'Lost Tomb of Jesus' tries to turn 'fiction into believability,' minister warns

by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
February 28, 2007

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(OneNewsNow.com) - - Christian clergy leader and activist Rob Schenck is blasting an upcoming television special that claims archaeologists have uncovered a coffin that once contained the remains of Jesus Christ. The program titled The Lost Tomb of Jesus premieres March 4 on the Discovery Channel, and Schenck warns that it is full of misleading and incorrect information.

The TV special airing Sunday was executive-produced by Hollywood director James Cameron (Titanic, True Lies, The Terminator ) and directed by documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici (The Exodus Decoded, James: Brother of Jesus), whose work includes a number of films about controversies in Jewish history.

While Cameron is best known for his fictional films, his collaboration with Jacobovici is being touted as a feature documentary that makes a strong case, allegedly based on scientific analysis of ancient artifacts, for the notion that the two-millennia-old "Tomb of the Ten Ossuaries" actually belonged to the family of Jesus of Nazareth.

In the presentation, Cameron features archaeologists and supposed DNA experts discussing what is purportedly "the latest historical evidence" supporting the assertion that -- contrary to the biblical account of Christ's death, burial and resurrection -- Jesus was buried along with his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene (Mariamene), and a supposed son, Judah. But according to National Clergy Council president Rob Schenck, a Hollywood director is among the people least qualified to render any determination of Biblical truth.

Cameron is a man "whose job is to turn fiction into believability," Schenck points out. Meanwhile, he notes, "The man [the well-known moviemaker] has partnered with -- Simcha Jacobovici -- has been completely discredited by the scholarly community as nothing more than a modern-day, self-proclaimed Indiana Jones."

Furthermore, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, is full of inaccuracies, the National Clergy Council spokesman asserts. The documentary claims to present scientific analysis of limestone ossuaries (bone boxes) and physical evidence found in a 2,000-year-old tomb in Talpiot, Jerusalem, that some "experts" claim may have once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family; but Schenck insists there is "nothing here of any substance."

Nor is there anything remarkable about finding bone boxes inscribed with the names of Yeshua, Miriam or Mary, the Christian clergy leader asserts. This is especially the case since Yeshua was "one of the most popular male names of that period," he adds, and "30 percent of women were named Mary at that time."

And Mariamene, which some scholars believe was Mary Magdalene's original name, was "as popular as Jill or Sally is today in our culture," Schenck says. Speculating about the bone boxes depicted in The Lost Tomb of Jesus based simply on the names they bear, the minister contends, "is like finding [an artifact with the name] 'Bill Smith' and saying, 'which Bill Smith is it?' There's just nothing here."

Through the years, Schenck observes, Hollywood has attacked and mocked the Christian faith, and he suspects the makers of The Lost Tomb of Jesus may have similar intentions. However, the clergy leader notes, he tends to agree with critics who claim this new documentary makes a mockery of the archaeological profession.