Make no bones about it – the tomb of Jesus!

It appears that the Toronto Star broke a story that has raised a near instant uproar across the web (the wonders of the Internet…). The hoopla is all about a new $4 million documentary to be aired on the Discovery Channel produced by James (“I’m the king of the world!”) Cameron and directed by Simcha (“I still think that the James ossuary is authentic!”) Jacobovici. A book, The Jesus Family Tomb by Jacobovici and Charles (“The real Indiana Jones”) Pellegrino is out this week as well.

The documentary and the book are about a tomb containing several ossuaries that Jacobovici claims contain the bones of, among other folks, Jesus, his wife Mary, and possibly their son, Judas (I’m asking, “what would make Jesus name his son Judas?”). Cameron admits that he doesn’t know anything about archeology (and probably knows nothing about Jesus, either, for that matter), but found the story “compelling.” Jacobovici says, “It’s mind-boggling. It’s an altered reality.” Uh-huh. It remains to be seen just who is dealing with an altered reality.

Now, if you’re concerned that this might cause people to doubt the story of Jesus, Jacobovici says not to worry – he claims Jesus could have resurrected from the first tomb, only to die later and be buried here. Uh-huh.

There are many interesting details about this story that leave it with so many holes that many are comparing it to James Cameron’s Titanic, after it hit the iceberg. For one thing, I find it interesting that those who are speaking out against this theory are not only Christians, but archaeologists as well. In fact, these bones were discovered in 1980 – that’s 27 years ago – and this theory was discredited from the outset. The evidence against the Jacobovici/Pellegino/Cameron theory is so “compelling” that the mainstream media won’t even buy into it (and that’s saying something…).

Granted, 6 of the 10 ossuaries had inscriptions of some well-known names: Jesus, son of Joseph; Maria; Mariamene; Matthew; Judas, son of Jesus; and Jose. Shocking, perhaps, to us; until we realize that these were some of the most popular names in Israel at the time, and the fact that these ossuaries were found in the same tomb is statistically insignificant. And, there’s some doubt that the one ossuary even says, “Jesus” – archaeologist Stephen Pfann has been quoted in an AP article saying that he thinks the name is actually “Hanun.”

So, let not your hearts be troubled, for this, too, shall pass. I’m guessing that among documentaries, this one will sit right beside Geraldo Rivera’s The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault.

But, if you want a bit more information, here’s an interesting blog post by Ben Witherington, who has worked with Jacobovici in the past.

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