Expert: Brenda Martin - 9/24/2006

Question
That writer I referred to is a Christian scholar who apparently studied some historical references about Jesus Christ.  I dont know his sources and would be greatly interested in looking them up because they claimed such things as-Jesus claimed to be a part of God but not the son of God, that he didnt point to faith in Him or anything but rather just connecting with the spirit...and letting go of conventional wisdom and such.  I thought it interesting and it's called Meeting Jesus Again For The First Time.
But of course your studies differ from his and yours are probably more along the lines of the popular vote.  I was just wondering if you had any open mindedness about such claims?

Second question-what do you know about the Dead Sea Scrolls...were they Matt Mark Luke and John or ?

Have there been any scientific studies on the manuscripts in order to prevent us from running into forgeries and complete fakes?

And finally did you hear about the discovery of James the brother of Jesus' bones found in an ossuary?  Apparently the real deal tried and true the first physical evidence that Jesus existed (although there were some sketchy points to it but nonetheless believable)

Answer
"CHRISTIAN SCHOLAR WHO CLAIMED SUCH THINGS AS-JESUS CLAIMED TO BE A PART OF GOD BUT NOT THE SON OF GOD, ANY OPEN MINDEDNESS ABOUT SUCH CLAIMS?"

Men “claim” many things that are in direct oppostion to what, God and Jesus “claim”, I stick to what God and his son say, regardless of what imperfect men say. There is a difference between being “open-minded” and ignoring the facts. Jesus himself stated many times that he was the; “Son of God” that he could do; “nothing of his own initiative” and that the “Father was greater than him” ,so to me it would be silly to believe a man’s word above God’s and his son’s.


DEAD SEA SCROLLS.

Professor Julio Trebolle Barrera, a member of the international team of editors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, states: “The Isaiah Scroll [from Qumran] provides irrefutable proof that the transmission of the biblical text through a period of more than one thousand years by the hands of Jewish copyists has been extremely faithful and careful.”

To date, among over 200 Biblical manuscripts found at Qumran, portions have been identified of every book of the Hebrew Scriptures (OT) except the book of Esther. The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient Jewish manuscripts, most of them written in Hebrew, some in Aramaic, and a few in Greek. Many of these scrolls and fragments are over 2,000 years old, dating to before the birth of Jesus.

HAVE THERE BEEN ANY SCIENTIFIC STUDIES ON THE MANUSCRIPTS IN ORDER TO PREVENT US FROM RUNNING INTO FORGERIES AND COMPLETE FAKES?

Yes all kinds of tests were done on these “scrolls” for instance; among the scrolls was a copy of the Bible book of Isaiah that was about a thousand years older than any manuscript previously available. Yet, a comparison showed that the only differences between the Dead Sea manuscript and later copies were in such things as word order and grammar. The meaning of the text was unchanged after a thousand years of copying! Concerning the text of the Hebrew Scriptures, scholar William Henry Green could therefore say: “It may be safely said that no other work of antiquity has been so accurately transmitted.” Similar comments have been made about the accuracy of transmission of the Christian Greek Scriptures.

DISCOVERY OF JAMES THE BROTHER OF JESUS' BONES FOUND IN AN OSSUARY?

“Evidence of Jesus Written in Stone.” So proclaimed the cover of Biblical Archaeology Review (November/December 2002). That cover featured a limestone bone box, an ossuary, that was found in Israel. Ossuaries were widely used among the Jews during the brief period between the first century B.C.E. and 70 C.E. What made this one especially significant was an Aramaic inscription on one side. Scholars acknowledged its reading: “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”

According to the Bible, Jesus of Nazareth had a brother named James who was considered a son of Joseph, the husband of Mary. When Jesus Christ taught in his hometown, the astounded audience asked: “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?”—Matthew 13:54-56; Luke 4:22; John 6:42.

Yes, the inscription on the ossuary fits the description of Jesus the Nazarene. If the James mentioned in the inscription was the half brother of Jesus Christ, then it would be “the oldest extrabiblical archaeological evidence of Jesus,” asserts André Lemaire, an authority on ancient inscriptions and the writer of the aforementioned article in Biblical Archaeology Review. Hershel Shanks, editor of the magazine, notes that the ossuary “is something tactile and visible reaching back to the single most important personage ever to walk the earth.”

