# Christians: What if James Cameron DID Find Jesus' Tomb? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 25, 2007, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581 "2007-02-25T05:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/1 "2007-02-25T05:35:37Z")
James Cameron [claims](http://time-blog.com/middle_east/) he found Jesus’ tomb and that Jesus wasn’t resurrected. How would this affect you if it were true? Would you still believe in God and just treat Jesus as a wise teacher, or would you reject religion altogether? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/2 "2007-02-25T05:37:28Z")
I mean, _really_ found Jesus. As in, he claims to have positively identified a crypt as containing the remains of Jesus and his family. [Story here.](http://time-blog.com/middle_east/) > [@](#): > > 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. > Israel’s prominent archeologist Professor Amos Kloner didn’t associate the crypt with the New Testament Jesus. His father, after all, was a humble carpenter who couldn’t afford a luxury crypt for his family. And all were common Jewish names. > > There was also this little inconvenience that a few miles away, in the old city of Jerusalem, Christians for centuries had been worshipping the empty tomb of Christ at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Christ’s resurrection, after all, is the main foundation of the faith, proof that a boy born to a carpenter’s wife in a manger is the Son of God. > > 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. It will be interesting to see what evidence he has. How can you trace Jesus’ DNA? Do we have a genetic link back to Jesus’s family in some way? What if his argument is compelling? What will that do to Christianity or our perception of it? Anything? ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/3 "2007-02-25T06:07:58Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] It will be interesting to see what evidence he has. How can you trace Jesus’ DNA? Do we have a genetic link back to Jesus’s family in some way? [/QUOTE] Obviously you just get some of God’s DNA and then run a paternity test 🙂 But in anycase, even if it _is_ really the tomb of Jesus, I can’t imagine that there would be anything more then circumstantial evidence of the fact, and so I doubt that this will be a huge blow against those that belive in the Resurrection. Also they mention ten tombs but also only give 6 names? We know at least one of Jesus’s brothers name (James), was he in there? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/4 "2007-02-25T06:09:17Z")
**Moderator’s Note:** **DanBlather** and **Sam Stone** both started threads on this topic within a couple of minutes of each other so I merged the redundant threads. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/5 "2007-02-25T06:18:30Z")
[QUOTE=DanBlather] James Cameron [claims](http://time-blog.com/middle_east/) he found Jesus’ tomb and that Jesus wasn’t resurrected. How would this affect you if it were true? Would you still believe in God and just treat Jesus as a wise teacher, or would you reject religion altogether? [/QUOTE] Given that the resurrection of Jesus is kind of a key element of His message and His promise, if it were shown to be untrue I would most likely abandon the Christian faith. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/6 "2007-02-25T06:19:10Z")
I don’t see how they could possibly prove it was Jesus. The DNA could show the familial relationships between the deceased but those were all common Jewish names at the time. None of the new stories I’ve been able to find on this have given any details as to how they claim to be able to identify any of the remains as the Jesus of the New Testament. There’s apparently a [book](http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061192029/The_Jesus_Family_Tomb/index.aspx) coming out as well. Jacobovici is a dubious source at best, He did that _Exodus Decoded_ thing a little while a ago that tried to extroploate way too much from a few kernels of archaeological fact. I think he is a proponent of James Tabor’s [Jesus Dynasty](http://www.jesusdynasty.com/) theory and I suspect this show will push that theory. I can’t really comment anymore until I see exactly what the claims are but I do not expect the world to be shaken. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/7 "2007-02-25T06:32:18Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] What if his argument is compelling? What will that do to Christianity or our perception of it? Anything? [/QUOTE] I think it will have less effect on Xtianity than the effect on mormonism of DNA evidence that American Indians are not related to Middle Easterners. IOW, I think the only effect it will have is to make the ‘true believers’ even more anti-science than they already are. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/8 "2007-02-25T06:39:14Z")
My biology teacher always used to say the “H” in “Jesus H. Christ” stood for “haploid.” There’s a DNA test for ya! (Do I remember also reading this in a SD column?) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/9 "2007-02-25T06:42:27Z")
About a year ago, I heard about this batch of tombs with interesting names after I leafed through Tabor’s JESUS DYNASTY and also read about this tomb on Laurence Gardner’s website (linked from Whitley Streiber’s site, I believe). Kinda the flip side of we C’tians getting all excited over the “James Ossuary”. I’m with Paul. If Christ did not rise, we Christians are the most pitiful bunch there is. Fortunately, even as the Resurrection is non-verifiable, it is also non-falsifiable. There are historical & rational arguments which support it & which I hold to be valid, but I certainly won’t claim them as proofs. I am sure the Israeli Gov’t does NOT want to give credence to this, considering who makes up the bulk of U.S. tourists & political supporters. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/10 "2007-02-25T06:48:40Z")
