Jesus in a Bone Box?

*Disclaimer: I am not a trained apologist, nor a trained scientist, however my brain does work and my house is actually better than the average Holiday Inn Express.

Perhaps all blog posts should come with disclaimers, then again I think that might go against the grain and intent of the blogosphere. But I digress...

Right on cue with my last post the major media is beginning to pick up some new stories. They're still dealing with Anna, but have left Britney and the prince alone.

After the Oscars craze, which I'll leave alone, though even my wife had to change the channel when Al Gore won something (kind of killed the Academy's credibility for both of us), news came that James Cameron (Director of Titanic among other things) has discovered the grave of Jesus and His family.

Okay, more accurately, Cameron is doing a documentary about a 28 year-old archaeological find in a Jerusalem suburb that he says includes the remains of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Mary Magdalene, and Jesus' son, Judah. Yes, you read that correctly, that's what he is claiming. Amos Kloner, who first examined the site, says it doesn't hold up to archaeological standards - but what does he know! Shimon Gibson, one of three to discover the tomb in 1980, says he is skeptical about it.

Another scientist makes a good point in a Fox News Article, the fact that this find has been ignored all these years by the experts ought to tell us something about how credible it is.

Bottom line, this feels a little like The DiVinci Code to me. Difference here is that while that book and movie were stated to be fiction, Cameron claims this to be fact. I'm so glad that a Hollywood director was able to figure this out when all the trained scientists concluded the find was relatively insignificant.

Scripture is clear that Jesus rose on the third day after his crucifixion - an event we celebrate each year on Easter Sunday. He was seen alive by some 500 witnesses before ascending into Heaven. While lots of matching accounts of his death, burial, and resurrection have survived twenty centuries, not one credible account of him having a wife or son has. And on top of that, not one dissident claim that holds up of his body being found or someone from that period in history telling a different story about what happened has survived.

I definitely won't be losing any sleep over Mr. Cameron's latest work. Frankly in two days it'll go on my list of old news. I'm thankful for people who challenged my theology years ago and helped me come to a point that things like this aren't a threat to my faith. My prayer is for those whose faith is not grounded and for whom this represents a real crisis of faith.