Filmstalker: James Cameron reveals remains of Jesus and family?

James Cameron might just have set himself up for a big controversy as he announces that he's found the remains of Jesus, Mary and Mary Magdalene. He's announced a press conference in New York where he will allegedly be revealing their coffins which still hold their remains.

Wow! You have to wonder if this is some kind of publicity stunt, or if he really has found the remains as part of his documentary that delves into the claims that Jesus wasn't resurrected and actually died, like a real human, and that he aired a son with Mary Magdelene. Oh some people are going to be mad.

The story from Time's Middle Eastern Blog through AICN.

Let's go back 27 years, when Israeli construction workers were gouging out the foundations for a new building in the industrial park in the Talpiyot, a Jerusalem suburb. of Jerusalem. The earth gave way, revealing a 2,000 year old cave with 10 stone caskets. Archologists were summoned, and the stone caskets carted away for examination. It took 20 years for experts to decipher the names on the ten tombs. They were: Jesua, son of Joseph, Mary, Mary, Mathew, Jofa and Judah, son of Jesua.

That's how it all started, but even then the coffins weren't connected with the bible as there were so many inconsistencies with the biblical stories. However the makers of the documentary, Narrator Cameron and director Simcha Jacobovici, claim that the coffins found belong to Jesus and his family.

I'm not sure if this film is The Exodus Decoded since the IMDB write up of the film doesn't mention the amazing findings above:

...in which new evidence in favor of the historicity of the Biblical Exodus is explored. It is partially narrated by film director James Cameron. Jacobovici suggests that the Exodus took place around 1500 BCE during the reign of pharaoh Ahmose I, and coincided with the eruption of Santorini that most scholars believe ended the Minoan civilization. In the documentary, the plagues that ravished Egypt in the Bible are explained as having resulted from that volcanic eruption, and a related collapse in the Nile river delta.

The documentary will soon be shown on Discovery Channel, Channel 4, Canada's Vision, and Israel's Channel 8, so we don't have long to wait, and both the showing and the press conference on Monday will no doubt raise controversy galore.

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Comments

Even if it were true, so what then? What will you hope to accomplish unearthing these coffins, will it change anything?

Sorry for being so cynical.

Posted by: Simone | February 25, 2007 2:04 PM

Yes it will. Those who accept the bible as literal truth will argue that the coffins are fake, or belong to someone else. If they are real, that means everything these people have believed in for their whole lives was a lie.

I know I'd find that more than a little difficult to swallow. Wouldn't you?

Posted by: ISO100 | February 25, 2007 3:56 PM

I see you clearly ISO and I agree. But believe me, just knowing otherwise will not make these people do anything. I know Filmstalker is not the place to discuss one's beliefs but I have complete faith in the Bible and what fails my understanding of all of this is, okay, this documentary will reveal that this are the remains of Jesus and his family and then what? Prove that he existed? Maybe that will do it but is that enough, will ones proof of existence make the unbelievers accept what he set out to do? I doubt so.

Posted by: Simone | February 25, 2007 6:39 PM

From playfuls.com:

"Director James Cameron is the latest of a string of gold-diggers cashing in on the contemporary rise of revisionist Christian history. Same old story, you know it, Barbara Thiering and Dan Brown style, that Jesus was actually married, which was debunked by numerous scholars as a cheap hoax.

James Cameron has teamed up with Israeli-born, Canadian-based filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici to make a documentary about a 1980 archeological site, at Talpiot, which produced some 10 ossuaries. Some of them are inscribed as "Jesus son of Joseph," and respectively "Mary" (twice) and also Matthew, Josa and Judah, which were probably the most common names during the time. They also appear many times in the Bible, referring to many different characters.

Their documentary will be screened this week in the US, UK, on Channel 8 in Israel and around the world.

The only problem to their elaborate hoax is that the original Jewish professor who worked on the site, Amos Kloner, has already come forward to expose the claims as sheer nonsense."