Christianity Today, Week of October 21

Stunning New Evidence that Jesus Lived
Scholars link first-century bone box to James, brother of Jesus.
By Gordon Govier | posted 10/21/2002


Pilgrims who travel to Israel to walk where Jesus walked may soon have
something new to connect them with the life and ministry of Jesus
Christ.

Scholars have recently examined a box carved out of soft limestone, made
to hold the bones of a first-century Jew. On its side is carved an
Aramaic inscription, "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."

The bone box, known as an ossuary, is in the hands of a private
collector in Jerusalem. But its existence, revealed in a news conference
today in Washington, D.C., has already generated a buzz among
archaeologists and biblical scholars.

The news conference was convened by Biblical Archaeological Review,
which reports "an archaeological landmark" in its November-December
issue. The ossuary was not uncovered in an archaeological excavation,
but apparently surfaced on the antiquities market. This means that
potentially important evidence for evaluating the box is missing.

But experts consulted by BAR and Christianity Today seem satisfied that
it really is a 2,000-year old artifact. BAR editor Hershel Shanks asked
for an analysis by the Geological Survey of Israel. Retired Wheaton
College professor John McRay, author of Archaelogy and the New
Testament, says the survey's lab report was convincing. "Six different
pieces of the patina of the stone were looked at through that
laboratory," he said. "It was verified, by people who are not
Christians, that the date on this is first century and there is no
evidence of recent disturbances of the box."

"I have no question it is an ancient artifact from the first century,"
said Eric Meyers, the Bernice and Morton Lerner Professor of Judaic
Studies and Director of the Graduate Program in Religion at Duke
University. "It appears to be the oldest extra-biblical, non-literary
mention of Jesus in the context of the nascent Christian church, and
that's pretty significant."

Archaeological looting
Jews used ossuaries in their burial caves for a relatively short period
in the first century. But archaeologists have found hundreds in recent
years, including one that probably belonged to the high priest Caiaphas
mentioned in the Gospels. Some have even been found inscribed with the
name Yeshua (Jesus/Joshua) or with the inscription "James, the son of
Joseph."

But could this ossuary really belong to the brother of Jesus of
Nazareth? "You have to remember that the three names mentioned are
equivalent to Tom, Dick, and Harry," says Meyers.

"They're everyday sort of names in the first century. What is most
compelling to me is the use of 'brother of.' We don't have the
designation of siblings common in the epigraphy of the Second Temple or
early Roman period. That's kind of a clincher for me."

Meyers is an archaeologist who has excavated a number of sites in
Israel. And even while marveling at this development, he cannot hide his
repugnance at having to comment on a discovery of unknown provenance.
"There was a whole tomb that was looted and this has been sold on the
black market," he charges. "We're missing all of the rest of the stuff
that could have filled in the blanks. That's very sad and that's why we
don't want to encourage archaeological looting and this sort of
activity."

Implications for Catholic doctrines
Ben Witherington, professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological
Seminary, believes that the bones stayed in the ossuary for a very short
time. Noting that first-century Christians fled Jerusalem shortly before
the Romans destroyed it in A.D. 70, Witherington thinks they took James'
remains with them. "It's not likely they would take the ossuary with
them, it's too heavy," he says. "They would probably have taken the
bones because they wouldn't have wanted his grave to have been
desecrated by Romans."

Witherington is intrigued as much by the beautiful Aramaic lettering of
the inscription as by what it says. Handwriting analysis also helps date
the ossuary to around A.D. 62, the traditional date of James' death.

"It certainly supports the view that Aramaic was still very much a
living language amongst early Jews, including some of the followers of
Jesus," he adds. He also sees implications for some Catholic doctrines
in this discovery, especially the perpetual virginity of Mary.

"The dominant Catholic tradition is that the brothers of Jesus are
actually cousins because Mary didn't have any more children, or they
were step brothers in that they were Joseph's sons by a previous
marriage," he said. "This inscription could call into question that
doctrine."

Most Protestant scholars believe James was a younger brother of Jesus
(one of four mentioned in Matthew 13:55) and not to be confused with the
apostles, James the brother of John, or James the son of Alphaeus. James
doesn't appear to have followed Jesus while he was alive, but Paul, in 1
Corinthians 15:7, mentions that Jesus appeared to James after the
resurrection. James then became the leader of the Jerusalem church.

Acts 15 records that James rendered judgment at a church council that
met to adjudicate issues raised by Paul and Barnabas. He was also
probably the author of the New Testament book that bears his name. The
first-century Jewish historian Josephus says that around A.D. 62 the
high priest Ananus arranged for the death of "one James, the brother of
Jesus who was called the Christ/Messiah."

An important discovery
BAR editor Hershel Shankstold CT the ossuary had been in the private
collection of an Israeli citizen for about 15 years. "I asked the owner
why he didn't recognize it. He said, 'I never thought that the Son of
God could have a brother.'"

Shanks became aware of its existence in June after the owner contacted
French epigrapher Andre LeMaire to evaluate it for him. The owner "got
it from an Arab antiquities dealer," he said. "He only paid a few
hundred dollars for it. The antiquities dealer told him it was found in
the section of Jerusalem called Silwan, just south of the Mount of
Olives. It's an area that's pockmarked with burial caves. Some people
have their basements in ancient burial caves."

McRay said he had anticipated a discovery like this when he wrote his
book a few years ago. "Two thousand years have passed and you would
expect something like this to be there. It could be, probably, the most
significant archaeological discovery of this generation." Shanks calls
it "the most important find in the history of New Testament
archaeology."

"We're making arrangements right now to have it exhibited in North
America," Shanks adds. "Next month there are 8,000 biblical scholars
meeting in Toronto at their annual meeting. We'd like it to be there."
After that, he's not sure what will happen with the ossuary.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today

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