Breaking News: Jesus Tomb Hoax – Debate Revived

Interview with Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries below. 

Right on schedule, the attacks against Christianity are taking their form just in time for Easter!  Easter, a favorite holiday for liberals and skeptics, is a time of the year where the liberal media gets involved and airs sensational and erroneous attacks on Jesus’ bodily resurrection each and every year.  This year, one of the plots for the haters of God is to revive the Jesus Tomb story, the claim that the ossuary found in the Talpiot tomb contained the bones of Jesus. 

At a seminar this week in Jerusalem, organized by Princeton Theological Seminary, a woman named Ruth Gat, the widow of Joseph Gat (who was the chief archeologist in the 1980 excavation of the controversial “Jesus Tomb” in Talpiot), said, “My husband believed that this was Jesus’ tomb, but because of his experiences as a Holocaust survivor, he was worried about a backlash of anti-Semitism and he didn’t think he could say this. [1]”

Simcha Jacobovici, the co-producer with James Cameron of The Lost Tomb of Jesus was in attendance and said, “I literally fell off my chair.  It was very moving.”  ”I feel vindicated,” Jacobovici told TIME. “It’s moved from ‘it can’t be the Jesus’ family tomb’ to ‘it could be.’ [2]”

Professor Eric Meyers of Duke University said, “My personal conclusion is that in no way can we say with the conclusion postulated by the film that the lost tomb of Jesus is one in the same as the tomb in East Talpiot. [3]”

Dr. Israel Knohl of Hebrew University said, “In my view, the issue is possible, very much possible.  But we don’t have yet, compelling evidence.  What we have to do, I think, is try to get more evidence. [4]”

Jacobovici added, “Go look at the evidence.  Don’t hide, you know, from the evidence and sit and talk about me.  I’m not the story.  That tomb that’s just over here, that’s the story. [5]”

Ben Wedeman of CNN reported, “The seminar concluded with a vote by participants to reinvestigate the tomb buried beneath all this rock and concrete.  It seems that the controversy set off by the documentary is about to be, resurrected. [6]”

We expect this story to pop back up somewhere around Easter this year, and in order to be ready and educated, I recommend buying and reading Dr. James White’s book From Toronto to Emmaus.  Dr. White tackled this project as soon as it became “news.”  As a co-defender of the faith, James White has addressed the claims put forth by the Lost-Tomb crowd, and his book is available here.

As a treat for biblicalthought.com readers, here’s a brief interview with our friend and brother, Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries regarding this issue.

Stephen: Dr. White, first of all, thank you for visiting biblicalthought.com and speaking to our audience.  We thank you and we’ll be praying for you as you take on larger and larger projects in the future.

James:  Thanks, Stephen.

Stephen: So, just in time for Easter.  Is there any real threat to Christianity?  Is there any archeological evidence that refutes Jesus’ bodily resurrection?

James:  That’s a pretty large question.  Obviously, the Talpiot Tomb exists; ossuaries were found in it, just as in over a thousand other such tombs in the area around Jerusalem, and those ossuaries had names inscribed on them.  But how to read those names, and how to interpret the data, is the key.  The entire Talpiot Theory is based upon the uncritical, and indeed laughable, acceptance of the 4^th century Acts of Philip as a relevant historical source, which it is not.  This is the fatal flaw of the theory, one that for some odd reason few have been focusing upon.

Stephen: What are some of the main points you address in From Toronto to Emmaus?

James:  I tackled each of the platforms upon which Cameron and Jacobovici and the others developed their theory: the allegations that DNA had “proven” certain claims, the issue of the inscriptions on the ossuaries, and the alleged importance of statistics and “name clusters.”  But most importantly, I first took out the very heart of the theory, that being its dependence upon the Acts of Philip. 

Stephen: Good job!  Taking out the heart of the theory was a wise move.  James, in the CNN interview, Simcha Jacobovici says, “Go look at the evidence.  Don’t hide from it.”  What evidence is he referring to, and do you deal with the “evidence” in your book?

James:  He is referring to DNA, patina, inscriptions, statistics, etc.–but his entire theory depends upon the single identification of  a single inscription as “Mariamne,” and the connection of Mariamne with Mary Magdalene, all based upon a 4^th century source that has no meaningful historical credentials.

Stephen: Looks like we need to remember the theory’s dependence on the historic reliability of the “Acts of Philip.”  James, the media seems to sensationalize this whole Talpiot Theory by calling it “controversial” etc.  It seems that the thrust of the argument is to disprove Jesus’ resurrection, and in turn, establish unreliability in the New Testament, thus disproving Christianity’s truth claims.  Is this right?

James:  That is surely the goal, though, of course, Jacobovici and the others have tried to soft-sell this aspect.  But this is why we will hear about the Talpiot Tomb each and every year prior to Easter, and why we must be ready with a response.

Stephen: Agreed.  That is why we have turned to you, our Talpiot Tomb Big Gun!  James, we know you’re very busy these days.  On behalf of Faith Defenders and biblicalthought.com, I truly thank you for taking the time to chat with us.  Before you go, do you have anything to say to our community of evangelists and apologists?

James:  Well, the challenges remain many, that’s for sure.  Personally, I am entering into a doctoral program in Islamic studies, so I would covet the prayers of God’s people.  I’ve been spending the past number of months learning Arabic (and at my age, adding another language is a challenge!) so that I can deal with textual critical matters relating to the transmission of the text of the Qur’an.  I hope to have as many as five debates this year as well.  So I appreciate all the supplications before the throne of grace that are made in our behalf!

End. 

Well, there you have it folks!  Once again, if you don’t already have the book From Toronto to Emmaus, pick it up and read it!  With the level of exposure this subject has, is, and will be receiving, the book will be helpful in those “around the water-cooler” discussions at work.  Remember to look for the rebuttal to the “heart of the theory: the acts of Philip” as a reliable historical source.  Dr. White says that the entire theory rests upon that.  He also said that “for some odd reason” few have focused upon it.

Attacks against Christianity are constant.  It is no surprise that the media will offer such large platforms to proclaim the anti-Christian message.  However, we can take great rest in the words of Jesus in Matthew 16, regarding His church:

“…the gates of hell shall not prevail” – Matt. 16:18c (emphasis by Jesus!)

P.S. Don’t forget to pray for James (we love you James and we thank God for your ministry)!

[1] http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1704299,00.html

[2] Ibid.

[3] transcribed from CNN Video 

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.