The Discovery Channel’s “Lost Tomb of Jesus” was already boiling with media hype before it hit the air on Sunday.
The program featured historians, archaeologists, scientists and statisticians exploring the supposed tomb of Jesus and his family, which included an alleged mother, father, brothers and sisters, wife and son. With these claims alone, you would expect the immediate backlash the program suffered.
Unearthing the ossuaries in a neighborhood outside of Jerusalem, archaeologists in 1980 found what many are led to believe is the missing link to the “greatest story ever told.” The tombs sat within the Israeli Antiquities Authorities until it caught the eye of co-producer Simcha Jacobovici, who with the help of executive-producer James Cameron, re-examined the 27-year-old find with modern DNA-testing technology and the literal uncovering of the original Jesus tomb.
Christians nationwide made their voices heard, declaring the documentary tasteless and offensive, an easy-money-making program for an industry banking on Da Vinci Code fever.
But the results of the program found only mildly inconclusive data, including a one to 600 probability of the names inscribed on the tombs having the same relationship as the historical family would.
Though the studies may have been fascinating, Christians and skeptics alike will continue to justify their positions against them, pushing aside science and history for faith-based reasoning. If these are conclusive studies, do they pose a threat to generations of Christian tradition?
Much of Christianity’s beliefs rest on the ascension of Jesus-the physical transcendence of Jesus’ body after his death and resurrection. What the documentary is suggesting is the presence of an inscribed family tomb would imply the existence of skeletal remains for His burial.
But for Christians, wouldn’t this solidify Jesus’ humanity, an essential factor within the Trinity? Even with the inclusion of siblings, wife and even a son? This strengthens Jesus’ ties to his relationship with His followers, establishing a real human. If these findings are conclusive enough to stir any Christian, where are the faithful?
No archaeological findings are enough to re-evaluate the philosophies of even the firmly-rooted Loyola community, let alone any Christian university or organization whose mission lies within the teachings of Jesus. Humanizing Jesus will bring a greater understanding of His time on Earth and a connection with our finite humanity. It’s highly unlikely that Loyola would let anything motivated by Hollywood producers get under its skin, anyway.
As students at a Jesuit university, we are part of a global network of like-minded universities and organizations founded in similar traditions, but we can’t offer conclusions for these arguments that have been a part of Christian history since its inception. Our further investigations into these historical treasures, or relics, allow us to question and reaffirm. But nobody can debunk the greatest mystery overnight.
Though the program offers many interesting yet unanswered questions, nothing is challenging enough to disassemble the timeless traditions of Christianity, not even within a realistic and very possible scenario. Only the truly faithful will continue to believe what they choose. Unless God Himself points His finger to the ultimate answer, speculation will continue no matter the find.
