Excuse me, I'm so bored by the latest pre-Easter "revelation" that I can scarcely stifle my yawns.
Let's see... take some artifacts that have been around for a couple of decades, add a pinch of Gnostic "lost books", blend with breathless archaeologists and scholars eager to rattle Christians just before Holy Week, go to print and film and VOILA this year you have The Jesus Family Tombs. A movie and a book. How clever. How predictable. People, this is SO last year.
Check Ben Witherington's blog for several excellent posts carefully analyzing and exploding the claims of The Jesus Family Tombs if you need some help talking to folks upset by the advertising for the film and the book.
My students were all excited about this a couple of days ago. They lost interest when they discovered there was no way to get a rise out of me. I used it as an opportunity to explain peer review and debate to them, and to demonstrate the importance of curiosity and calm assessment.
ReplyDeleteBalderdash is the most perfect word for this. Thanks for the link to Ben Witherington. He nails the tombs shut, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteI agree this is a tired repeat play.
ReplyDeleteI almost find myself wishing they'd show some originality.
bleh.
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