 So they found the box that held the bones of Jesus? I remember the first Philosophy of Christian Religion class that I took in seminary from Dr. Jerry Walls, and how he asked the question, "What would it mean to your faith if the bones of Jesus were found?".
So what would it mean? It would mean that he didn't bodily rise and ascend to heaven. It would mean that Jesus wasn't the "first fruits" of resurrection like Paul said he was; and it would mean that a basic foundation of the Chrsitian faith was false.
No need to worry though, for it seems pretty clear with even a brief look at the evidence that this box didn't hold Jesus' bones. Dr. Ben Witherington wrote a good article here. If you didn't know, Dr. Ben wrote James the Brother of Jesus a book with Hershel Shanks about the recent find of the James', the brother of Jesus, ossuary. Interestingly enough, the so called "Jesus ossuary" was found 20 years ago. It has been explored now for almost thirty years. It is pretty clear for reasons Witherington mentions in his article that there is no truth to it being Jesus of Nazareth's burial box. But the question remains. If Jesus' bones were found what would it do to your faith? Labels: archeology, faith, Jesus, ossuary, Witherington |
