Monday, February 26, 2007

Have We Found the Tomb of Jesus and his Wife?

"I feel sorry for Simcha, but I know how these things happen. One’s enthusiasm for a subject propels one into over-reaching when it comes to drawing conclusions. The problem with keeping these ideas secret for the sake of making a big splash of publicity, and lots of money, is that peer review by a panel of scholars could have saved these folks a lot of embarrassment down the road. ‘C’est la vie.'

So my response to this is clear--- James Cameron, the producer of the movie Titantic, has now jumped on board another sinking ship full of holes, presumably in order to make a lot of money before the theory sinks into an early watery grave. Man the lifeboats and get out now."

Ben Witherington has serious doubts.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

be sure to check out the Jesus Family Tomb's official website at http://www.jesusfamilytomb.com/

Anonymous said...

Why does Witherington say that he "knows how these things happen"?

Was it only 5 years ago when Ben Witherington claimed the "James Ossuary" as proof of the existence of Jesus Christ and as PROOF AGAINST the Ever-Virginity of the Mother of God?

Was it only 5 years ago when BW was all over the news breathlessly arguing for the authenticity of his bone-box and revealing his humble belief that he was somehow chosen (like some Holy Prophet) to deliver this good news to the world and the bad news to the poor, benighted Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians?

Surely Witherington must realize by now, even as he is being used anew by the enemies of the Faith (Cameron & Co are linking Witherinton's "James Ossuary" to the "Jesus Tomb!"), that he was never a Prophet but always just a pawn.

Witherington uses his "James Ossuary" against the Ever Virgin, Theotokos, Mary:

http://www.catholic.com/library/Bad_Aramaic_Made_Easy.asp

Anonymous said...

guess it is true that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

So far, only the press in Witherington’s native Kentucky have delicately raised the issue of the pot calling the kettle bla…that is, the pot calling the ossuary cracked in Witherington’s overheated (the gentleman protests too much) protestations against the latest “biggest New Testament find”* in his lifetime.

Lexington County Herald, 2/27/07
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/nation/16791591.htm

On his blog, Witherington fired a final salvo by referring to the Titanic and saying Cameron “has now jumped on board another sinking ship full of holes, presumably in order to make a lot of money before the theory sinks into an early watery grave. Man the lifeboats and get out now.”

In 2003, Witherington and co-author Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review, wrote in The Brother of Jesus that they believed an ossuary bearing the inscription “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” was authentic.
A few months after The Brother of Jesus was published, Israel’s Antiquities Authority decided that the ossuary was a fake. It charged the ossuary’s owner, Oded Golan, with fraud and illegally selling archaeological artifacts outside of Israel. His trial continues, 21/2 years after it began.

Witherington said that he and Shanks stand by their conclusion that the ossuary is authentic and are not likely to change their minds, regardless of the trial’s outcome.
—–—
* “This is probably going to be the biggest New Testament find in my lifetime, as big as the Dead Sea scrolls,” said Ben Witherington, a New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.

National Geographic News
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1021_021021_christianrelicbox.html

—–

If Witherington can be such a zealot about HIS OWN wacky claims about HIS OWN phony ossuary, it would only seem sporting that he would cut Simcha Jacobovici (Witherington’s former partner in crime. He was the man who helped Witherington create and hype his documentary on the phony “James Ossuary” about 4 years ago - shown on, you guessed it! The Discovery Channel!) and James Cameron some slack.