Since the research from which Dan Brown’s fertile imagination took flight (Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Feb. 25, 2007 — New scientific evidence, including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world’s foremost molecular genetics laboratories, as well as studies by leading scholars, suggests a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem tomb could have once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family.
The findings also suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene might have produced a son named Judah.
Unfortunately, for those folks who struggled with the idea that Mary Magdalene’s womb was the Holy Grail — that she was buried somewhere in France after giving birth to the child of Jesus who fathered a line of blessed descendants — James Cameron’s documentary Lost Tomb of Christ will probably be unhelpful for different reasons.
Since I have nothing personally invested in whether Jesus and Mary Magdalene were (or were not) married and produced a child, and am perfectly willing to think that the Resurrection (assuming it occurred) could have been spiritual in nature rather than physical, I find the possibilities of whose remains might be in the tomb fascinating.
Clearly, though, others do not — and will not. 600 to 1 odds aren’t nearly long enough to overturn faith.
And frankly, they shouldn’t be. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be faith, would it?
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Update: There have been a number of articles forwarded that, together,give a pretty wide view of opinion and information — both religious… and not so much:
The Jerusalem Post – Jesus, Magdalene & Son in Talpiot Tomb
The Jerusalem Post – Analysis: Christian heresy of the Talpiot tomb?
YNet – ‘Jesus’ burial site discovery is just PR spin’
Time – The Middle East Blog – Jesus: Tales from the Crypt
This is London – Scorn poured on James Cameron’s ‘coffin of Christ’ theory
Any guess as to what tomorrow’s “The Weakly Garlic” is gonna be based on?
~EdT.
check out the movie’s official site at http://www.jesusfamilytomb.com.
Oh, wow, I am duly impressed… given the All-Star line up, including folks behind such earth-shattering documentaries such as “Jurassic Park” and “Terminator” — OF COURSE THIS MUST BE TRUE!
*snark*
~EdT.
I do have a personal conviction at stake. Even so I’m more interested in the truth than anything else. From the links above and others I’ve seen nothing that impacts my beliefs one way or the other. It’ll take more than a couple of names scratched on some stones to do that.
So far it’s a spiffy little piece of fiction, nothing more. Free advertising for Cameron’s project. It’s just what they want.
I wonder when Cameron and his buds will try to prove that Muhamed wasn’t holy?
I suspect that the odds are closer to 100-1. For a number of reason’s I also think that was Mary the teacher’s tomb. If her tomb was found in Israel that would be the place and the inscription. Jesus was such a common name that would be most likely not to be true.
This is not like James Cameron’s movies but like his Find the Titanic documentary. He gets involved in high tech historical projects that he thinks will be a big draw.
it was 1 in 600 that it was not his tomb. in other words, the people who who deny it, are doing more than holding on to their faith — they’re completely turning off their minds.