Check out this fabulous Christianity Today article.

My friend Jim Hamilton posts an excellent paragraph from Doug Wilson’s debate with a skeptic.  Read it here.  It is fantastic.

Dr. Andreas Kostenberger has some helpful lessons that the producers of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” should learn.  They are:

1. First do the research, then make the movie.

2. Don’t just hire consultants who you know already agree with you; what’s the value of that?

3. Don’t rely uncritically on the work of others, even experts in the field, especially when your central thesis depends on it.

4. Avoid getting infatuated with your own theory so that you are no longer able to evaluate the evidence objectively.

5. Don’t be tempted to “follow the money”; follow the evidence instead. Be on a quest for truth, not fame or fortune.

6. Don’t circumvent the peer review process and address yourself directly to the public; your scholarly reputation will almost certainly suffer if you do.

7. Don’t persist in a state of denial when you’ve been proven wrong. Admit your mistake; everyone else already knows it anyway. Denying the obvious will only make you look even more ridiculous.

8. Don’t miss the subtle clues—a backwards “N,” a supposed “U” that looks a lot more like an “I”—even if it requires you to change your theory.

9. Be modest in stating your case. Don’t overreach.

10. Don’t use statistics or DNA evidence to pad a weak case.

11. Don’t confuse your theory with the facts.

12. Develop a healthy respect for the need for expertise in a certain area before making confident pronouncement of things you know little about.

As I mentioned here on the KarisBlog, I sat down with Tribune religion editor Annie Nelson and 3 other men to discuss the “Jesus Tomb” special aired on the Discovery Channel.  The discussion came out in today’s paper.  Here’s the article.

One frequent response of the Christian left to the recent “Lost Tomb of Jesus” special has been this: if we find Jesus’ bones, then big deal!  The apostle Paul, however, in 1 Corinthians 15:16-19 states that it is, indeed, a very big deal.  He writes:

1 Corinthians 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Dr. Mohler, in his blog, interacts with the words of New York Rabbi Marc Gellman who “gets it.”  Hey, left, let the Rabbi teach you.  It is a big deal, if it’s true.  But it’s not.  Read more here.

Professor Andreas Kostenberger has a super wrap-up of the “Last Tomb of Jesus” Discovery Channel Special.  Here are his helpful comments:

Time to wrap up the matter of the “Jesus family tomb,” don’t you think? I conclude that this is a serious case of overreach. The book that in its subtitle claims that it contains “the Evidence That Could Change History” and the sensationalist claim that it propagates are most likely going to be thrown into the trash heap of discarded theories in biblical archeology.

Let’s see if you agree that, soberly assessed, this is what we know of the “Jesus family tomb”:

1. The “Yeshua bar Yehosef” (if this is the correct reading) is almost certainly not the Jesus of the Bible. This man had a son named “Yose,” but there is complete silence in our historical sources that the Jesus of the Bible had a son, named “Yose” or otherwise.

2. The “Mariamenou-Mara,” alleged to be “Yeshua’s bar Yehosef’s” wife, Mary Magdalene, is almost certainly not Mary Magdalene, and may have been related to “Yeshua” (almost certainly not Jesus of the Bible) in any number of ways. There is no historical evidence whatsoever that Mary Magdalene was called “Mariamene” during her lifetime or at the time she was buried. Curiously, this is the only inscription in Greek (not explained by the makers of the “Jesus tomb” special).

3. The “Maria,” alleged to be Jesus’ mother, is one of a very large number of women bearing that name in first-century Palestine. There is no information regarding her family relationship to “Yeshua bar Yehosef” whatsoever.

4. Nothing is known about the person named “Matia” (the ninth-most common name in first-century Palestine).

5. “Yose” was a common abbreviated form of “Yehosef” (the name of “Yeshua’s” father).

6. “Yehuda bar Yeshua” was the son of the “Yeshua bar Yehosef.”

