together by constantine called all heretics together, took everyons version of their holy books, put in ones they thought were divine and left out ones that they didnt like so much. then presented constantine with a "whole bible" made out of the remnants of many peoples works.
Then it was translated several different ways into several different languages and perverted even more from that point. it's all about power and control man.

[jwhitetenn]

"but as long as you are going to question it's validity and be a skeptic, what's the point?"
now thats not very christian of you. arent you supposed to know the point?
"(by the way this prophesy was straight from the mouth of Jesus Christ in His gospel!)"
now, these gospels are all accepted as being written long after jesus died. none of the gospels were signed, it it simply an educated guess of who wrote them. given the way they were written, how noone can account for jesus soliliquies or the times when he was speaking with god or the devil, how can you be so sure that these words came out of jesus physical mouth?
Finally
so because the bible predicted that people would call themselves the messiah, thats proof that the bible is "dead on" ?
that was happening long before the new testament was written, it only proves that whomever wrote it was knew that a pattern would continue.
did the bible mention Koresh? or Jones? or did you assume that these are the people the bible meant?

[jwhitetenn]

the mayans predicted almost all of these things as well.
"The fact that the Jews returned to Israel in 1947 is Bible prophesy to a T"
to a "t" huh.
sir, this is ridiculous.
the bible did not say that after world war 2 that the british would give israel back to the israelis.
People thought this would happen for centuries b/c "the bible said it" so they made it happen. it wasn't somthing that someone looked at the bible later and then said, " hey, wait, a prophecy has been fufilled and we didn't know it."
why do they call themselves Israelis instead of israelites now? if they are the chosen people then why do they not hold jesus up as a god?

[jwhitetenn]

"Also, if you want to talk science, the Bible is placed so perfectly in the universe that if it were moved merely an inch out of place it would be impossible for life to exist."

what in gods name are you talking about?

[jwhitetenn]

you dont think there will ever be any evidence of life on another planet?
lets say they find evidence, what then?
the eccumenical council created the B.I.B.L.E
those hired by constantine decided how you live your life.
not god, men.
men that lived a long time ago.
do you belive in hercules?

[jwhitetenn]

"Why do people have such a difficult time believing the Bible's accuracy yet they will pick up any old history book written by one author and accept it as the truth??"

not any old history book, but ones that can be corraborated with physical evidence, and the authors can be held accountable for what they write.

"Answer me this. Look, the bottom line is people have been trying to disprove the Bible, no matter what version, since the beginning of it's existence, and noone has ever been able to disprove it."

It's been disproved several times over in my opinion. people like you refuse to see that.
look, answer me this, why can I put up just as many links as you pointing to things that support this other opinion that I have been representing. why can I copy and paste just as many paragraghs as you supporting this side?
because its all ***. we are supposed to argue over it. thats why it was written, to divide. do you really think god has some kind of "word" that you should live by? God put us here, and we made the rest up so things would be less confusing. when the scientists find life on another planet, what then? will they be jesus bashing by reporting their findings? and how would the bible account for this? how come the church has opressed new thoughts theorys and ideas throughout the ages and then only accepted them when it was just too painful to hold onto the old beliefs anymore.
because it allowed them to gauge their power over their subjects.

[jwhitetenn]

you know that the king james version is a very unreliable translation that is almost completely different from the original texts.
you may be basing your life on a flawed version and therefore not reading and living the "truth" like you think you are.

[jwhitetenn]

you do, dont you

[jwhitetenn]

do you read the King James version?

[jwhitetenn]

hey do you read any of the other sides propaganda or do you choose to just stick with your sides propaganda?

[anopinion1]

most likely, my point to know the bible would be to find evidence to prove it is hogwash....
but in all reality i am open minded and not absolute in my stance but it would take alot to get me to change my mind.

i have always had fun argueing with people over religion and till i met you they offered me little support of their reason for being so faithfull.

that is why i respect you ....some

[jwhitetenn]

"trying to show you how awesome the Bible is"

its totally awesome like my new power ranger, Radical.

let me tell you something. I'm no atheist. I believe in God. I believe that if you believe jesus is god then you are an idolitor.
you are worshiping a false god.

[jwhitetenn]

the bible is not INCREDIBLY historically accurate, just somewhat

[anopinion1]

The Bible is incredibly historically accurate, but many do not realize this.


IN terms of a timeline 2000 years ago isnt that old at all and it should be accurate yes.....
but that is all you are basing this on...
the bible wasnt written as a history book would be. it was written by devout jesus lovers and how can you believe they wouldnt exxagerate their beloved prophet?????????? why are so many stories in the bible echoes of older stories????