I am a history fanatic. One of my favorite shows on television is a program on the History Channel called, “Digging for the Truth.” The premise of the show centers on an investigator who uses archaeology to find the “truth” about certain claims, myths, and legends of history. Many of the featured topics include stories from the Bible. If you have seen the show, and even if you have not, you can guess what the outcome of the show usually is: the authority of the Bible is debunked and its message vilified. Why would, I, an evangelical, Bible-believing seminary graduate enjoy this show? Because it helps me to understand where the common agnostic or atheist might get his or her information about Christianity! My generation is a wired one, and nine times out of ten, a well-meaning, but misinformed person will quote information that usually stems from the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, or other stations featuring documentaries.
Recently, the Discovery Channel featured a documentary called The Lost Tomb of Jesus, produced by James Cameron, director of Titanic. In it, Cameron and documentary director, Simcha Jacobovici, film and discuss certain ossuaries found in Jerusalem, claiming that these ossuaries contain the bones of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, and their supposed son. In the tomb, Amos Kloner, an archaeologist from a university in Israel, found 10 stone burial boxes (ossuaries). Some of the boxes had names inscribed on them: "Jesus, son of Joseph;" "Mary;" "Judah, son of Jesus," and other names. With DaVinci Code-like intrigue, Jacobovici and Cameron use re-creations and testimonies from experts to make a claim that supposedly blows Christianity out of the proverbial water.
In their claim, the producers suggest that the ossuaries in the tomb prove that Jesus and Mary were actually married and had a son. How do they try to accomplish this? The producers employ two main methods to prove their theory. First, they used statisticians to calculate the odds of having the names of “Jesus” and “Mary” in the same tomb. According to the producers, the odds are too high to be a coincidence. Second, the producers use DNA experts to compare the DNA of the “Jesus” bones to those of the “Mary” bones. The resultant DNA (as expected) does not match, so Mary could not have been Jesus’ mother. The producers, then, make the claim that the “Jesus” (who they now assume to be the Jesus) was probably married to Mary. There are several problems with this claim.
First, statistics are derived from lists of numbers or names (in this case a list of Jewish names from the first century). But in order for statistics to be complete, the probabilities must be derived from accurate cross-sections of burial names being studied. This is impossible since the majority of the names on first century ossuaries belonged to wealthy families. Most poor people in the first century did not have the means to purchase ossuaries with engraving and markings. Since Jesus was poor, even if he had been buried, it is not likely that his tomb would have been one of these. Also, according to James R. White, a popular Christian apologist:
Given that the number of entire families that have been unearthed is but a tiny percentage of the actual number of people who lived, it would be like concluding that a family with a father named Earl and a mother named Sarah and a boy named Michael could only have existed once in a particular part of the country, never twice. It is the kind of argumentation that while mildly interesting, is really only produced by those who are weaving a tapestry of wild possibilities, hoping you will be so mesmerized you won't notice you are having your pockets picked. (From James R. White, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” found in http://www.aomin.org/index.php?itemid=1790 )
Second, the producers of the show claim that DNA evidence suggests that “Jesus” and “Mary” were married. The interesting thing here is that only two samples of DNA were taken: Jesus’ and Mary’s. This raises several self-evident questions. How do the producers deduce that these two people were married based solely on the fact that they did not share DNA? Why were the other people in the tomb not tested (especially “Judah, son of Jesus”)?
Many scholars have fervently debated this documentary and have hailed it as false and attention-grabbing, just as the Da Vinci Code was. Da Vinci Code attempted to claim that Christianity, as an organized religion, was a sham. In a similar vein, this documentary claims that Jesus had a wife and was buried with his family, thus rendering his death and resurrection completely false. If this claim were true, Christianity would have been null and void from its very inception.
The problem with this documentary is that the producers pick and choose evidence, leaving out many crucial pieces of the puzzle, which would paint a completely different picture. In the manner of the Da Vinci Code, the producers take evidence out of context in order to bolster their case. This is a huge taboo in the academic world, but when ratings are involved, anything goes.
In the same way, the Bible should be read in its entire context, taking into account the author’s intent, the genre of the particular passage being studied, and reading the verses within the context of the chapters preceding and following them. If we read the Bible, we find that Jesus died for our sins, and then rose from the dead. There are many proofs of the resurrection which render the Discovery Channel’s “proof” as fallacious (for a good article about proofs of the resurrection, go to: http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/jesus-resurrection.htm ). The one proof, though, that has stood the test of time is the Bible. In 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul confronts a church that has been invaded by heresy. Paul discusses the primacy of Christ’s resurrection in 1 Cor. 15: 14-17:
And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Many heresies such as this current one will arrive in the form entertainment in movies, books, and television. They may be compelling, they may even be believable (on the surface), but if they contradict the Bible, they are heretical. You and I will be confronted by many people in our generation who will claim these stories as fact. How will we respond to these heresies? The only way for us as Christians to prevent heresy from creeping into the church is to become archaeologists ourselves and dig for the truth in the ultimate site: the living word of God.