However, all three names readable on the inscribed ossuary were common in the first century. So it is possible that a family whose members included a James, a Joseph, and a Jesus existed apart from the family of Jesus Christ. Lemaire estimates: “In Jerusalem during the two generations before 70 C.E., there were . . . probably about 20 people who could be called ‘James/Jacob son of Joseph brother of Jesus.’” Nevertheless, he feels that there is a 90-percent chance that the James on the ossuary was the half brother of Jesus Christ.

There is another factor that makes some believe that the James in the inscription was Jesus Christ’s half brother. Although it was common to mention the father of the deceased in such inscriptions, it was very rare to name a brother. Therefore, some scholars believe that this Jesus must have been somebody important, causing them to think that he was Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity.

Is the Ossuary Authentic?

What is an ossuary? It is a box, or chest, into which the bones of a deceased person were put after the body had decayed in a burial cave. Many ossuaries were looted from burial places around Jerusalem. The box with the James inscription emerged from the antiquities market, not from an official excavation site. The owner of the artifact is said to have bought it for a few hundred dollars in the 1970’s. Thus, the origin of the ossuary is shrouded in mystery. “If you cannot say where an artifact was found and where it has been for nearly 2,000 years, you cannot pretend to draw the lines of connection between the object and the people it might mention,” says Professor Bruce Chilton of Bard College, New York.

To offset the lack of archaeological background, André Lemaire sent the box to the Geological Survey of Israel. The researchers there verified that the ossuary was made of limestone from the first or second century C.E. They reported that “no sign of the use of a modern tool or instrument was found.” Still, Bible scholars interviewed by The New York Times expressed the opinion that “the circumstantial evidence supporting a link to Jesus was possibly strong, but circumstantial nonetheless.”

Time magazine commented that “almost no educated person these days doubts that Jesus lived.”

THE FIRST PHYSICAL EVIDENCE THAT JESUS EXISTED

Many feel that there ought to be evidence in addition to the Bible of Jesus’ existence. However archaeology should not be the basis for one’s belief in Jesus Christ, but here are some of their findings--

1. Denarius Coin With Tiberius’ Inscription;-- The Bible shows clearly that Jesus’ ministry took place during the rule of Tiberius Caesar. Some of Jesus’ opposers tried to trap him by asking about the matter of paying head tax to Caesar. The record reads: “Detecting their hypocrisy, he said to them: ‘Why do you put me to the test? Bring me a denarius to look at.’ They brought one. And he said to them: ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ They said to him: ‘Caesar’s.’ Jesus then said: ‘Pay back Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.’ And they began to marvel at him.” (Mark 12:15-17)

Archaeologists have found a silver denarius coin bearing the head of Tiberius Caesar! It was put in circulation about 15 C.E. This is consistent with Tiberius’ period of rule as emperor, which began in 14 C.E., and it brings added support to the record stating that John the Baptizer’s ministry commenced in the 15th year of Tiberius, or the spring of 29 C.E.—Luke 3:1, 2.

2. Pontius Pilate Inscription;--It was in 1961 that the first archaeological find was made with reference to Pontius Pilate. This was a stone slab located at Caesarea, which bore in Latin the name of Pontius Pilate.

3. True to Jesus’ prophecy, Jerusalem with its temple was destroyed in 70 C.E. Archaeology supports the Bible’s record of such an event.

4. A visit to the Israel Museum will show two unusual ossuaries. Biblical Archaeology Review explains: The two on display were found in November 1990 in a burial cave. Archaeologist Zvi Greenhut reports:

“The word . . . ‘Caiapha’ on two of the ossuaries in the tomb appears here for the first time in an archaeological context. It is probably the name of the family of the High Priest Caiaphas, mentioned . . . in the New Testament . . . It was from his house in Jerusalem that Jesus was delivered to the Roman procurator Pontius Pilatus.” One ossuary contained the bones of a man about 60 years old. Scholars speculate that these actually are the bones of Caiaphas. One scholar refers the findings to the "time of Jesus"


All the best
Brenda