Paul Whitaker
1st March 2007, 03:59 PM (15:59)
http://www.playfuls.com/news_0005681_The_Tomb_of_the_Reputation_of_James_S on_of_Philip.html
The Tomb of the Reputation of James, Son of Philip
07:47 PM, March 1st 2007
by Iuliu Blaga
James Cameron is best known for directing 'Titanic,' which went on to become the top-grossing film of all time, with a worldwide gross of over $1.8 billion. Along with 1950's All About Eve (another 20th Century Fox film), Titanic also holds the record for most Academy Award nominations. It won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.
So, one can easily say Titanic would be the peak of anyone's career. That's exactly where it all probably started. I wouldn't be surprised if James Cameron, who somewhat faded from the limelight in recent years, was sitting around thinking:
What is bigger than Titanic?
Supposedly, Cameron decided quite quickly for the biggest possible subject of all: Jesus. What can possibly be the biggest story about Jesus? Well, that's already taken, it's in the Bible. What would then be the second biggest story? Jesus himself, his body that is.
James Cameron is primarily a sci-fi director, that's why, being primarily thought of as a genre filmmaker, he did not receive any major mainstream film making awards prior to Titanic. Cameron received the Bradbury Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1991.
'The Lost Tomb of Jesus,' his film making project to air on Discovery Channel Sunday, was probably the result of Cameron's fading mainstream fame. I think this is the most reasonable explanation as to why he would try to pull this off, now in the light of the dismissal of the documentary's assertions by, basically, the entire academic community.
Let's review again some of the problems with the 'Tomb of Jesus'
1. Per Joe Zias: "the James Ossuary, it seems to migrate from time to time and place to place" as it's convenient. Eastern historian Eusebius, from 4th century, makes quite clear that the body of James, the brother of Jesus, was buried alone near the temple mount and that his tomb was visited in the early centuries, making very unlikely that the Talpiot tomb was Jesus' 'family tomb'."
"It gets messier as they now contend that the so called 10Th missing ossuary, from Talpiot was stolen from either the tomb itself in 1980 of from the offices of the IAA sometime after 1980. Well so far so good time wise until the owner of the James Ossuary which the IAA declared to be forged, produced a few days ago a photo of the James Ossuary with a time stamp from 1976. Difficult to explain, not when one of the co-authors writes books entitled the Ghosts of the Titanic, Ghosts of Vesuvius, etc."
2. Mary Magdalene was a woman (probably wealthy) out of whom seven demons were exorcized and became a follower of Jesus. Any relation between her is illogic and doesn't fit at all with the data in biblical and extra-biblical sources. There is no historical evidence that Jesus was ever married or had a child.
3. There are millions of remains of people around such places as Jerusalem. They get dug up during construction, as was Talpiot, and many times they are covered up covertly by the construction companies, which don't want their project stopped by the authorities (per someone who witnessed that). Ossuaries apparently appeared during the Maccabees, when caring for martyrs became more preeminent.
4. The tomb of Jesus was always thought of to be where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher now lies, there's evidence to that from the 1st century. The pagan Roman emperors and then the Muslims have covered it or damaged it because of its importance. The so-called "Garden Tomb" nearby is just a hoax set up for tourists.
5. The researcher who was enlisted by Cameron, James Tabor, "now reversed himself not just on one or two minor points, but on several major ones," according to Prof. Ben Witherington.
6. Virtually all leading scholars with previous research on the subject, some with direct contact to the Talpiot tomb, have unanimously rejected the documentary's allegations. Prof. Kloner said after watching the documentary: "It's a waste of money." He probably wasn't referring to Cameron.
7. There is no DNA evidence that this is the historical Jesus of Nazareth, and there can't be one.
8. "Jesus" was a popular name in the first century, appearing in 98 other tombs and on 21 other ossuaries.
