I have watched this story blow up in the blogosphere, in the MSM, and basically all over the internet. I have refrained from commenting on it for a couple of reasons - 1) I think it is kind of ridiculous, and 2) I am way too busy. Anyways, this post basically represents a link dump of the posts I have found interesting over the past week in the issue, followed by a personal experience this morning with the book promoting this finding that has just come out.
For anyone who has lived under a heavier rock than mine for the past week, here’s the summary: James Cameron, of Titanic fame, is producing a so-called documentary on an archaeological discovery dating from 1980. It was a tomb containing a number of ossuaries, which are being claimed to be those of Jesus Christ, his wife Mary Magdalene, and others from this Holy Family. The first article I found about it was at CTV, and is here. Another news story, of the millions out there, is here. The Discovery Channel press release is here, with Discovery’s devoted site here. Anyway, I don’t need to point to too many links…they are easy to find. Almost every story in my RSS reader in the past week has centered upon this “controversy.”
I just wanted to say a couple of things about this. First, the takedowns of the “science” have already begun, before the film has even aired. See the following:
Ben Witherington - The Jesus Tomb? “Titanic” Talpiot Theory Sunk From The Start
Ben Witherington - Problems Multiply for Jesus Tomb Theory
Ben Witherington - Tenth Talpiot Tomb Proved to be Blank - I find this post to be most interesting, as, it includes correspondence from one of the archaeologists who participated in the dig, as well as a lengthy response from Richard Bauckham. (The Bauckham response can also be found here, and downloaded in pdf from that site). Also at the post of Witherington’s, someone notes the following quote from Jacobovici, the film’s director, in the New York Times:
The filmmakers commissioned DNA testing on the residue in the boxes said to have held Jesus and Mary Magdalene. There are no bones left, because the religious custom in Israel is to bury archeological [sic] remains in a cemetery.
However, the documentary’s director and its driving force, Simcha Jacobovici, an Israeli-born Canadian, said there was enough mitochondrial DNA for a laboratory in Ontario to conclude that the bodies in the “Jesus” and “Mary Magdalene” ossuaries were not related on their mothers’ side. From this, Mr. Jacobovici deduced that they were a couple, because otherwise they would not have been buried together in a family tomb.
In an interview, Mr. Jacobovici was asked why the filmmakers did not conduct DNA testing on the other ossuaries to determine whether the one inscribed “Judah, son of Jesus” was genetically related to either the Jesus or Mary Magdalene boxes; or whether the Jesus remains were actually the offspring of Mary. “We’re not scientists. At the end of the day we can’t wait till every ossuary is tested for DNA,” he said. “We took the story that far. At some point you have to say, ‘I’ve done my job as a journalist.’ ”
And we are supposed to take this guy seriously? Note Well: According to this article, the only DNA evidence that they have proves that the person in the Jesus box, and the person in the so-called Mary Magdalene box, are not related. And what exactly does that prove? Honestly, can’t wait until every ossuary is tested for DNA? Yeah - hard hitting, investigative journalism right there. Oh, did I mention dishonest.
[Update - It isn’t just the NYT article. The movie’s own website notes that DNA testing was done on only those two ossuaries, and even then only on the mother’s line. The site concludes that this means that these two were not siblings, not mother - son, and not father - daughter. The implication drawn is that they were married. But, it leaves out the possibility that they were siblings who shared the same father, but not the same mother, since the y-chromosome DNA was too degraded to be tested. Hey, you draw the conclusions you want, I suppose.]
Also in the comments at Witherington’s site, a challenge to the statistical analysis that has been so hyped.
Bryan at Hot Air had a good response as well.
The Reformed Chicks are all over it, as is Kirsten Powers.
And, I saw this interview on Fox News the other morning, which is now posted over at News Busters. Brent Bozell takes on Jacobovici.
In the meantime, the “documentarians”/”historians”/”journalists”/”non-theologians” (or, as Powers’ post notes Cameron as saying, “theologists,” whatever those are is) are defending their claims, here, and here, where Cameron says:
Cameron - best known as director of the movie Titanic - says he can understand the clergy going into denial, but his film is based on history, not theology.
As if theology is not based on history (I know this is a simple statement of a complex theological issue, but, the simple statement is, nonetheless, true).
Secondly, a personal experience from this morning -
I was walking through Indigo to get a coffee on my way to school, and noticed the book that goes along with the movie on display as I walked in. I stopped briefly, and flipped through it. What I saw actually made me laugh out loud. In the photo section, where all the ossuaries are on display, there is a picture of the supposed Mary Magdalene ossuary, with the following inscription:
So, the caption to the photo reads:
The inscription on the Mary Magdalene ossuary proclaims: [This is the ossuary of] Mariamne, also known as Mara [the masculine and feminine form of “Lord”]
And, on the film’s website, we read this with regard to the description:
Ossuary 80/500: “Mariamene e Mara” – “Mariamne, also called Master”
The problem - That isn’t what it says. Look, I’m no Greek, or Aramaic Scholar. But I know enough to know that there isn’t a “also known as” or “also called” on that inscription. Someone is presuming an something between the two names that just isn’t there. This is, in my opinion, just plain dishonest. There are no brackets around “also known as,” or “also called” indicating that this isn’t in the original. It is a blatant dishonesty.
After seeing this at Indigo, and actually laughing out loud, I found a more plausible explanation in Bauckham’s post at Witherington’s site. He notes that the names are written without a space between them:
We can now turn to the inscription on the ossuary, which has, in Greek: MARIAMENOUMARA. The two words Mariamenou and Mara are written consecutively with no space between. This makes it rather unlikely that two women are named here. But Rahmani takes a small stroke between the last letter of Mariamenou and the first of Mara to be a Greek letter eta (long e). He takes this to be the relative pronoun he Ieta with a rough breathing), reading: ‘Mariamnenou who [is also called] Mara.’
But, there is no eta there. You can seen in the inscription posted above, there is a stroke, but it is not an eta. Rahmani takes it to be an eta because it fits with his case. After a lengthy investigation, Bauckham comes to the following conclusion:
The conclusion is that the name Mariamenon is unique, the diminutive of the very rare Mariamene. Neither is related to the form Maramne, except in the sense that all derive ultimately from the name Mariam. There is no reason at all to connect the woman in this ossuary with Mary Magdalene, and in fact the name usage is decisively against such a connexion.”
I think the whole thing is a farce. It is shoddy, full of holes, and to be honest, utterly ridiculous. I honestly can’t believe that Discovery will be running the thing.
Anyway, for what it’s worth. Probably too many words written about this issue out there already - too much attention given to something so, in the scheme of things, insignificant. They may think it is the find of the millennium, but, it just isn’t.
Almost forgot - the absolute best headline written about this entire story comes from Ace: Angry Christians Shout “Christ Is Risen” As They Beat James Cameron For Making Jesus-Is-Dead Film
Oh wait, can you guess what that post is reallyabout?
Tags: Christianity, Jesus, Mary Magdalene, James Cameron, Jesus Family Tomb, Ossuary, Jacobovici, Jesus Tomb
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