bro Ben

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Farai Bamu

bro Mike

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Farai Bamu

I heard another brother today remark," How can they claim to have determined that Jesus fathered a son? They can't even determine who fathered Anna Nicole Smith's son!"

:-?

MC

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Mike Compton

James Cameron Discovers Ice on the Sun
By Ray Comfort

Early in March of 2007, Hollywood director James Cameron announced something that he no doubt hoped would go down as well as Titanic. It was big news. When Cameron (with less subtlety than his Hollywood counterparts) attempted to sink Christianity by producing "the bones of Jesus," even Time Magazine couldn't help but use the word "showman" and be reminded of Hollywood fiction:

Ever the showman, (why does this remind me of the impresario in another movie, "King Kong", whose hubris blinds him to the dangers of an angry and very large ape?) Cameron is holding a New York press conference on Monday at which he will reveal three coffins, supposedly those of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. 1

Ironically, it's not the first time the imaginative director has tried to help us understand the Bible. A year earlier he produced a documentary that made big news in England:

The greatest story ever told has acquired a Hollywood twist. James Cameron, the director of Titanic, is the executive producer of a new documentary that claims to have uncovered fresh evidence confirming one of the most dramatic episodes in the Old Testament -- the parting of the Red Sea and the Jewish exodus from Egypt . . . Cameron believes the parting of the Red Sea may have been a tsunami that destroyed the pharaoh's army as it pursued the escaping Jews. The documentary claims the episode occurred not at the Red Sea but at the smaller Sea of Reeds, a marshy area at the northern end of the Gulf of Suez. An underwater earthquake may have released poisonous gases that turned the waters red. 2

So the opening of the Red Sea wasn't a spontaneous miracle of God. It was a well-timed earthquake and tsunami. Thanks, Mr. Cameraman, for framing that for us, and for putting the issue in focus.

Thanks also for digging up these bones and making Jesus Christ headline news once again. You have given us another springboard for the gospel.

So, is the Christian world shaking in its bones because of this "discovery"? Can we be sure that he is wrong?

I can only speak for myself when I say that there are a couple of things in life of which I am sure. The first is that the sun is hot. I may be wrong, but everything around me--my natural senses, my life's experience, science, etc., all come together to tell me that the sun is very hot. The second thing of which I am sure is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God--that He suffered and died for me, rose again on the third day and that "God has appointed Him to judge the quick and the dead." Of both these things I am sure, but only the second is a hill to die on.

The thought that someone has found the bones of Jesus doesn't even come up to being a very bad joke. It would be more credible for Mr. Cameron to produce a documentary telling us that the sun is made of ice. He could perhaps have it aired on the Comedy Channel.

Why am I so sure that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Because He transformed my life. He made me a brand new person on the inside. The first time I was born, it was radical. I didn't exist, then I did. When I was "born again" (by the same Maker) it was just as radical.

To understand that, you have to look to the Law of Moses for a moment. It says, "You shall not commit adultery," but this Jesus of whom Mr. Cameron speaks, said, "But I say to you, whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery already with her in his heart." That's the standard humanity will be judged by, and I don't know about you, but that would leave me guilty, and the Bible warns that it would put me in Hell for eternity. That's why I need a Savior--a substitute who took my punishment, and then rose from the dead to give me peace with God.

It is because of that cross that I am forgiven, and it was the ultimate happy day "when Jesus washed, when Jesus washed, Jesus washed my sins away." That's the only hill I will die on . . . and that's because One has already died on a hill for me.

From Hollywood Be Thy Name, by Ray Comfort (due for release May 2007).

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[i]I received this in an email from Living Waters and thought it fit into the topic being discussed here :-).[/i]

Greg,

At the rate the Evil One is taking over the 'Christian' Church, it only brings to mind how close we are to the 'latter days'. Remember, deceptions are promised for this time, and this, to the gullible, would probably seem to be a wonder.

Worse, because this is a "truthumentary", and even rated to be of the worst possible quality
by the documentary critics, only the Devil could get it on the air twenty years ago. Now, all it takes is someone who wants to make money, and this #%^()*&% will, alas, make money.

Blessings,

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Forrest Anderson

Sounds like a resurrection of a myth to me:

"Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day."
(Matthew 28:11-15)

Funny that they would base their arguments on the same ones that someone from the New Testament era did... considering how much they like to dig up new stuff!

Praise Jesus for absolute Truth in a day and age of compromise. Hallelujah!

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Ryan G.

http://www.dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/tomb.html

Their documentary is airing tomorrow at 9pm Eastern. I will be watching it and give my review of it here.

Jordan

Another lie straight from the pit. If they really thought this rubbish was true why not reveal it 25 odd years ago, when they claimed to have found the tomb. Why now? If it was real why not show us the holes in the hands and feet, and the place where the spear penetrated? Do they really think they can shake our foundations?

