| James Cameron's - Jesus Tomb Theory
A massive number of problems plague James Cameron’s “Jesus Tomb” theory.
James Cameron, film director of the Titanic, who jumped up and down at the Academy Awards shouting, “I’m the king of the world,” has just produced a whopper bigger than the titanic. Now he claims in a Discovery Channel special, that Jesus’ Tomb and ossuary (a 1st century bone box) was discovered in 1980 along with the bones of Mary Magdalene (his supposed wife), his “supposed” son, Judah, along with his “supposed brother, Matthew and his father, Joseph.
1) The old counsel “follow the money” has never been more appropriate than in this case. This tomb was found in 1980. Nobody thought it was Jesus then. In 1996 when the BBC aired a short documentary on the subject, virtually all archeologists rejected the link to Jesus and his family. Amos Kloner, the first archeologist to examine the site, said the “idea fails to hold up to archeological standards, but it makes for profitable television.” John Gager, Professor Emeritus of Religion at Princeton University, said, “it’s basically fifteen minutes of fame – and maybe an opportunity to make a quick buck.”
2) The so-called DNA evidence is merely an attempt to lend a pseudo-scientific aura to an impossible claim. Nobody has Jesus’ DNA with which to compare samples from the ossuary. The only thing that is claimed is that a man named Jesus and a woman named Mariamene were not related.
3) The names on the ossuaries were among the most common in the region during the 1st Century. For example, 21% of Jewish women in the 1st century were named Mary. It would be like, years from now if you found a tomb inscribed “John, son of Joseph” and claimed, “this is clearly the tomb of John Kennedy.”
4) Jesus came from a poor family. John Gager also said the likelihood that Jesus’ family had a burial site or bone boxes is virtually non existent because they were poor and they lived in a small town in what is now northern Israel.
5) The language of the names doesn’t match. Ben Witherington, a prominent New Testament scholar said this: “There is a major problem with the analysis of the name on these ossuaries. By this I mean one has to explain why one is in Hebrew, several are in Aramaic, but the supposed Mary Magdalene ossuary is in Greek. This suggests a multigenerational tomb. Not a single generation tomb, and indeed a tomb that comes from after 70A.D. after the Romans had destroyed the Temple Mount. The earliest Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, including the members of Jesus family and Mary Magdalene, did not speak Greek. They spoke Aramaic. We have absolutely no historical evidence to suggest Mary Magdalene would have been called by a Greek name before AD 70. It makes no sense that her ossuary would have a Greek inscription and that of her alleged husband an Aramaic inscription.”
6) Mary Magdalene is not named on the ossuary despite the Discovery Channel’s claims. The name on the ossuary is Marimene, a name Mary Magdalene was never called in 1st century Christian literature. Rather, she is consistently called Maria well into the 2nd century. The Discovery Channel uses a later Gnostic document, the Acts of Philip, which itself does not identify Mariamene as Mary Magdalene. This identification of Mariamene with Mary Mary Magdalene is the unproven theory of one particular scholar. The second word on the Mariamene ossuary is Mara which is short for Martha, another female name. It is not a reference to Mariamene being a “master or teacher.” Most likely the ossuary contained the bones of a woman named Martha and her daughter, Maria. (Mariamene is the diminutive of Maria.) There is no connection between this ossuary and Mary Magdalene.
7) James Cameron’s religion expert, James Tabor, a Professor of Religious Study at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, formerly claimed in his Jesus Dynasty book that Jesus was the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier named Pantera. Now he has reversed himself to support the Jesus Family Tomb theory. Both of his claims are, in fact, false.
8) Most importantly, the tomb of Jesus was empty! All of the records we have from the 1st century agree that Jesus body was never found. Both the Roman and religious authorities would have strangled Christianity in the cradle had they been able to produce the body of Jesus. If there was, in fact, a tomb which contained Jesus’ bones, Christianity never would have spread like wildfire throughout the Roman Empire. It was the claim of bodily resurrection which made Christianity so compelling. The empty tomb of Jesus remains an irrefutable fact of history. There are many more reasons but the above is more then enough to completely rule out this theory. The theory put forth is nothing more then a money making venture that will unfortunately deceive a few people. A real conspiracy theory is based on facts, eyewitnesses, and evidence; none can be found here. Jesus predicted a day when a mark (identification)
in which no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark would come. REV 13 vs 15-18 (please click links below) 15He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666. (a specific/definite number, also in man's the 's denotes ownership) This prophecy will be fulfilled! True Christians stand in the way of this universal identification of people being implemented, as they have been warned by Jesus of the dangers of a Mark thousands of years before this was even possible.
REV 6 vs 5-17 (what man does to his fellow man in the last days) http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Revelation+6&version=31 5When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart[a] of wheat for a day's wages,[b] and three quarts of barley for a day's wages,[c] and do not damage the oil and the wine!" (Slavery - wages of food in times of plenty) 7When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. 9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 11Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (injustice) 12I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. (how little we really control) 15Then the kings of the earth, the
princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every
free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
16They called to the mountains and the rocks,
"Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and
from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great
day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" (all will die) Romans 12 17-21 (Justice and Judgment is in Gods hands, all we must do,
is do what is right, he will correct all injustice. All will die and
injustice caused by man will end) These verses contradict all the
leaders of the Earth, do not be Evil like them.
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be
careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.
18If it is possible, as far as it depends on
you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not
take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is
written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[d]says
the Lord. 20On the contrary: I fear the leaders of the Earth have been overcome by Evil |