For some reason, it didn’t sink in until a couple minutes after I put up the last post, which had an item dealing with the so-called “Lost Tomb of Jesus.”
Turns out the archaeological site from which these ossuaries were recovered was discussed in the introduction to James Tabor’s The Jesus Dynasty, which I reviewed last October. Tabor has been keeping up on developments on his blog, including his appearance at the press conference announcing the discovery and forthcoming television program, in which he apparently appears.
I have no clue whether the assertions being made are anywhere near the mark. That said, I find it irritating that people are already staking out positions on both sides of this. How about we watch the program, perhaps read the accompanying book and give some thought and evaluation to it all? Of course, I understand that is an approach that is far too foreign (or dangerous) to traditional concepts of religious belief and faith. At the same time,non-believers cannot already pronounce this determinative without looking deeper into the facts.
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.
Terry Pratchett, The Bromeliad Trilogy: Diggers
