Saturday, March 10, 2007

Ben Witherington and Talpiot

Ben on his blog (benwitherington) said:

4) The historical problems with all this are too numerous to list here: A) the ancestral home of Joseph was Bethlehem, and his adult home was Nazareth. The family was still in Nazareth after he was apparently dead and gone. Why in the world would be be buried (alone at this point) in Jerusalem? It’s unlikely. B) One of the ossuaries

What is he referring to here? Did someone say that Joseph was buried at Talpiot in Jerusalem on the Discovery program about the Jesus Family Tomb?
Frankly, I am mystified by this comment. Did anyone else catch it?

Is everybody insane?

The program stated that there were 6 names, and none of them are Joseph. There was a Jose, but that was supposed to be one of Jesus' brothers, not his father.

If this is a family tomb, evidently it is on the Mary side as recorded in Luke. These geneological records were obviously stored in the Jerusalem temple that was destroyed in 70 AD. But the New Testament preserves the record for us to read and wonder at.

But what is Ben referring to? I understand his point or the point made by others that the inscription should have read, Jesus of Nazareth rather than Jesus, son of Joseph, because Jesus was not really the natural son (howbeit, as adopted, he could be called that surely), by the fact that Jesus was not of Judea, and that would need to be acknowledged on the burial box. Apparently, other members of the family would need this kind of identification also, or it would have to be another family, not the holy one, as none of them resided in Jerusalem.

Where is the knowledge that Joseph was moved from Nazareth to Jerusalem, as he seems to be saying? I don't get it!

Look for more nerdism here in the future!!!

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