the iceberg of jesus' reported body

James Cameron, the Terminator and Titanic Director, known in Hollywood as not the most humble of people and not the wisest of theological minds I imagine (although props for The Abyss dude) is going to put out a documentary that will "prove" Jesus did not die and had children with Mary Magdalene. [Cameron is producing not directing. The director worked with Cameron on this documentary which was by all accounts (never seen it, seems fascinating) on three generations of inter-religious marriage].

The two also worked together claiming they had proved the location of Mt.Sinai where God reportedly gave Moses the 10 Commandments. I s--t you not. Story on Jesus doc here. Before I do my spare another useless non-debate between fundamentalists and secularists--and how they are both wrong--I'll try and be as fair as I can.

Cameron's evidence (from time article):

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...But film-makers Cameron and Jacobovici claim to have amassed evidence through DNA tests, archeological evidence and Biblical studies, that the 10 coffins belong to Jesus and his family.

One should be hear giant alarm bells going off in one's head when "Biblical studies" are mentioned--to say nothing of DNA tests? Whose DNA?

Finding a crypt with the names Jesua (Joshua), Joseph, Mary, Matthew, Jofa and Judah is like finding a cemetery with the names John and Sarah Jones and their children Bill and Susie. Or like the saying, "any Tom, Dick, or Harry." In the ancient Jewish context literally that would have been any "Jesus, Joseph, or Mary."

Worse still tomorrow Cameron is having a press conference where he will publicly display three coffins: Jesus, Mary (his mother), and Mary Magdalene--or so he claims. I feel wrong even publicly criticizing this view thereby giving it some measure of something even possibly approaching the fringe of the realm of some respectability.

And to note, my negativity is not because Jesus had to rise from the grave.

Rather it is because (full story here):

But prominent Jerusalem archaeologist Amos Kloner, who officially oversaw the work at the tomb, dismissed the claims. "It makes a great story for a TV film," the professor reportedly told The Jerusalem Post. "But it's impossible. It's nonsense."

But it does give me an excuse to deal in a couple of posts with the issue of the Resurrection, one of the more controversial of New Testament subjects.