The Titanic Tomb

Here we go again! Another huge controversy dealing with the relationship with Jesus and Mary Magdalene and this time with the help of the Titanic filmmaker and Oscar-winning director James Cameron! The USA TODAY article yesterday titled it a “Debate of Biblical Proportions,” and Monday morning it made NBC’s “Today” show, and last night David Letterman and Jay Leno both used it in their opening material. If you haven’t heard, it is based on Cameron’s claim that the tomb of Jesus has been found. In his TV documentary that will air on the Discovery Channel Sunday March 4, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, Cameron will contend that the family tomb of Jesus has been found and within that tomb were the remains of Jesus, his possible wife, Mary Magdalene, their son, Judah, and his mother, Mary. Obviously this supposed find has a number of contradictions to the writings of the New Testament, including the most fundamental of our faith, the resurrection of Jesus.

“Timing is everything!” That this discovery is not new, but was actually an archeological find from some ruins uncovered during a construction project in Jerusalem in 1980, speaks to timing. Scholars brought in to examine the tomb and its contents have been very skeptical of any possibility of the claimed connection to Jesus. But now the theory is being made public on the heels of the much publicized book and movie, The Da Vinci Code, which brought attention to the fictitious conspiracy to cover up the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene and their child. It is not just coincidental that the timing coincides with the approaching Easter celebration!

The BBC aired a short documentary on this tomb back in 1996 in which Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television. I would agree, but I fear that I might help. I know when the Da Vinci Code hit the book shelves and especially the theaters I presented some lessons in contradiction to it, which I am sure caused a few to go out and purchase a book or ticket that would have otherwise saved their money.

David