The only demonstrable family relationships are therefore as follows:

Yehosef

[father of]

Yeshua

[father of]

Yehuda

All three are exceedingly common names, with Yehosef being the second-most common name in first-century Palestine, Yeshua the sixth-most common, and Yehudah the fourth-most common name.

Beyond this, the fact is that we do not know how “Mariamenou-Mara,” “Maria,” “Yose,” and “Matia” were related to these people.

In this regard it is also very important to remember that even though we only have six persons named in ossuary inscriptions from that tomb, there may have been as many as 35 buried in this family tomb. This surely must have an important bearing on computing statistics but has thus far been largely overlooked.

Add to this the fact that the inscriptions are in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, which may suggest that we have here a multi-generation tomb (noted by Witherington).

One final question: In light of the fact that “Mariamenou” is in the genitive case,” and “Mara” was a common abbreviation for “Martha,” is it possible that the woman’s name was “Martha [daughter of] Mariamene [Mary]”?

To conclude, I believe the past week or ten days surrounding the airing of the “Jesus tomb” special have been highly instructive. They have been instructive with regard to the need to sift through evidence carefully before jumping to conclusions. They have shown the need for specialized expertise in biblical studies, archeology, statistics, and so on. They have also revealed massive ignorance with regard to the nature of Jesus’ resurrection and the way in which it is indispensable for the Christian faith.

Surely, as we prepare to celebrate Easter, we owe a debt of gratitude to God and the way in which he has used the makers of the “Jesus tomb” special to deepen our appreciation for Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection—the Christian gospel—and the way these events are reliably portrayed in the New Testament. The myth propagated by the makers of the “Jesus family tomb” special cannot hold a candle to the reality of the resurrection of the Jesus of the Bible. Truly, what others meant for personal profit, God meant for our good and his greater glory.

I returned not too long ago from meeting with Annie Nelson of the Tribune, along with three others.  We discussed the Discovery Channel’s “Lost Tomb of Jesus” program that aired last night.  I was joined by a Columbia College professor, a Catholic priest, and a museum curator from Mizzou.  All of us agreed the show was bunk, but I was certainly the only theologically conservative one there.  The story will hit the press on Saturday.  I will post the link here on the KarisBlog.

I’ve been doing some research related to the Discovery Channel’s special that aired last night, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.” The following provides some links critiquing the docudrama:

From Southeastern Seminary Scholar Andreas Kostenberger:

“Viewer’s Guide to Jesus Tomb Special”

“The Jesus Tomb”

“Answers to Viewer’s Guide”

Southern Seminary President Dr. Albert Mohler:

“Larry King Live” Broadcast Transcript

Dr. James White:

Alpha Omega Ministries Blog

Louisiana College Professor Charles Quarles:

“Initial Impressions of the Jesus Family Tomb”

Western Michigan Professor Paul Maier:

“Who’s Writing the Fiction Here?” (STR Blog)

From Dallas Seminary Professor Darrell Bock:

“Bock’s Blog”

And many other resources from Criswell College Professor Denny Burk:

“Darrell Bock and Bart Ehrman Agree!”

From Asbury Seminary Scholar Ben Witherington:

“The Jesus Tomb? ‘Titanic’ Talpiot Tomb Theory Sunk from the Start”

“THE JESUS TOMB SHOW–BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS REJECT DISCOVERY CHANNEL SHOW’S CLAIMS”

“THE SMOKING GUN—TENTH TALPIOT OSSUARY PROVED TO BE BLANK”

“PROBLEMS MULTIPLY FOR JESUS TOMB THEORY”

“Tomb of the (Still) Unknown Ancients: More Jesus Hype of the ‘Da Vinci Code’ Type” (Wall Street Journal)

From British Scholar Richard Bauckham

“The Alleged Jesus Family Tomb”

Additional Lists of Links:

Countercult Blog

Pulpit Magazine

“Asking the Experts about Jesus’ Lost Tomb”