slaveofone’s archive for February 28th, 2007

Unraveling The Jesus Tomb Mess by slaveofone

First, we don’t know the filmmakers personally, we don’t know their motives, and we don’t know their hearts, therefore not only have we no grounds for judgment of them, but using such a judgment to thereby invalidate their claims is a logical fallacy called ad hominem.

Second, almost everyone forming judgments either in support or refutation of the claims that this is or might be Yeshua’s family tomb are doing so NOT on the basis of a careful evaluation of the evidence in question, but on a presuppositional bias and either blind ignorance or folkloric hearsay (he said, she said). Few people have bothered to think about and examine the evidence before forming their opinions.

Third, quite a few arguments are either reactions to claims that are NOT being made about the Talpiot tomb or its contents OR are refuting the claim with judgments based solely on previous understanding. I hope I am not saying something new when I suggest that it is foolhardy to dismiss new evidence simply because it doesn’t jive with previous evidence.

I quote from one of the scholars who worked directly with the evidence, who comments on the reactions among the Christianity community. Hopefully it will be sobering…

In this rush to judgment without hearing any of the facts, one detects a bit of paranoia. I noticed this on the Larry King Show last night as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention tried to defend the faith based on a host of erroneous assertions and almost no knowledge whatsoever of the most basic evidence related to the Talpiot tomb…It is difficult carry one [sic] discussion when the main content of the evidence is not clear to those who are making their assertions.

To come to grips with what the evidence is and what it is not, what is and is not being claimed by the evidence, and make a wise judgment on the issue:

  1. Read James Tabor’s blog at www.jesusdynasty.com. His professional, hands-on experience will demystify a lot of the hocus-pocus out there resulting from people who have made prejudgments in ignorance of the evidence or claim. Thus, for instance, he helps us understand why the argument this could not be Yeshua’s family tomb because it is the tomb of a wealthy family is incorrect (because the tomb has been identified archaeologically as belonging to the poor class).
  2. Visit the Discovery Channel tomb discussion site at http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/forum/forum.html, where you can ask questions from scholars and read responses.
  3. Download some of the actual evidence such as archaeological reports and such here: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/explore/media/tomb_evidence.pdf
  4. Watch the documentary and/or buy the book and do research on any points of interest arising from it/them.
  5. Allow time for cross-examination and questioning of supposed facts regarding the evidence (for example, it took time for the fact to come to light that the IAA’s—Israeli Antiquity Authority’s—judgment against the James brother of Jesus ossuary was not only unprofessional, but outright misleading).