From Stats to Facts: Problems Multiply for Talpiot Tomb Theory

Last week , before the “Lost Tomb of Jesus” story broke, I was standing on the hills overlooking Talpiot at the Haas Promenade. Little did I know that so much controversy would surround this same Southern Jerusalem neighborhood within so few days. But the Talpiot Tomb has now rocketed to center stage as the Discovery Channel prepares to air their documentary on March 4.

My two favorite Jesus scholars are Ben Witherington III of Asbury Seminary and Darrell Bock of Dallas Theological Seminary. Each has a host of books to his credit and always seens to offer the most sane comments on Jesus theories. Their writings are well-informed, grounded in committed belief, and on the cutting edge of the latest scholarship.

This week Witherington has added to his already impressive blog on the Talpiot Tomb a number of other sound reasons for rejecting the “Lost Tomb of Jesus” theory. Cf. his “Problems Multiply for Jesus Tomb Theory” at http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/.

Darrell Bock has already weighed in with no less than four blog entries on his http://dev.bible.org/bock/.

Additionally, Paul Maier of Western Michigan University has provided a quick summary reaction to the theory. I once read his prescient “A Skeleton in God’s Closet” thriller posing the question what would happen to Christianity if someone claimed to find a tomb containing the bones of Jesus (http://theologica.blogspot.com/2007/02/skeleton-in-gods-closet-paul-maier.html). Who is in a better position to address the issue than someone who actually wrote a book on the subject before the present controversy?