“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.” :dubious: _DNA tests?_ Who do we compare the DNA _to_? Well, sure the bodies could be related to each other, but so? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/11 "2007-02-25T06:50:45Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I don’t see how they could possibly prove it was Jesus. The DNA could show the familial relationships between the deceased but those were all common Jewish names at the time. [/QUOTE] Maybe if half the base pairs glowed? 🙂 I hope most atheists won’t jump into believing something will come of this. We should treat supposed evidence for our side as skeptically as evidence for the other side. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/12 "2007-02-25T06:54:30Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] “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.” :dubious: _DNA tests?_ Who do we compare the DNA _to_? Well, sure the bodies could be related to each other, but so? [/QUOTE] That’s exactly my take. They might be able to prove that the one named Yeshua was the son of the ones named Joseph and Mary but those were common enough names at the time (and still are, for that matter) that it wouldn’t amount to much more than an amusing coincidence. It does occur to me that if they were able to also test bone fragments from the James ossuary and prove that the occupant was a sibling of THIS Yeshua (and a son of THIS Joseph and Mary) that the coinidence would at least become a lot more interesting. I think thats a far fetched possibiity, though. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/13 "2007-02-25T07:02:06Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] _DNA tests?_ Who do we compare the DNA _to_? Well, sure the bodies could be related to each other, but so? [/QUOTE] Obviously to Prince Michael of Albany. [QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] It does occur to me that if they were able to also test bone fragments from the James ossuary and prove that the occupant was a sibling of THIS Yeshua (and a son of THIS Joseph and Mary) that the coinidence would at least become a lot more interesting. I think thats a far fetched possibiity, though. [/QUOTE] Particularly since the guys who examined the ossuary have already determined that [“brother of Jesus”](http://web.israelinsider.com/bin/en.jsp?enZone=Views&enDisplay=view&enPage=ViewsPage&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Article%5El1569) was a (recent) fraud. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/14 "2007-02-25T07:28:26Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] _DNA tests?_ Who do we compare the DNA _to_? Well, sure the bodies could be related to each other, but so? [/QUOTE] Precisely. I’m having a massively difficult time thinking anybody can think this can be proven through DNA. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/15 "2007-02-25T08:04:03Z")
Maybe James Cameron will have the DNA from the tombs compared to his own! “I’m King of the Jews!” ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/16 "2007-02-25T08:15:24Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] Maybe James Cameron will have the DNA from the tombs compared to his own! “I’m King of the Jews!” [/QUOTE] _snerk_ Damn, that’s hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/17 "2007-02-25T08:18:41Z")
I thought all this [sounded familiar](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0201485/plotsummary) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/18 "2007-02-25T08:39:19Z")
Maybe they can see if the DNA in the tomb marked Jesus matches what is in the tomb marked Mary, and then see if Mary’s remains matches her [picture](http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4578164.html) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/19 "2007-02-25T11:08:44Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] My biology teacher always used to say the “H” in “Jesus H. Christ” stood for “haploid.” There’s a DNA test for ya! (Do I remember also reading this in a SD column?) [/QUOTE] [Yes, you do !](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_033.html) ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581/20 "2007-02-25T12:21:57Z")
A few years ago on the evening news in Chicago,Linda Yu mentioned they had found a tomb in Jerusalem marked, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph but nothing more was said. I do not know what she was referring to as I didn’t hear anymore about it but I wondered why if it were true nothing more was said. However if an alien came from another planet and showed a movie of the time of Jesus and showed he didn’t really live, die, or resurrect there are people of faith that would not accept it. That is what faith is. There are many people in the past who have died and their tombs or bodies are not found. So lack of a body proves nothing,and what of all the peole who were said to have resurrected and were seen walking around after Jesus resurrected? Why would they have to die again, and if so where are their bodies? For many the idea of an after life is a big help to them and if so doing helps them I see nothing wrong with their beliefs. Monavis [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-if-james-cameron-did-find-jesus-tomb/393581.md?page=2)