9. Jesus was not called "Jesus, son of Joseph".
10. The tomb lacks any special religious symbols.
11. Jesus is considered to have been "a marginal Jew" who could not possibly afford a stone-cut tomb.
12. The much-hyped statistical work was already labeled as misleading.
13. There is nobody called Matthew known to have been in Jesus' family.
14. It makes no sense that Mary Magdalene's ossuary would have a Greek inscription and that of her alleged husband an Aramaic inscription.
15. Mary Magdalene is called ‘Maria’ constantly in first century Christian literature, and well into the second century as well. She is never called Mariamene.
16. The second word on the Mariamene ossuary is Mara which is short for Martha another female name. It is not a reference to her being a master or teacher.
17. The Talpiot tomb was not a covert tomb. The successful proclamation of the Resurrection would have required:
(1) that the actual tomb was unknown, or;
(2) that Crossan is correct and that Jesus was simply left on the cross to be eaten by the birds like most others who were crucified, or;
(3) that Jesus was actually raised from the dead. (Steve Black of the Toronto School of Theology)
18. "The form of the name on the ossuary in question is Mariamenou. This is a Greek genitive case, used to indicate that the ossuary belongs to Mary (it means 'Mary's' or 'belonging to Mary'). The nominative would be Mariamenon. Mariamenon is a diminutive form [...] It is better to suppose that the bones of two women (or perhaps a woman and her child, the diminutive Mariamenon being used for the latter) were placed in the same ossuary (this would not be not unusual)." - Prof. Richard Bauckham per Ben Whiterington's blog.
People would always rather believe in the ridiculous than the miraculous, it seems. And it also seems James Cameron has rather found the tomb of his professional reputation.
"It's time the Discovery Channel discovered ethics and stopped with the sensationalism," Catholic League president Bill Donohue told Variety Tuesday.
"If the Discovery Channel fails to cancel this slanderous documentary, it will have to explain why it is intentionally misleading the public," Brent Bozell, president of the conservative watchdog group Media Research Center, told the trade, per E!. "They should be embarrassed by this plunge into sensational speculation masquerading as science. The Discovery Channel will have dug its own grave if it doesn't pull this documentary."
See
http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/457272336.html
http://www.christilling.de/blog/2007/03/guest-post-by-richard-bauckham.html
The Tomb of the Reputation of James, Son of Philip
07:47 PM, March 1st 2007
by Iuliu Blaga
James Cameron is best known for directing 'Titanic,' which went on to become the top-grossing film of all time, with a worldwide gross of over $1.8 billion. Along with 1950's All About Eve (another 20th Century Fox film), Titanic also holds the record for most Academy Award nominations. It won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.
So, one can easily say Titanic would be the peak of anyone's career. That's exactly where it all probably started. I wouldn't be surprised if James Cameron, who somewhat faded from the limelight in recent years, was sitting around thinking:
What is bigger than Titanic?
Supposedly, Cameron decided quite quickly for the biggest possible subject of all: Jesus. What can possibly be the biggest story about Jesus? Well, that's already taken, it's in the Bible. What would then be the second biggest story? Jesus himself, his body that is.
James Cameron is primarily a sci-fi director, that's why, being primarily thought of as a genre filmmaker, he did not receive any major mainstream film making awards prior to Titanic. Cameron received the Bradbury Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1991.
'The Lost Tomb of Jesus,' his film making project to air on Discovery Channel Sunday, was probably the result of Cameron's fading mainstream fame. I think this is the most reasonable explanation as to why he would try to pull this off, now in the light of the dismissal of the documentary's assertions by, basically, the entire academic community.
Let's review again some of the problems with the 'Tomb of Jesus'
1. Per Joe Zias: "the James Ossuary, it seems to migrate from time to time and place to place" as it's convenient. Eastern historian Eusebius, from 4th century, makes quite clear that the body of James, the brother of Jesus, was buried alone near the temple mount and that his tomb was visited in the early centuries, making very unlikely that the Talpiot tomb was Jesus' 'family tomb'."
