I am certainly not qualified to talk about any of this, from an archaeological perspective, I just find it very ironic that many who had absolutely no doubt that the James ossuary was James the Brother of Jesus are so sure that the Jesus family ossuary is dubious.For what it is worth I think they are both of little historical import.
6 comments:
Metalepsis,
I agree with your comments here. In the Discovery Channel documentary, the filmmaker and the professor from UNC suggested that perhaps Jesus only "spiritually" raised from the dead, or in other words, His soul went to heaven but His spirit remained on the earth. This would allow for His bones to be found in the osuary.
Can we be "evangelical" and believe this? I have always thought that Jesus "physically" raised from the dead, but one thing this poor archaeological documentary did for me is have me question this possibility. I would be curious for your thoughts.
You are doing some work on Romans. In Romans 10, Paul talks about the fact that if we confess...and believe God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Must we believe in a "physical resurrection?"
Thanks,
Oscar
I meant "body remained on the earth", not "spirit." Sorry, I'm an idiot!
I want to state up front that I do believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus, and this is in fact how I read the biblical testimony. But ultimately the resurrection is a mystery, and to claim to fully understand the continuity and discontinuity of this body before and after the resurrection is to step beyond the cognitive ability of my lemur sized brain. I also would be hesitant to impose that someone must believe in the physical resurrection to be a Christian. I think there is enough wiggle room within 1 Cor. 15 to believe with intellectual honesty that Jesus may not have been physically resurrected (although I don’t see it that way). I think Paul is clear that to believe in the resurrection is an imperative to be within the community. However, one can believe in the mystery of the resurrection without believing in the physicalness of that resurrection. Don’t know if this helps.
Metalepsis,
Did you watch the Discovery channel special? I don't know much about the osuary of James, found, in what, 2002? But my problem with this "apparent discovery" of the Jesus Family Tomb is this: why would they be buried in Jerusalem? Mary and Joseph's hometown was Nazareth.
Another problem I saw in this special was the UNC Professor claiming that when Jesus said, "Woman behold your son" and "Son behold your mother," He was referring to his wife Mary Magdalene and his son Judah. That is ridiculous.
I could perhaps concede to a "non-physical resurrection," but to hypothesize that Jesus was married and had a son, when there is absolutely no evidence for this.
Thanks for your thoughts on the resurrection. They are most helpful this Lenten season.
Oscar
Yea it looks like the docudrama takes Dan Brown as its historical consultant.
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