PREFACE
PREFACE
The bodily resurrection of Jesus from death is and has been a core belief of Christians. This claim on the part of Jesus' followers was challenged immediately and has continued to be challenged. One of the boldest approaches to showing that Jesus' bodily resurrection is myth or a theological embellishment and not fact is the claim that came in early 2007: Odds are 600 to 1 that Jesus' bones have been found in a tomb in a southeast suburb of Jerusalem.
Many have criticized the sensationalism of the documentary and book that make this claim. One of the values of the so-called Talpiot Hypothesis is its clarity and boldness. It's a faith shaker. One believer wrote to Christian philosopher William Lane Craig,
“My faith has really been shaken by the supposed discovery of Jesus' family tomb. I tell myself this isn't really it, but the nagging doubts remain. Please help me!”
Much help of the kind this believer was seeking has been and is available on the Internet. The number of hits on my own website increased sharply in the days following this announcement. The press soon moved on to other stories as Easter came and went. But for many like one whose faith was shaken by the discovery of the Jesus family tomb, they may not have come to a resolution concerning the claim that there's a high probability that Jesus bones have been found.
In this short volume, I have sought to lay bare the claims of the high probability that Jesus' bones have been found and to assess those claims and the evidence offered for them. Understanding how well these claims stand up to scrutiny can be important not just for evaluating this claim but for knowing the solid evidential ground on which Jesus' bodily resurrection rests. Every believer owes it to himself to understand the logic of the resurrection.