News on 06/18/2003: "Box is "Forgery"
The Burial Box of James,the Brother of Jesus
Oct. 2002
This
find will be able to identify James as The 2,000-year-old ossuary—a box that held bones—bears the inscription "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." This besides many manuscripts offers evidence.
Andre Lemaire, a paleographer at the Sorbonne University in Paris (École Pratique des Hautes Études), first saw the artifact and its inscription while examining the relics of a private collector in Jerusalem. He dates the box, which was empty, to 63 A.D. Lemaire calculated the statistical probability of the three names' occurring in such a combination as extremely slim.
As many religions rise or fall upon historical evidence, this find will validate the truth of the stories told and written. The find is described in the November/December issue of Biblical Archaeological Review.
Protestants traditionally read the Gospel accounts calling James the "brother" of Jesus as meaning Mary gave birth to Jesus as a virgin and then had James, and at least three five other sons and daughters, with Joseph. Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics, on the other hand, teach Mary's "perpetual virginity", meaning she and Joseph never had marital relations. The Orthodox believe Joseph had James by another wife, and after she died he married Mary - making James Jesus' stepbrother. Catholics commonly hold that James was a close relative of Jesus, perhaps a cousin. For more stories check out nationalgeographic.com, newscientist.com or Biblical Archeology Review
News on 06/18/2003: Box is forgery (see details of next article)
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the first leader of the Christian church and the brother of Jesus.