I do have good news that I’ll share in another post.. The good news is that many people in my church attended a ‘black’ Church of Christ Sunday evening. There was a reception afterwards. A good time was had by all.
This morning feels weird and I think I figure out why. Just in time to take advantage of the post Da Vinci Code high, James Cameron (think Titanic director) claims to have found the tomb of Jesus and his family.
For the record, it is claimed that his son’s name was Judah. Some are already calling the disciple reclining on Jesus during the Lord’s Supper, Judah son of Jesus.
They did their homework, but you can judge for yourself on the Discovery Channel March 3.
Due to the vehement debate to follow in religious circles, no one will ever be able to substantiate this or disprove this with any certainty. Tis a shame, I guess. Moreover, some imaginary significance is going to be given to the cross symbol of the tomb purported to be Jesus’ tomb. And because this offers suggestions that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife, I’m sure the whole issue of Dan Brown’s books being works of *fiction* will be endlessly hashed out.
Yet there is something that seems even more weird with today. I think that it is the knowledge that someone has invented a 101-gesture version of Rock,Paper,Scissors.
Between the two of them, I’m more worried about the Rock,Paper, Scissors game. It started with 5 gestures, but that appears to have been a gateway addiction. I can relate. Had he not done it first, I may have been tempted to try.
So if today feels especially strange, consider that Community (Sign 53) Gathers by Cross, Makes Money, Hunts Vampire, Finances Airplane, funds Helicopter, Plays Video Game and Survives Tornado, but Quicksand Threatens Community, Pit threatens Community, Rock solidifies Community, Death saddens community, and Wall surrounds Community. With 50 outcomes that win and 50 that loses, who can remember all of them.
Then again, Cross overcomes Death in this game and in real life. Maybe it’s not so strange after all.
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12 Responses to “This Just In”
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I’m confused. How can they not prove it one way or another? After all, they proved that the ossiary (sp?) – the box of bones supposedly belonging to James brother of Jesus – was fake. The link mentions DNA evidence – how is that even possible?
I was wondering the same thing about the DNA evidence.
They actually link the James’ ossuary with this site. They say it was removed from here, if I understand the article correctly.
I was saying that it cannot be proven one way or the other because if evidence points to this actually being the tomb of Jesus (and thus he didn’t ascend into Heaven, etc.) Christian scholars as a whole will have a pat explanation to dismiss the findings. If the evidence proves it to be a fake, critics of Christianity will continue to use the tomb as proof that Jesus wasn’t divine. Worse yet, if the evidence is inconclusive (which I believe it is at this point) all it does is generate questions that either cannot be answered or are illogical to ask in the first place.
BTW: It is still debated whether or not the James ossuary is a fake. In the same fashion, it is still debated whether or not the Shroud of Turin is a fake. (and the finger of Paul at the Vatican, etc. etc. etc.)
Still. 101 gestures for Paper, Rock, Scissors?
And for the superstitious, this is post number 666.
Who knew that the mark of the beast really referred to Paper, Rock, Scissors?
The Internet Monk has a good post going with several links to relevant articles and poking holes in the claim. He’s continuing to update it as new stuff comes in.
A Hollywood director with a financial stake in an alternate view of history comes up with new ‘evidence’ of said new version of history. For this we should question centuries of church teaching and all the evidence to the contrary?
As far as I’m concerned, let them dig & hypothisize all they want and let the truth be known. The God I serve isn’t afraid of the truth.
The iMonk article is a good one. I figured he or someone else was going to track some of this stuff down. The really weak link at this point appears to be in inclusion of the James ossuary.
Now whether or not Cameron has a stake in an alternate version of history is irrelevant. It’s an ad hominem attack. We don’t tolerate these types of things when Christian apologists make claims to the divinity of Jesus, his historical existence, and the like. I don’t think these types are arguments now are acceptable.
It is also important to always question centuries of church teaching and what many claim to be evidence. When each person comes to God, they ask Him similar questions throughout every generation. As you say, God is not afraid of the truth. I would further conjecture that He is not afraid of questions, either. He certainly gets plenty of them.
Having said that, though, it appears that the power of the conclusions drawn comes from the belief that these conclusions are possible, though unlikely. When facts do not match the story, as iMonk says, then we change the target. Keeping these conclusions in the realm of possibility allows for the constant moving of the target.
The problem appears to be that the questions around Cameron’s work will not be answered. I think it is possible to answer the questions he raises and iMonk does the best job I’ve seen so far. The truth *can* be found, however, I do not believe that for most of us, the truth *will* be found.
It’s like the Shroud of Turin. All manner of tests demonstrate that this is a Medieval artifact. Still, it is not proven to be true because of the thousands that will not allow it to be true. In this matter, the person that came the closest to convincing me that the Shroud *may* be real, if Zugibe. His work on the crucifixion changed my view of the physical description of his death. Still, we will have all manner of people until the end of days trying to prove that the Shroud is real.
All of this is a side issue, really. Just thought it was interesting.
Maybe all of us should sit down and settle this with a little PRS-25.
No, I’ll tell you why….because Al Gore (inventor of the internet) won an Academy Award!!!
better go…..it’s getting warm..
(sorry – couldn’t help it….ok, I could have but….this is so much more fun!)
Sure, tear my post, hastily written at the end of lunch (OK, after the end of lunch) up with your well reasoned thoughts. That’s what I get for posting about something I don’t know much about without thinking.
TTK – I hear now that Al Gore actually invented the Oscars too.
Hey, I agree with you! I thought you were quoting iMonk.
As far as well-reasoned? Well, um… er…
I can’t really say that. If I waited for well-reasoned, I’d never write.
I look forward to your studies in Ezekiel.
BTW: Al Gore invented just about everything except for Paper, Rock, Scissors. Then again, you knew I’d work that in there somehow.
and he’s beaten by paper (that’s why he lost to that dangling chad!!!) and many Dem (and a few Rep) also believe he was beaten by a ‘rock’ (since some say ‘W’ is dumb as one)
ttk
It was on the news last night too that I’m sure you all saw. ABC’s version brought the guy in the discovered the tomb some 20 or so years ago and he said the names Jesus, Mary and Mark were very common and that just because these names were all in there didn’t mean it was thee Jesus.
You know I’m getting more green in my thinking and thought last night I might actually vote for Al if ran again. I guess I need to hear him speak so I can understand again!
No worries, I just thought your comments were better than mine and I realized I don’t know beans about the issue.
I guess I was sort of paraphrasing iMonk, but it was mostly my thoughts. Yours were better.
I wish I had a snappy RPS (or Al Gore) line to add in, but I got nothin’.
John (also known as Bear)? Good to hear about you. When I get discouraged about what many of us go through, I remember a Veggie Tales song… “God is Bigger Than the Boogie Man”.
Your brother in Christ always – Joe B.