CBNNews.com -- In an attempt to re-create his own reality, much like he did as the director of the Oscar-winning Titanic, James Cameron is looking to mystify millions into believing that his documentary team is more credible than the Bible regarding historical facts.
His film will debut on the Discovery Channel Sunday at 9:00 p.m. EST.
Cameron insists that his team has uncovered and successfully identified the remains of Jesus in a burial cave, along with the stone caskets of His mother Mary, father Joseph, His "wife" Mary Magdalene and their "son" Judah.
The site of this "finding" is located a few miles south of Jerusalem's Old City in a cave that was found back in 1980. Six of the ten stone caskets in the tomb bore inscriptions with common Hebrew names.
Two of the ossuaries, or stone burial boxes, were on display at a Monday press conference in New York. Cameron argues that "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus," is the valid inscription on a displayed casket found in the cave, which Israeli authorities recognize as a forgery. The burial box was loaned from the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Cameron's take on the film
Addressing the controversy behind his latest work, a documentary titled "Lost Tomb of Jesus," Cameron justified his blasphemous claims at a New York news conference, "I have never doubted that there was an historical Jesus, that walked the earth 2,000 years ago, but the simple fact is that there has never been a shred of physical, archaeological evidence to support that fact until right now."
As if he is giving the world a new-founded hope, Cameron proclaimed, "What this find does, and what this film does, and what this investigation does, is it celebrates the real-life existence of these people, this man who 2,000 years ago had a vision." This comment, which many Christians interpret as bringing Jesus down to a strictly mortal level of existence, also paints the Savior of the world as being similar to any other leader in history with a mission.
Cameron, the executive producer of the production, along with Israeli-born Canadian filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici, claim that they divulge scientific evidence, such as DNA analysis, along with "expert scholarship" to convincingly argue that Jesus, His mother, "wife" and "son" were found in the tomb.
The documentary team concludes that the names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph were names inscribed in the discovered tomb, and makes an additional claim that "Judah, son of Jesus" was etched on one of the ossuaries.
Not holding against the critics
Many Christians, scholars, and historians have criticized and condemned the latest claims of the Hollywood director, citing that his "discoveries" are merely wishful thinking and blind speculation.
Both clergymen and archaeologists in the Holy Land have condemned the film's assertions, yet Cameron urged his critics to refrain from further responses until they view his documentary.
Shunning Cameron's plea, Jerusalem District archaeologist Prof. Amos Kloner, who supervised the excavation of the cave, made a statement to The Jerusalem Post saying that claims made in the film were "nonsense" and "impossible" before concluding that there was "no likelihood" that Jesus and his relatives were buried in a family tomb.
Kloner asserts that Cameron's claims do not hold any weight by archaeological standards, pointing out that "They just want to make money for it," referring to the documentary team and television stations.
The archaeologist forthrightly declared that the documentary's claims about the tomb are false, "It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave... The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time."
University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem Professor Stephen Pfann, who noted to The Associated Press that it is possible that Jesus' name is not even on the tomb, said that his involvement in the documentary was to bring "some credible peer review in terms of how, in fact, the story is told."
Regarding the marks on one of the caskets, the biblical scholar added, "They may just well be scratches. I see more clearly the name 'Hanun' there than I can see the name 'Jesus." He continued, "I want to make it clear at this point that I am not convinced at all that this is in fact the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth."
Pfann also expressed, "I don't think that Christians are going to buy into this, but the skeptics, in general would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear."
Other attempts at discrediting the biblical truths of Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross and his ascension on the third day came from the theater release of The DaVinci Code and "The Gospel of Judas" cover feature in National Geographic last Easter, which also tried to peddle the idea that Jesus escaped crucifixion and had a son through His wife Mary Magdalene.
The Church of the Resurrection is the location to which credible archaeological, historical and Christian evidence points as being Jesus' actual burial site preceding His resurrection.
Rejecting and disproving the accuracy of the documentary's claims on many grounds, authorities in the fields of science and religion are very wary of its airing on television.
The Media Research Center, a conservative group, has called for the Discovery Channel not to broadcast the misleading documentary, and the director of MRC's Culture and Media Institute, Robert Knight, explained exactly why it shouldn't be aired to CBN News.
Click on the video above and discover why Robert Knight believes "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" should be pulled.
Sources: CBN News, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, AP
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