Tabor Responds to Witherington on The Lost Tomb of Jesus
Liberal theologian James Tabor responds to Ben Witherington’s criticisms of The Lost Tomb of Jesus.
My friend Ben Witherington is at the head of the pack in confidently telling his readers at his Blog and elsewhere of the errors being made by those of us who have worked on this project now for over two years. The problem is he does not have the most basic facts straight. Below I list his ten reasons the case for the Talpiot tomb being that of Jesus of Nazareth are “bogus” that are making their way all over the Internet today. Almost all of them are incorrect. I offer here just a few brief comments but urge those interested in this topic to read the book just published which addresses almost all of these. It seems to me that it is a waste of time to be discussing things back and forth when the very content of the evidence is not clear to those who are making these assertions.
. . .
My own view is that with or without the James ossuary included, the cluster of names is quite striking and significant, but with the James ossuary included there can be little doubt that in March of 1980 a bulldozer accidently uncovered the Jesus Family tomb.
What bothers me most about the approach of Witherington, Bock, and others is their beginning assumption that this can not be the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. In other words, their approach is not an open quest for evidence but an apologetic effort to save the faith. The conclusions one draws then are determined without even looking at the evidence. The only task is to refute and charge others with “bogus” ideas, not to examine and consider what we can know. I think there is a better way.
You can read the post at his blog, The Jesus Dynasty Blog.
See also our overview post.
Like this post? Subscribe to our feed
.
Joe
I guess it is true that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
So far, only the press in Witherington’s native Kentucky have delicately raised the issue of the pot calling the kettle bla…that is, the pot calling the ossuary cracked in Witherington’s overheated protestations (the gentleman protests too much, methinks)against the latest “biggest New Testament find”* in his lifetime.
Lexington County Herald, 2/27/07
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/nation/16791591.htm
On his blog, Witherington fired a final salvo by referring to the Titanic and saying Cameron “has now jumped on board another sinking ship full of holes, presumably in order to make a lot of money before the theory sinks into an early watery grave. Man the lifeboats and get out now.”
In 2003, Witherington and co-author Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review, wrote in The Brother of Jesus that they believed an ossuary bearing the inscription “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” was authentic.
A few months after The Brother of Jesus was published, Israel’s Antiquities Authority decided that the ossuary was a fake. It charged the ossuary’s owner, Oded Golan, with fraud and illegally selling archaeological artifacts outside of Israel. His trial continues, 21/2 years after it began.
Witherington said that he and Shanks stand by their conclusion that the ossuary is authentic and are not likely to change their minds, regardless of the trial’s outcome.
—
* “This is probably going to be the biggest New Testament find in my lifetime, as big as the Dead Sea scrolls,” said Ben Witherington, a New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.
National Geographic News
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1021_021021_christianrelicbox.html
If Witherington can be such a zealot about HIS OWN wacky claims about HIS OWN phony ossuary, it would only be sporting of him to cut Simcha Jacobovici (Witherington’s former partner in crime. He was the man who helped Witherington hype his own phony “James Ossuary” about 4 years ago.) and James Cameron some slack.
Feb 27th, 2007 8:03 pm