Jesus Family Tomb In the News

Jesus Family Tomb Statistics Don’t Add Up, Experts Say
03/15/2007

Many experts are rejecting the statistical evidence of the Jesus family tomb find, stating that it is inaccurate and misleading.

According to Simcha Jacobovici and his team of experts, there is only a 1 in 600 chance that the bones uncovered in a first-century Jerusalem tomb are not those of Jesus of Nazareth and his family. The panel’s findings are based on the rarity of finding first-century ossuaries featuring the inscriptions “Jesus son of Joseph”, “Mariamene e Mara” and “Yose” in the same tomb.

However, the majority of archaeologists and scholars has rejected this claim, saying that the names were common during Jesus’ time and therefore cannot be conclusively linked to Jesus and his family.

Religious scholar Charles Quarles of Louisiana has even put forth his own statistics. Disregarding the ossuary inscribed “Mariamene e Mara” because of what he believes is strong evidence against it being that of Mary Magdalene, Quarles states that between 56 and 105 males in Jerusalem during Jesus’ lifetime had a father named Joseph, and close relatives named Mary and Jose. Therefore, according to Quarles, it would be unlikely that the East Talpiot tomb belongs to Jesus and his family.
Source: Florida Baptist Witness

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