According to this article, a documentary that will air on the Discovery Channel March 4th, will claim to have discovered the burial site of Jesus. The Jesus. Not surprisingly, there has already been a lot of criticism of this finding, despite none of the critics having yet seen it.
How can such a claim be made? According to the documentary’s page, the probability was carefully calculated to be about 600 to 1 in favor of the the tomb belonging to Jesus of Nazareth. What went into the analysis, I could not find. Being unable to find this information was frustrating. I’d be really interested in finding out how such a probability could possibly be determined.
Assuming it is Jesus, what are the theological implications? There is a brief discussion of the theological implications on the website that states the findings “do not challenge” belief in the resurrection. Oddly, the discussion doesn’t even mention the implications of Jesus having a wife – probably Mary Magdalene – and a son named Judah.
An interview with the film’s director, Simcha Jacobovici, can be found on the documentary’s page on the Discovery Channel website.
