Comments on: The Jesus Tomb

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:04:59 +0000

Hi,
I haven’t seen the movie/documentary? yet but I have recently been to Jerusalem. Going into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and seeing Calvary, Golgatha, Jesus’ Tomb was amazing. I left with an incredible sense of awe as well as doubts, could the things I saw all encased in the Holy Sepulchre really be the are that these events took place, could Jesus really have been buried and resurrected ‘right there?’ Later, I came across this research site regarding the tomb, you might find it interesting too.

http://198.62.75.1/www1/jhs/TSspmenu.html

By: Jay Pelgvici

Jay Pelgvici — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:48:07 +0000

All you have to do is look at the filmmaker’s motivations. You can find the interview here:

http://www.donsausa.com/2007/03/how-credible-is-lost-tomb-of-jesus.html

By: Andreas Köstenberger

Andreas Köstenberger — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:31:10 +0000

James,

1. Fair enough, but where is the ancient evidence for this “Jesus family tomb”? Non-existent, right? How do you explain this silence? It seems inexplicable to me, because Jesus’ enemies would certainly have pointed to Jesus’ tomb as evidence that he did not rise from the dead as his followers claimed.

2. James Tabor may have an answer, but it is certainly wrong in light of scriptural evidence. In Acts 2:25-28, for example, in his Pentecost sermon, Peter cites David’s psalm Ps. 16:8-11, according to which God would not allow his Holy One to undergo decay. According to Peter, David “looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that ‘he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses” (vv. 31-32). More could be said, but no more need be said. If you saw the panel discussion moderated by Ted Koppel after the “Jesus Tomb” program, you heard how Darrell Bock, one of the leading experts in this field, vehemently refuted James Tabor at this very point.

3. I’m not so sure. On the discovery channel website, and in the special and the book, the contention is made that Jesus gave Mary Magdalene charge of their son per John 19:25-27. If so, he was already alive according to the makers of the “Jesus tomb special” and presumably also James Tabor, correct?

In conclusion, sure, Simcha, Tabor, and others like them have given some answers, but that does not mean they are convincing or in keeping with the evidence we have. For example, when Simcha was told about Pfann’s findings, he said everyone can plainly see that the inscription on the “Mary Magdalene” ossuary was by one scribe, not two. He seems simply unwilling to face the evidence at this and many other points.

By: James Snapp, Jr.

James Snapp, Jr. — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:35:04 +0000

Dear Dr. Kostenberger:

While Simcha Jacobovici and James Cameron were instrumental in the direction and funding of the “Lost Tomb of Jesus” movie, the most active scholar has been Dr. James Tabor of UNC-Charlotte. The opening chapter of his book “The Jesus Dynasty” sort of sets the table for the movie. I’m sure that he could easily silence a couple of your questions:

(1) Why would this family tomb have been in Jerusalem?

Because that’s where Jesus’ family settled after Jesus’ death. That’s where we see Mary, and Jesus’ brothers, in Acts 1, and that’s where James is later on in Acts, and that’s where James is when he’s killed, according to Josephus.

(2) If Jesus died and a year later his bones were transferred to an ossuary, and this ossuary was placed in a Jerusalem family tomb, this would mean that all the early Christian martyrs, including the apostles, knowingly died for a fraudulent religion.

Tabor would probably propose that what this means is that the Christians in Jerusalem believed that Jesus had been resurrected in some non-physical sense, and that this aspect of their belief was simply overwhelmed by the view of the resurrection advocated by Paul and Luke decades later.

(3) If you had been Jesus and (for argument’s sake) had had a son, would you have named him Judas?

In the scenario envisioned by Tabor, Jesus died on the cross and remained dead, so the hypothetical naming of his hypothetical child would have occurred before the betrayal.

I welcome you to read my own thoughts about the premises of “Lost Tomb of Jesus” at
http://www.curtisvillechristian.org/TombOne.html and http://www.curtisvillechristian.org/TombTwo.html as well as a flaw-by-flaw review of the movie, at
http://www.curtisvillechristian.org/LostTomb.html .

By: Asking the right question about "Jesus’ tomb" « east madison blog

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 03:02:37 +0000

[...] No doubt many Christians are asking, is it true? Could this really have been Jesus’ tomb? Could He have really been married? Is my faith really all based upon a hoax? If you desire some good rebuttals I encourage you to check out the responses by Ben Whiterington, Paul Maier, Darrel Bock, and Andreas Kostenberger. Each of these men are seasoned teachers and theologians who know far more about the matter than Cameron. Even still, none of these are the right questions. The best question is not “Is James Cameron or Dan Brown right?” or “Is Bultmann, or the Jesus Seminar, or (fill in the blank) right?” Instead, we should be asking “Who would be easily convinced that Scripture is not trustworthy?” Before you say, “My lost co-workers,” let’s remember that the unbelieving world never accepted Scripture as authoritative to begin with. Instead, wouldn’t it be more likely that it is the unstable Christian community that doesn’t know what to believe? Those who are being “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes (Eph.4:14)” are the ones wondering whether to believe God’s word or not. [...]

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 03:43:30 +0000

So what difference does it make? Most religions throughout human history have been based on myth and superstition without any basis in fact. Never stopped the religions from flourishing. Jesus is and will always be a hero in the Christian faith. It does not matter if he was married, does not matter if he had children. His orations and beliefs created a religious fire that will only be extinguished when every culture practicing Christianity has gone. Hitler couldn’t stop it, Stalin tried and failed miserably. Faith has nothing to do with fact.

By: R. Kirk Kilpatrick

R. Kirk Kilpatrick — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:17:11 +0000

For a history of sensational claims from Talpiot and information on the so-called “chevron and circle” as a Jewish reference and not some lost early Christian or masonic symol, etc. see:

http://confirmedword.blogspot.com/

By: karen hans

karen hans — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 17:43:56 +0000

Its so easy to believe a lie, this way, your not responsible for anything. He who believes the lie falls for anything.
Thank God, the truth has set believers FREE.
You don’t have to believe the Bible to make it true, the Bibles is true even when you don’t believe it.
GOD can not lie. Lying is the job of the father of lies, satan.
To bad unbelievers. You have a choise: to believe the Bible and be set free or don’t believe the Bible and spend eternity with the father of lies. What agony you are for, just think, this life is so short but eternity is forever.

By: Anita

Anita — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 05:46:11 +0000

It is my opinion that satan knows his time is coming to an end, an he is trying to deceive as many as who will listen with the Jesus tomb story. We should, as chistians, be lifting up our eyes towards heaven, because our redemption draweth nigh. Hallelujah!

By: Daniel R. Quenneville

Daniel R. Quenneville — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:08:08 +0000

The only reason I have read any of this including other blogs, papers etc… is the fact that I as a Christian need some good starting points to ward off the best of Satans messengers. Greater is he who has not seen yet his faith alone carries the truth in his heart, mind and soul. Otherwise realistically I would normally not have the time or care to read any of this trash coming from Hollywood.