The Israeli paper, Haaretz, has an updated report on the trial of the alleged founder of the James Ossuary. Those who wish to keep up with the progress of the trial over its authenticity can read about it at:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/974483.html
In sum, it looks like a case has been made against the authenticity of this find. The defense is getting its turn now.
In other news, I am returning from speaking at a Christian Union Conference at Yale. This was attended by about 400 Chrsitian college students from the Ivy League. The group was enthusiastic and curious about integrating their faith with all kinds of issues. We heard a compelling summary of the state of Christian persecution around the world, including Burma, Nigeria and Uganda from Baroness Caroline Cox, of the House of Lords, who heads up a relief ministry known as HART. They do humanitarian aid all around the world. Chrsitian Union is an organization that ministers to college students on the Ivy League campuses. It was a great weekend. It also was encouraging to see so many students there. Interestingly, Cornall, Dartmouth, Princeton and Penn probably had the most attendees.
60 minutes recently outed the forged osuary and the lucrative trade of creating false artifacts. And they even noted how many 'scholars, scientists, etc' were quick to stamp their approval on it initially because of what it could possibly represent, not caring if it was real or not.
I saw the 60 Minutes report. Much of it was a replay from the original debate a few years ago. I doubt their explanation of people being for it, whether it was real or not. Some of the initial people speaking for it had no "dog in the fight". Much about it looked authentic, including tests for patina layers, which is often a good test. I saw a Canadain special on the find that went through such tests in detail. These were not religious folks, just forensic experts. There is always a vetting period with such things. We have seen it three times recently: with this ossuary, with the Jesus tomb claim and with the gospel of Judas. It takes time for the dust to settle on new announcements that are made with great initial fanfare. I wrote about this a few issues ago in Christianity Today. With these spectacular announcements it is always best to let some time pass and permit some vetting to take place before making a final call. This trial is a part of that total picture for the ossuary, so we are not quite there yet on this (but we are close).
dlb
Is it absolutely safe to conclude at this point that the James Ossuary was a fake, or is there still some doubt about this conclusion?
The jury is not completely in yet, but there is a lot against it.
dlb
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