Christians may not like this but without contrary evidence, such finds will always be given reasonable grounds and to some extent, would appeal to the intellectual community…
Considering the fact that this is coming from an Israeli, the church will have it hard to knock it down.
“An Israeli geologist claims he has ‘confirmed’ the existence and authenticity of a tomb belonging to Jesus and his son in Jerusalem. After extensive chemical tests, Dr Arye Shimron says he has linked the James Ossuary – a 1st-century chalk box that some believe hold the bones of Jesus’ brother – to the long disputed ‘Jesus Family tomb’ in the city’s East Talpiot neighbourhood,” reports DailyMail.
Though the finding of Jesus having had a family is not new, the website adds that “ the research could have enormous ramifications as it suggests that Jesus was married, fathered a child and that a physical resurrection did not take place.
According to geoarcheologist Dr Shimron, the ‘son of God’ was buried with nine other people, including ‘Judah, son of Jesus’ and his wife, named Mary. Dr Shimron’s work has renewed controversy over the Talpiot tomb, which was discovered in 1980 and dates back to the Second Temple period and the time of Jesus,The Jerusalem Post reported.
“Bones were discovered inside ossuaries, including one that bore the inscription, ‘Jesus, son of Joseph’. Others included the names Maria, Joseph, Mary, Yose, Matthew and most controversially, ‘Judah, son of Jesus’. Joseph, Mary and Jesus were all common names at the time and a statistician from the University of Toronto said that they each made up eight per cent of the population. However, a very small percentage would have had the same family name combination as described in the Bible
As to how the research was done…
Daily Mail reports that; “Recently Dr Shimron gained access to the James Ossuary and scraped beneath the box’s patina, the layer that forms on metal over time. He ran around 150 tests on the chemistry of samples from 25 different ossuaries – 15 of which were from unrelated tombs – and found that traces of magnesium, iron and silicon from the James Ossuary matched the chemical signature of Talpiot tomb.
The Talpiot ossuaries were covered in a thick layer of ‘Rendzina’ soil, which is characteristic of the hills of East Jerusalem when they were found and has a unique chemistry. Dr Shimron worked from the assumption that an earthquake of 363AD flooded the tomb with soil and mud to cover the ossuaries, effectively forming a vacuum and freezing them in time.
Soil that seeped into the box matched that found in the Talpiot ossuaries, indicating that it had lain for years alongside others in the ‘holy’ location.
Jacobovici told The Jerusalem Post: ‘This find illustrates that the James Ossuary is authentic and the Jesus Family tomb indeed belongs to the family of Jesus of Nazareth.’ Dr Shumron told The New York Times: ‘I think I’ve got really powerful, virtually unequivocal evidence that the James ossuary spent most of its lifetime, or death time, in the Talpiot Tomb.’
The retired senior researchers of the Geological Survey of Israel, added: ‘ The evidence is beyond what I expected.’
The duo are aware that the findings could rock the Christian church, but insist the research is scientific and not theological.
Because bones were found in the ossuaries, it could be argued that there was no bodily resurrection, which is the belief of more traditional Christians, while others accept the event was spiritual.
The Talpiot tomb is now sealed under a concrete slab, while the ossuaries found there are in the hands of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The James Ossuary is kept in a secret location by its owner, who lives in Tel Aviv.”
Now what, do you believe this?
interesting><hope the believers in fairytales will read this…but no they won't
hmmmm
Art depicting the life of Jesus is often filled with grave errors such as this one, but it still doesn’t stop the believers from believing. The picture of Jesus emerging from the cave carrying a flag with a cross on it is not only erroneous but a fallacy. It is similar to some other paintings of Jesus and John the Baptist with the cross. The cross was an instrument of punishment so couldn’t have become part of Christian lore until after his crucifixion. Any depiction of the cross as a holy relic, when he hadn’t been crucified yet is nonsense. I also find it ludicrous that he got out of his tomb carrying a flag with the cross on it. Where did he instruct his followers to use the cross as a holy relic? I have seen enough Christian paintings with such errors and yet the believers treat them as factual.
The point I am making is believers don’t let the facts get in the way. If Jesus was depicted coming out of his tomb carrying a jack Russell terrier, no Christian will dispute that. Although anyone with a curious mind will know that the breed of dog didn’t exist in Jesus’ time.
So this evidence will be treated the same way. With bovine passivity and discarded.
If you know your history and if you do research you will know that the white flag with the red cross is that of the Crusaders from the tenth to the twelfth century. Europeans going to the holy land to drive out the Infidels (Muslims) from the so called Holy land. Sounds familiar? The Image of Jesus as you know it today is said to be that of Jacques de Molay or Geoffrey de Charny the leader, of the Knights Templars who was burn’t at the stake by phillip 1V and Pope Clement V1.
What is your point? I stated that the painting depicting Jesus with that cross is erroneous. So what is the point of your reply?
The crusades came after the death of Jesus therefore Jesus cannot be carrying the flag of the Templars upon his resurrection. Which was the point I was making. I don’t need to do any research on the Templars. I am familiar with them, the crusades,gnostic Christians and most of the history of the dark ages.
I guess you misunderstood what I posted.