"It gets messier as they now contend that the so called 10Th missing ossuary, from Talpiot was stolen from either the tomb itself in 1980 of from the offices of the IAA sometime after 1980. Well so far so good time wise until the owner of the James Ossuary which the IAA declared to be forged, produced a few days ago a photo of the James Ossuary with a time stamp from 1976. Difficult to explain, not when one of the co-authors writes books entitled the Ghosts of the Titanic, Ghosts of Vesuvius, etc."
2. Mary Magdalene was a woman (probably wealthy) out of whom seven demons were exorcized and became a follower of Jesus. Any relation between her is illogic and doesn't fit at all with the data in biblical and extra-biblical sources. There is no historical evidence that Jesus was ever married or had a child.
3. There are millions of remains of people around such places as Jerusalem. They get dug up during construction, as was Talpiot, and many times they are covered up covertly by the construction companies, which don't want their project stopped by the authorities (per someone who witnessed that). Ossuaries apparently appeared during the Maccabees, when caring for martyrs became more preeminent.
4. The tomb of Jesus was always thought of to be where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher now lies, there's evidence to that from the 1st century. The pagan Roman emperors and then the Muslims have covered it or damaged it because of its importance. The so-called "Garden Tomb" nearby is just a hoax set up for tourists.
5. The researcher who was enlisted by Cameron, James Tabor, "now reversed himself not just on one or two minor points, but on several major ones," according to Prof. Ben Witherington.
6. Virtually all leading scholars with previous research on the subject, some with direct contact to the Talpiot tomb, have unanimously rejected the documentary's allegations. Prof. Kloner said after watching the documentary: "It's a waste of money." He probably wasn't referring to Cameron.
7. There is no DNA evidence that this is the historical Jesus of Nazareth, and there can't be one.
8. "Jesus" was a popular name in the first century, appearing in 98 other tombs and on 21 other ossuaries.
9. Jesus was not called "Jesus, son of Joseph".
10. The tomb lacks any special religious symbols.
11. Jesus is considered to have been "a marginal Jew" who could not possibly afford a stone-cut tomb.
12. The much-hyped statistical work was already labeled as misleading.
13. There is nobody called Matthew known to have been in Jesus' family.
14. It makes no sense that Mary Magdalene's ossuary would have a Greek inscription and that of her alleged husband an Aramaic inscription.
15. Mary Magdalene is called ‘Maria’ constantly in first century Christian literature, and well into the second century as well. She is never called Mariamene.
16. The second word on the Mariamene ossuary is Mara which is short for Martha another female name. It is not a reference to her being a master or teacher.
17. The Talpiot tomb was not a covert tomb. The successful proclamation of the Resurrection would have required:
(1) that the actual tomb was unknown, or;
(2) that Crossan is correct and that Jesus was simply left on the cross to be eaten by the birds like most others who were crucified, or;
(3) that Jesus was actually raised from the dead. (Steve Black of the Toronto School of Theology)
18. "The form of the name on the ossuary in question is Mariamenou. This is a Greek genitive case, used to indicate that the ossuary belongs to Mary (it means 'Mary's' or 'belonging to Mary'). The nominative would be Mariamenon. Mariamenon is a diminutive form [...] It is better to suppose that the bones of two women (or perhaps a woman and her child, the diminutive Mariamenon being used for the latter) were placed in the same ossuary (this would not be not unusual)." - Prof. Richard Bauckham per Ben Whiterington's blog.
People would always rather believe in the ridiculous than the miraculous, it seems. And it also seems James Cameron has rather found the tomb of his professional reputation.
"It's time the Discovery Channel discovered ethics and stopped with the sensationalism," Catholic League president Bill Donohue told Variety Tuesday.
"If the Discovery Channel fails to cancel this slanderous documentary, it will have to explain why it is intentionally misleading the public," Brent Bozell, president of the conservative watchdog group Media Research Center, told the trade, per E!. "They should be embarrassed by this plunge into sensational speculation masquerading as science. The Discovery Channel will have dug its own grave if it doesn't pull this documentary."
See
http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/457272336.html
http://www.christilling.de/blog/2007/03/guest-post-by-richard-bauckham.html