Darrell;

I applaud your call for a calm response, versus a reflex reaction, to this movie. I have not seen the movie but I looked at the web site and agree with you that they have drawn far-reaching conclusions based on thin evidence. Are we to believe that there were no other families in Jerusalem with this combination of probably the most common names at the time? Is the fact that 60% of the coffins had names on them significant? Maybe, maybe not.

But I think that even if somehow scientists were able to prove that the bones were Jesus, it does not disprove the resurrection--because we do not know how God works in resurrection. We do not assume that our resurrection will be in our existing physical form, so why would we insist that Jesus' was? The accounts in the gospels all note that the disciples did not initially recognize Jesus. That could be because their minds refused to believe that Jesus could be alive, or it could be that the form he took in the resurrection was substantially different and they "recognized" who he was not because of his physical appearance but because "My sheep know my voice".

Second, I feel that Christians today are too obsessed with what we can prove that supports our faith. But if we can prove it--how can it be faith? Faith is the "Conviction of things hoped for and the assurance of things not seen." (Hb 11:1) We have been assured by Jesus that our message will not be universally accepted and that there are those who will seek to destroy us and prevent our message from being heard. Yet we act surprised at the increasing number Christian bashing books and movies that seem to challenge the so-called facts about Christianity. It's as if finally thinking we have won "majority status" we are stunned when society continues seek ways to undermine our core message--that God saves and God is life and Christ has suffered, died and rose in order that we could be reconciled with God. We should be truly concerned if people didn't try to bash our faith. But we will not "win converts" based on what we are able to prove. We make disciples when we respond to people's needs with God's love and message and when we continue to strengthem them and help them develop their faith through Bible study, worship, prayer, mission and outreach.

So I say to respond as Jesus would respond--we do not need to meet their tactics head on. We need to continue developing in our congregations and believers the strength of faith that will ward of the temptation to believe that science can prove or disprove faith. Our faith never has been and should not be about what we can prove. It is about a message to change people's lives through God's love. It is about developing a faith that sustains us through all of life's challenges and enables us to remain whole spiritually no matter what physical or emotional challenges threaten. It is about developing a society based on love of God and one's neighbor rather than on me and my needs. This is the message critics are really worried about in Christianity because it is a radical message and undermines the status quo. It threatens those who have power and who would crave power.

Sorry for the rant.
Peace
Cheryl