freeinfidel

The resurrected controversy about the alleged Lost Tomb of Jesus raises an interesting paradox: are Christians better served by a mythological Jesus? Might discoveries about the real existence of Jesus undermine their faith?

In spite of a high-profile documentary (which some regard as close to fiction), most experts remain highly sceptical about the so-called Lost Tomb of Jesus. The claim that it holds the ossuaries of Jesus, his mother, Mary Magdelene and maybe even a son of Jesus called Judah, puts it firmly into the archaeological category of TGTBT - ‘too good to be true’.

Controversy rages around whether the inscriptions on the ossuaries do actually say what the supporters of the find say - they are very indistinct in places. There’s also much statistical discussion connected with the unarguable fact that the names were very common in Judea at that time, so this collection could have come together randomly: indeed, not all of the 10 ossuaries can be linked with biblical characters. One ossuary is missing, and there have been attempts to link this to the infamous James ossuary - though there are strong indications that the latter is actually a fake.

The intriguing thing is, Christians have most to lose from the tomb being the actual last resting place of Jesus. That’s why, according to Ruth Gat, the discovery of the tomb hasn’t been common knowledge for much longer. Gat is the widow of archaeologist Yosef Gat who claimed to have discovered the site - more properly known as the East Talpiot tomb - in 1980. Realising he had stumbled on Jesus’ family sepulchre, he removed the bones - including those of Jesus - closed the tomb and told no-one. The reason he behaved in a manner so contrary to his professional ethics, said his widow, was simple fear. Yosef Gat was a holocaust survivor. He was deeply concerned that a Jew claiming to have discovered the bones of Jesus would cause an anti-semitic backlash. If the story is true, then his fears would have been reasonable.

There is something slightly uncomfortable about the nature of this revelation, however. For a start, the whole ‘lost tomb’ image is fabricated. It wasn’t nearly as unknown as the documentary would have you believe. And Gat’s bombshell was dropped - in attention-grabbing fashion - on the last day of a conference designed to bolster the case put forward by the documentary (or to promote the documentary, depending on your level of cynicism).

The debate about the tomb will continue to rage. For our purposes, it’s enough to say that the jury is still out, which leaves open the possibility that the tomb is what some claim for it.

Which would be interesting. If true, this would be the first piece of real evidence that Jesus existed at all. There are plenty of solid arguments for suggesting that he was actually a mythical character, built on earlier myths and created to fulfil the requirements of the freshly fabricated Pauline church.

But the tomb would go much further than that. It would not only demonstrate that Jesus was a real person, but that he was also no more than that. If Gat really did pick up Jesus’ bones, then the resurrection and ascension are instantly relegated to the status of quaint old myth.

The suggestion that Jesus married Mary Magdelene will appeal to those uncritical types who enjoyed the Da Vinci Code (ie, those who prefer their myths in inaccurate and cliched form). For those who prefer to stay in the world of evidence and historical truth, it will simply seem appropriate. Jesus was supposed to have been around 33 years old when executed. It would have been highly unlikely for a Judean to have been unmarried at that age. Tongues would have wagged, which might have got in the way of Jesus’ preaching. Of course, the idea that he had a son is even more intriguing, opening the possibility that the DNA of Jesus is still with us, in some living soul right now.

It’s not clear what Gat did with the bones. Maybe the information is out there somewhere - if anyone can enlighten me, please do.

In the meantime, how must Christians feel about this? Whenever one mentions the matter of archaeological, geological or other forms of evidence with regard to biblical veracity, the answer is usually the same: the Bible tells us all we need to know and it’s faith that matters, not truth. Scientific evidence often does contradict the scriptures, which is why fundamentalists are so insistent on denigrating science. Milder Christians attempt to square the circle by treating the Bible as metaphorical and fitting scientific discoveries into this worldview.

All the same, physical evidence that Jesus married, sired a son and remained on Earth has got to be a problem for Christians of all stripes.

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