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.