Bones of Contention

There's this dumb joke. "Did you hear that they've decided to cancel Easter this year? They found the body." If we're to believe James Cameron's latest documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" they've not only found Jesus' remains, but that of his wife (guess who) and his son as well. Last year it was the National Geographic channel with its "Gospel of Judas" documentary. This year it's the Discovery channel's turn to cash in on Jesus.

Scholars have been quick to dismiss the claims put forth in the Cameron film. Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner– who actually discovered the tomb and the ossuaries (some 27 years ago!)– said that they are "of no particular archaeological importance." Speaking to The Jerusalem Post Kloner stated, "It makes a great story for a TV film. But it's impossible. It's nonsense." Dr. Gary Burge characterized the film and book as "a brilliant example of archaeological sensationalism." Biblical anthropologist Joe Zia noted, "What they've done here is they've simply tried in a very, very dishonest way to try to con the public into believing that this is the tomb of Jesus or Jesus' family. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus."

The Washington Post quotes Dr. William G. Dever, professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Arizona and a fifty year veteran of archaeological excavation whom scholars have referred to as the dean of biblical archaeology: "It's a publicity stunt, and it will make these guys very rich, and it will upset millions of innocent people because they don't know enough to separate fact from fiction." The Post article continues, "Jodi Magness, an archaeologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, expressed irritation that the claims were made at a news conference rather than in a peer-reviewed scientific article. By going directly to the media, she said, the filmmakers have set it up as if it's a legitimate academic debate, when the vast majority of scholars who specialize in archaeology of this period have flatly rejected this."

You may wonder how these scholars have come to their conclusions. Check out Ben Witherington's multifaceted critique by following the links in the upper right hand column. It will give you a sense of some of the issues that are involved.

Why Detritus?

The American Heritage Dictionary (online version) defines detritus as:
1. Loose fragments or grains that have been worn away from rock. 2a. Disintegrated or eroded matter: the detritus of past civilizations. b. Accumulated material; debris: “Poems, engravings, press releases—he eagerly scrutinizes the detritus of fame” (Carlin Romano).
ETYMOLOGY: French (sorry, Gene) détritus, from Latin dtrtus, from past participle of dterere, to lessen, wear away.

Why Detritus? Most weeks I have the opportunity to pray about, research, write and deliver messages to an amazing group of people at Simi Prez. But those weekly messages barely scratch the surface of what I'm learning, thinking about, talking over, praying through, reading, etc. This blog is an effort to share those 'loose fragments, accumulated material and debris' (see above) that don't fit the weekly message format but which are nonetheless interesting, inspiring, faith-building, funny/weird, or otherwise noteworthy.

For those of you not familiar with the term 'blog' it's short for 'web log'. My guess is that a guy came up with the name because guys keep track of stuff in logs, not diaries. Besides, 'bdiary' involves an unpronouncable bdipthong.

I was motivated to do this after reading Brian Bailey's book The Blogging Church which argues that blogs are an excellent way for a pastor to communicate on a personal level with a large congregation. Sounds like a plan to me, so here we are.