NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2007
Jesus Documentary Stirs Heated Debate
Scholars Dismiss Film's Claim That Jesus' Remains Were Found In Jerusalem Tomb
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Play CBS Video Video Film Stirs Debate On Jesus A documentary suggesting the tomb of Jesus and his family has been found in Jerusalem has led to accusations that its producer, James Cameron, is against Christianity. Mark Phillips reports.
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Video Experts Debate Jesus Tomb "Lost Tomb Of Jesus" director Simcha Jacabovici and author Bruce Feiler discuss with Hannah Storm the evidence in the documentary that some say challenges Christianity.
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Filmmakers Simcha Jacobovici, left, and James Cameron sit behind a limestone ossuary that they say may once have held the remains of Jesus and his family, at a news conference in New York on Feb. 26, 2007. (AP)
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"They just want to get money for it," Kloner said.
But Shimon Gibson, who along with Kloner was among the three archaeologists who discovered the tomb in 1980, attended Monday's news conference and said of the film's claims: "I'm skeptical, but that's the way I am. I'm willing to accept the possibility."
The film's claims have raised the ire of Christian leaders in the Holy Land.
Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem who was interviewed in the documentary, said the film's hypothesis holds little weight.
"I don't think that Christians are going to buy into this," Pfann said. "But skeptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear."
The first of the ossuaries' inscriptions, written in Aramaic, reads, "Yeshua bar Yosef," or "Jesus son of Joseph." The second, in Hebrew, reads, "Maria." The third, in Hebrew, reads, "Matia," or "Matthew." The fourth inscription, in Hebrew, reads, "Yose," a nickname for "Yosef," or "Joseph." The fifth, in Greek, reads, "Mariamene e Mara," which the filmmakers said means "Mary the master" or "Mary the teacher." The sixth, in Aramaic, reads, "Yehuda bar Yeshua," or Judah son of Jesus."
Jacobovici said the ossuaries did not initially seem extraordinary because the names were all common.
But the filmmakers had statisticians calculate the likelihood that any other family in first-century Jerusalem would have had that cluster of names.
"The numbers range from 1 in 100 to 1 in 1,000 that there is some other family," said Andrey Feuerverger, a professor of mathematics at the University of Toronto.
Bruce Feiler, an author and adventurer who has explored many places in the
Bible for his latest book "Where God Was Born," said these statistical claims do not amount to evidence.
"To use this kind of statistical mumbo-jumbo and stand up in a press conference in a dark room and say one of the pillars of Western civilization is not true is irresponsible at best and tawdry at worst," Feiler told The Early Show.
Osnat Goaz, a spokeswoman for the Israeli government agency responsible for archaeology, said the Antiquities Authority agreed to send two ossuaries to New York, where they were displayed at Monday's news conference — "but it doesn't mean that we agree with" the filmmakers, Goaz said.
The ossuaries do not contain any bones. The bones were reburied after their discovery, as is standard practice with archaeological finds in Israel.
But Jacobovici said DNA evidence can nonetheless be collected from the boxes. He said DNA analysis has so far proved that Jesus and Mariamene, the putative Mary Magdalene, were not siblings and therefore could have been husband and wife.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 250 Commentsyour 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".
http://www.bidstrup.com/virus.htm
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.
http://www.bidstrup.com/bible2.htm
http://www.bidstrup.com/bible2.htm
hel) yeah zombies, I got my shotgun ready
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.
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?
"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?
what in gods name are you talking about?
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?
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.
you may be basing your life on a flawed version and therefore not reading and living the "truth" like you think you are.
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
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.
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????
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