Our Lord and Savior is alive and well - praise His holy Name!

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Ann - but everyone calls me Joy

This is from the WayoftheMaster Radio website:

“They found the casket of Jesus”
45 Pithy Comebacks

1. Explain to me why a poor family from Bethlehem would be buried in a middle class grave in Jerusalem.
2. Mary, Jesus and Joseph were the most popular names in Israel at this time. That is why the Jewish archaeologists who first discovered these caskets in 1980 NEVER claimed these belonged to the family of Jesus. The odds are too preposterous.
3. Israeli archaeologist Joel Rosenberg believes this new film is nonsense.
4. So does Jewish archaeologist Amos Kloner.
5. There is no credible evidence that Jesus was ever married. The only possible reference to Jesus being married is in a 14th century manuscript (Acts of Phillip) that nobody deems credible.
6. There is no evidence that Jesus had children.
7. They claim they have proof that Jesus had a baby. We can’t even determine the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby. (Jay Leno)
8. As there is no credible evidence that Jesus was married with children, this discovery does not prove that Jesus was married; it proves that these caskets don’t belong to Jesus. If Jesus was not married to Mary, this whole theory collapses.
9. If Jesus had a wife and children, wouldn’t Jesus have told John to only take care of His mother when He was on the cross?
10. Jesus son of Joseph is hardly legible.
11. Professor Stephen Pfann in Jerusalem believes the name “Jesus” should actually be interpreted “Hanun.”
12. For such an esteemed Rabbi, the family sure did a sloppy job of inscribing His name on the casket.
13. Jesus is never referred to as “The son of Joseph” in early Christian witness. That is the inscription on the casket.
14. If you were going to hide a casket, would you put it in Jerusalem and label it “Jesus”?
15. Why did they only test the DNA of the Jesus and Miriamne casket and not the caskets of the others? Because if they discovered that the DNA didn’t match, their story would crumble.
16. The scientist who did the limited DNA testing said, “Don’t be deceived by the media. This type of DNA testing cannot test every relationship.”
17. There is no DNA baseline available to prove this was the burial box of Jesus.
18. Miriamne e Mara is not legible, they are speculating.
19. Miriamne e Mara is almost certainly interpreted wrong. “Mara” is probably a contraction of Martha and is probably a second name.
20. Miriamne is NOT Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene is not written on the casket.
21. Is the Yose (Joseph) married to Maria? Who knows?
22. Is Jesus married to Miriamne? Who knows?
23. The name Miriamne is not found in any credible text. Not one. The only time that we can find the name Miriamne is in reference to Herod’s wife, Miriamne.
24. Matya (they claim that is Matthew) is found on one of the caskets. If this is Matthew, why would Jesus’ disciple be buried with him?
25. There is no evidence that Jesus had a brother named Matthew.
26. Defenders claim that if Joseph and Mary had more children than what the Bible lists, “The name Matthew is consistent with the type of name that Mary and Joseph might have named one of their children.” That is not a credible argument.
27. They simply left Matthew out of the picture to make the statistical analysis look better.
28. They are doing their statistics backwards. They start with the presupposition that this is Jesus tomb and then try to determine the odds. You can’t do that.
29. If we found a gravesite today with the names John and David, John’s son (the equivalent to Jesus and Joseph) could we conclude which John this was? How many John’s have had a wife named Mary and a child name David in the last two centuries? Then if you knew that David was unmarried and from Los Angeles, but the tomb was found in New York, would you feel confident you had identified the right David?
30. Joseph’s tomb is missing. Why?
31. Jesus’ half-brother Jude is missing. Why?
32. Jesus’ half brother Simon is missing. Why?
33. Jesus sisters may be missing. Why?
34. If Jesus was buried and didn’t rise from the dead, why did Jesus’ half brother, James, die preaching that Jesus rose from the dead?
35. Ditto for Jude.
36. How could the family have kept this a secret from the early church?
37. Wouldn’t the Romans been able to find this casket and end the dispute?
38. Wouldn’t the Jews happily dug up this casket to put an end to this new Jewish cult named Christianity?
39. Trying to resolve whose caskets these are is like trying to figure who put the first dagger in Julius Caesar.
40. While science and CSI techniques can be helpful, we don’t have a time machine to take us back to the first century.
41. Eisegesis is when you form a conclusion and then go find the evidence for your theory. That is what they have done here.
42. There are a thousand scenarios to explain this. To assign ownership to Jesus is simply not reasonable.
43. We have films and eyewitnesses of the JFK assassination and we still can’t figure out who killed him.
44. If this were a civil case, it would be laughed out of court.
45. Wow! You trust this film more than the Bible? Now that’s faith. The Bible is a more reliable source of information than this circus of evidence.

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matt