Exploring the Bible

 The Bible - a  Collection of Historical Documents? The New Testament was written by eight different authors who recorded the events and their perceptions of Jesus from their own unique viewpoints. Because these documents were combined into a single collection which became the Bible, they are rejected by most secular historians. It is a mystery to me why that just because an account is contained in the Bible it is almost automatically rejected. If these accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus had remained separate and independent of one another they likely would have been considered on their own merit, not by the title of the book they were contained within.  While this post will concentrate mostly on non-biblical sources regarding Jesus, I will touch briefly on the accuracy of the Gospels contained in the Bible. Just one example of many available involves Sir William Ramsey, a scholar who was educated and raised to doubt the accuracy of the New Testament. He set out t...

  In 2002 a bone box, or ossuary was presented to the world. The unique feature of this ossuary was an inscription which read, “ James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus ”. It was immediately assumed this ossuary had once held the earthly remains of James, one of Jesus’ half brothers. Almost as quickly critics began questioning the authenticity of the artifact and what followed was called the fraud trial of the century . The defendants were eventually found innocent but doubts remained concerning the  ossuary.  After careful review by some of the top experts in the world, the evidence for this being an authentic find began to mount. While there are still some who claim the engraving is a forgery, many scholars now believe the ossuary to be from the first century A.D., but one question still lingers unanswered. If it is authentic, this in itself makes the artifact both interesting and important, but does the inscription “ James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus ” refer to th...

The James Ossuary, first announced to the world in a Washington D.C. news conference on October 21, 2002, is perhaps the discovery of the century. The artifact was hailed as the first direct archeological evidence related to Jesus. The sensation was quickly dampened when the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the inscription was, according to their analysis, a modern day forgery. Other experts insisted the Ossuary and the inscription were authentic. The battle lines had been drawn. Since it was brought into the public spotlight the James Ossuary has climbed to the top of multiple lists. It is one of the best known of any  archeological discoveries, and certainly of any artifact related to the Bible. The Ossuary is also without doubt one of the most controversial artifacts in modern times. The ossuary, as presented, is inscribed with the words “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus ”. If authentic, this is certainly one of the most important and sensational archeological...