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From Toronto to Emmaus: The Empty Tomb and the Journey from Skepticism to Faith
"James White has done a splendid job of answering questions that would have been raised in the minds of thoughtful inquirers by the sensationalistic but dubious documentary 'The Lost Tomb of Jesus' by James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici. Readers who think Christians are afraid of hard facts will have to think again after reading this rapidly produced but superbly informed and rigorously reasoned rejoinder." - Ligon Duncan, "James White has applied his considerable skill as a Bible scholar and apologist to the task of debunking the latest bunk in 'the historical Jesus vs. the biblical Christ' false dichotomy so loved by theological liberals. The new bunk in question is the film The Lost Tomb of Jesus and the pseudo-scholarship and wacky-science that precipitated it. In a word, Dr. White readily shows that Christianity is perfectly safe from this lame attempt to stab it under the fifth rib." Dr. Robert P. Martin
- GenresTheology
160 pages, Paperback
First published March 22, 2007
44 people want to read
About the author
James R. White
30 books487 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
James White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is a professor, having taught Greek, Systematic Theology, and various topics in the field of apologetics. He has authored or contributed to more than twenty four books, including The King James Only Controversy, The Forgotten Trinity, The Potter’s Freedom, and The God Who Justifies. He is an accomplished debater, having engaged in more than one-hundred forty moderated, public debates around the world with leading proponents of Roman Catholicism, Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism, as well as critics such as Bart Ehrman, John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, and John Shelby Spong. In recent years James has debated in such locations as Sydney, Australia, as well as mosques in Toronto, London, and South Africa. He is an elder of the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church, has been married to Kelli for more than thirty two years, and has two children, and one grandchild, Clementine.
James White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is a professor, having taught Greek, Systematic Theology, and various topics in the field of apologetics. He has authored or contributed to more than twenty four books, including The King James Only Controversy, The Forgotten Trinity, The Potter’s Freedom, and The God Who Justifies. He is an accomplished debater, having engaged in more than one-hundred forty moderated, public debates around the world with leading proponents of Roman Catholicism, Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism, as well as critics such as Bart Ehrman, John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, and John Shelby Spong. In recent years James has debated in such locations as Sydney, Australia, as well as mosques in Toronto, London, and South Africa. He is an elder of the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church, has been married to Kelli for more than thirty two years, and has two children, and one grandchild, Clementine.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 6, 2011
This is James R. White's analysis of "The Lost Tomb of Jesus", a documentary by James Cameron, based on the book "The Jesus Family Tomb" by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino. Jacobovici, Cameron, and the others claim that the Talpiot tomb, discovered in 1980 in the Jerusalem suburb of the same name, is the tomb of Jesus and his family, including his wife Mary Magdalene and their son Judah. The problem is they have chosen to circumvent the normal process of scholary inquiry which would include publication of findings in peer-reviewed journals, where findings and theories can be discussed by other specialists. Instead, they have simply announced their findings and conclusions to the world. Wild "Da Vinci Code" type speculations and gross historical errors have meant that their claims have no credibility in the judgment of archeologists and scholars of early Christianity.
One very basic error refutes their theory from the beginning: Jesus was Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus of Jerusalem, so even if he did have a family tomb it would be in Nazareth or perhaps Capernaum, but certainly not in Jerusalem. Further, the authors claim that such tombs were very expensive, so only the elite of the city could have owned one. Jesus was certainly not one of Jerusalem's elite, as the city leadership hated him, and he even spoke of having nowhere to lay his head.
The documentary claims that an inscription on one of the ossuaries found in the tomb is translated as "Mariamne, also known as Master." And by turning to an ancient Gnostic document, "The Acts of Philip", the authors declare that this Mariamne is actually Mary Magdalene. The first problem here is regarding the reading and translation of the inscription. The translation given is actually the least likely of three possibilities, the other two being "Mary and Martha" and "Mary who is also known as Martha". The two more likely translations, which would stop the theory dead in its tracks, are not even mentioned.
The second error is no less egregious. The claim that "The Acts of Philip" identifies the name Mariamne with Mary Magdalene is simply false, for while the name Mariamne is mentioned in the document, Mary Magdalene is not! They have quoted Harvard professor Francois Bovon, who sees a literary identity (not an historical identity) between the Mariamne in the Acts story and the picture of Mary Magdalene found in another Gnostic document "The Gospel of Thomas", and then have made the wholly unwarranted leap to proclaim an historical identity between the two.
Now if this is getting a bit complicated, just remember that the authors have chosen to disregard a first century document (the Gospel of Luke), written by an individual who could well have known the actual Mary Magdalene and who makes no mention of her real name being Mariamne. Instead, the authors have turned to a document written a full three hundred years later.
