Monday, November 24, 2003

AND YET MORE ON THE BONE BOX

The James ossuary (or bone box) shouldn't be dismissed scholars argued at a recent conference:
A purported first-century inscription naming Jesus may or may not be the real thing, but Israel's labeling of the find as a fake is premature, scientists and scholars said at a panel discussion Sunday....

''I don't know for sure whether this is a forged inscription, and I'm sort of cast as a defender of the inscription. I'm not,'' said moderator Hershel Shanks. ''What I do know is, Israeli authorities have badly managed the affair.''

The position of theosebes continues to be that it does no one any good to endorse a fake (Shroud of Turin anyone?), but neither should we allow skeptics with an agenda to undermine a potentially genuine artifact out of hand. The jury is still out on this one.

Update: There's a more detailed AP story here.

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