Bible scholar finds claims of 'Jesus tomb' implausible

Author will discuss claims in new documentary during her lecture at St. John's Episcopal Church
Saturday, March 03, 2007
By LESLIE PALMA-SIMONCEK ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New Testament scholar Dr. Deirdre Good finds it "implausible" that the so-called "Jesus tomb" is authentic.
Dr. Good will be at St. John's Episcopal Church in Rosebank tomorrow to discuss the gospels that were not included in the Bible, but with the claim -- widely circulated this week and the subject of a televised documentary tomorrow night -- that 10 ossuaries found in 1980 in Jerusalem may have contained the bones of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and their son, she expects a lively discussion about the find as well.
"I think it will be very interesting to people," said Dr. Good, a professor at General Theological Seminary in Manhattan and the author of "Mariam, the Magdalen and the Mother." Copies of her latest book, "Jesus' Family Values," will be available at St. John's tomorrow.
Her talk is being sponsored by the Richmond Inter-Parish Council of the Episcopal Church.
Dr. Good said she is "not opposed to considering" the possibility that Jesus was married, had a son and did not experience a bodily resurrection.
"But it just seems to me there are too many loopholes," she added.
Dr. Good said the DNA and statistical evidence is unconvincing, and the names of the people identified in six of the 10 ossuaries are so common as to prove nothing definitively.
"We know that generations are buried in that tomb," she said. Finding an inscription for the "'son of Yeshua' doesn't compel us to think of Jesus of Nazareth."
The tomb's location in Jerusalem is also problematic, she said.
"As far as we know, Jesus and his family lived most of the time in Galilee," she said. Also, according to Scripture, Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb.
"Having a tomb is an indication of a family that seems to have been a little bit better off," than evidence suggests of Jesus' family.
Leading archaeologists in Israel and the United States on Tuesday denounced the purported discovery of the tomb as a publicity stunt and Christians of all denominations have blasted it as just another example of Christian-bashing.
"Not a Lenten season goes by without some author or TV program seeking to cast doubt on the divinity of Jesus and/or the resurrection," said William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
Dr. Good's talk tomorrow is open to the public. "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" will be shown tomorrow night at 9 on the Discovery Channel.