There is more, such as the DNA evidence from the so-called Jesus and Mary Magdalene ossuaries, which the authors claim supports the idea that the two could well have been married, when in fact all the DNA proves is that they were not maternally related (eg mother/daughter or brother/sister). Nothing more. Yes, they could have been married, but they also could have been father/daughter, cousins, nephews, servants, or any one of a number of things as it is a multi-generational tomb.
So what is really going on here? The authors claim to have no theological agenda with their tomb theory. But I think in light of all the above that they are being rather disingenuous. They are not dealing with the facts in an objective manner. It really matters to them to fill the empty tomb, and thus to make Christ a mere man and not the divine Son of God who makes absolute claims upon our lives. Christianity without the physical resurrection of Jesus ceases to be Christianity. Jesus predicted both his own death and his own resurrection, and the Biblical documents record that indeed God raised Christ, bodily, from the dead, signifying that He has accepted the atonement made by Christ on behalf of those who look to Him as their Saviour. If Christ's bones are still in the grave then he was at best mistaken, at worst a liar, and in either case we are still in our sins. No, unless one is willing to become a complete historical agnostic, one must concede that the New Testament documents are by far the best attested documents of antiquity and that they have been accurately transmitted down through time to us.
Christ has indeed risen, and while this is the basis of Christian hope for our salvation, it also serves as a sobering reminder to those who would employ spin, invalid arguments, and simple dishonesty to keep Him in the grave: "In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31)
One very basic error refutes their theory from the beginning: Jesus was Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus of Jerusalem, so even if he did have a family tomb it would be in Nazareth or perhaps Capernaum, but certainly not in Jerusalem. Further, the authors claim that such tombs were very expensive, so only the elite of the city could have owned one. Jesus was certainly not one of Jerusalem's elite, as the city leadership hated him, and he even spoke of having nowhere to lay his head.
The documentary claims that an inscription on one of the ossuaries found in the tomb is translated as "Mariamne, also known as Master." And by turning to an ancient Gnostic document, "The Acts of Philip", the authors declare that this Mariamne is actually Mary Magdalene. The first problem here is regarding the reading and translation of the inscription. The translation given is actually the least likely of three possibilities, the other two being "Mary and Martha" and "Mary who is also known as Martha". The two more likely translations, which would stop the theory dead in its tracks, are not even mentioned.
The second error is no less egregious. The claim that "The Acts of Philip" identifies the name Mariamne with Mary Magdalene is simply false, for while the name Mariamne is mentioned in the document, Mary Magdalene is not! They have quoted Harvard professor Francois Bovon, who sees a literary identity (not an historical identity) between the Mariamne in the Acts story and the picture of Mary Magdalene found in another Gnostic document "The Gospel of Thomas", and then have made the wholly unwarranted leap to proclaim an historical identity between the two.
Now if this is getting a bit complicated, just remember that the authors have chosen to disregard a first century document (the Gospel of Luke), written by an individual who could well have known the actual Mary Magdalene and who makes no mention of her real name being Mariamne. Instead, the authors have turned to a document written a full three hundred years later.
There is more, such as the DNA evidence from the so-called Jesus and Mary Magdalene ossuaries, which the authors claim supports the idea that the two could well have been married, when in fact all the DNA proves is that they were not maternally related (eg mother/daughter or brother/sister). Nothing more. Yes, they could have been married, but they also could have been father/daughter, cousins, nephews, servants, or any one of a number of things as it is a multi-generational tomb.
So what is really going on here? The authors claim to have no theological agenda with their tomb theory. But I think in light of all the above that they are being rather disingenuous. They are not dealing with the facts in an objective manner. It really matters to them to fill the empty tomb, and thus to make Christ a mere man and not the divine Son of God who makes absolute claims upon our lives. Christianity without the physical resurrection of Jesus ceases to be Christianity. Jesus predicted both his own death and his own resurrection, and the Biblical documents record that indeed God raised Christ, bodily, from the dead, signifying that He has accepted the atonement made by Christ on behalf of those who look to Him as their Saviour. If Christ's bones are still in the grave then he was at best mistaken, at worst a liar, and in either case we are still in our sins. No, unless one is willing to become a complete historical agnostic, one must concede that the New Testament documents are by far the best attested documents of antiquity and that they have been accurately transmitted down through time to us.
Christ has indeed risen, and while this is the basis of Christian hope for our salvation, it also serves as a sobering reminder to those who would employ spin, invalid arguments, and simple dishonesty to keep Him in the grave: "In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31)
May 1, 2016
An excellent scholarly work debunking some of the modern wannabe scholarship. I thoroughly enjoyed this work from one of my favorite apologists. I also liked how he ended with the gospel message of true Christianity.
May 1, 2013
Very professionally written for a person who is not an archeologist.Dr James white is a real scholar when it comes to the New Testament text.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews