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Feb. 27, 2007 Oded Golan is an Israeli antiquarian and amateur archaeologist who claimed to have found in 2002 the ossuary wherein the remains of James the brother of Jesus had been reposed. The so-called James ossuary bears an Aramaic-language inscription that translates into English as, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”. Looking at a picture of the inscription, one can see that perhaps more than one sculptor participated in incising the words on the relic. This fact immediately raised the possibility that the ossuary is a forgery, but, of course, the mere likelihood that two sculptors collaborated proves nothing, since they might have collaborated 2000 years ago, working for the same master. Nonetheless, after microscopic study of the carvings, it was concluded by the Israeli Antiquities Authority in 2003 that the inscription is a forgery, though the ossuary itself may date back 2000 years. In December, 2004, Golan was indicted, along with 3 others, on charges of forgery. I don’t know what has become of the case. The possibility that the first tangible extra-Biblical evidence attesting
to the historicity of Jesus might have been uncovered created excitement in the
Christian world, and various luminaries and dignitaries of churches met here
and there in conventions and commissions to discuss the find. The names Jesus,
Joseph and James were common in the first century AD, and someone hired a
statistician who found that the odds were 600-to-1 in favor of the relatedness
of the ossuary to the famous Biblical personages. That convincing probability was based on
the presumed genuineness of the inscription of course. Now, James
Cameron, the director of Titanic
and The Terminator, has produced a documentary entitled The
Lost Tomb of Jesus, slated to be presented on television on March 4 of this
year. In this film, it is claimed
that small ossuaries found in a tomb in suburban Furthermore, Christians believe that Jesus’ body was laid in a
tomb in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre now
stands. Wikipedia says, “The ground on which the church rests is
venerated by most Christians as “It
doesn't get bigger than this,” Cameron said. “We've done our
homework, we've made the case and now it's time for the debate to begin.” Negative views of Cameron’s film
and its implications can be seen here
and here. My opinion
is that Jesus probably did not exist at all, and that the Gospels are a work of
fiction composed by a person or persons unknown, probably with design to make
money or attain power and prestige by organizing a church and attracting a
following. If that was not the
intent of the evangelists, it certainly was the result. The sad
thing is that Christianity is absolutely powerless to relieve the plight of
innocent sufferers of tragedy. Here
for instance is an article on Claudia
Mejia, a pretty young woman who entered a hospital to give birth to a
child. During her stay, she
contracted a virus, Streptococcus A, which made it necessary for her arms and
legs to be amputated. As long as
she lives, Christianity will not restore her limbs, though, if you read the
Gospels, you might think that with faith, she might be healed. But
Christianity can and does make money for people like Golan and Cameron.
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