Sci-Fi Fodder

Tomb of Jesus?

The big news so far this week has been about the documentary produced by James Cameron, of Terminator and The Titanic fame. In "The Lost Tomb of Jesus", he proports to have evidence that ten caskets (or ossuaries) that were found in 1980 may have held the bones of Jesus and his family.

Let's be clear - it's probably not true. From the articles around the web, the evidence is based on the fact that the names Jesus and Mary are engraved on the ossuaries - and those names were fairly common in those times. The documentary also hints that DNA testing will be used to determine if occupant of the Jesus tomb was the father of the occupant of the Judah tomb (which is implied by the enscription), which will not prove anything other than it is a family tomb.

Truth aside, this documentary started me thinking about the possible repercussions if Cameron's claims could somehow be 100% proven. If the story is true, it would be a game-changer for millions of Christians across the world. Who could we look to to forecast such a world?

Science Fiction writers, of course! Someone must have written a story in which this exact scenario occurred and examined the possible fallout, right?

In this vein, I did a search to find any story in which Jesus lived, or had children or anything similar to that. Unfortunately, I found more "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" and "The Da Vinci Code" than I did actual speculative fiction. I did find this excellent page from Adherents.com that lists science fiction works that feature actual religious groups, which I found very interesting.

Strangely enough, I did not find a fictional story that fit the parameters. Maybe the subject is too taboo, or when the subject is explored, it is usually in the form of 'this other person, who is remarkably like Jesus, lived and had kids, and here is the world that he lived in'. Those stories would be tough to Google. So, If you know of a good story that explores the consequences of this kind of revelation, please post it - it would make interesting reading!

<----- Rant time! ------->
P.S.
Considering the evidence that the documentary is going to present, allow me to rant a bit. Why do hardcore Christians try to contradict Cameron's hypothesis with this argument:

“No, this claim is not possible. I am a Christian and I know that my savior Jesus Christ lives. He died on a cross, was buried in a tomb and rose again on the third day. When he rose again, there was nothing left in the tomb...How do I know this? Because he said he is returning soon. The Bible says so.” — Paul
(quote from the Fox News comment board)

Such arguments are simply unsound! You cannot use a faith argument to counter a reportedly scientific claim. Whether you believe that the Bible is the literal word of God or not, you have to examine the evidence and either accept or discount it for a valid, scientific reason. It is clear that the claim is probably false, due to many. However, since the impact of the claim is so huge, it should be examined scientifically so it can be accepted or discarded with authority.

I have an interesting way to test the claim. How about using the Shroud of Turin? If DNA from the blood on the Shroud matches the DNA in the box, we have one major crisis of faith on our hands. If not, nothing was proven or disproven...but, at least a verifiable test would have been attempted.
<----- Done ranting...for now ------->



The late-90's comic book series, "Preacher", featured a storyline regarding the descendants of Christ. The series is certainly not for the faint of heart, nor folks who want to see their religion more or less made fun of.

Interestingly, Preacher was from DC (home of Superman)Comics' Vertigo imprint, which means that the series was published by Time-Warner. I was often surprised that the series never appeared to be toned down to suit anyone's business needs.

-- Posted by: ryan at February 28, 2007 3:16 AM

Thanks! I think I have the 'Out of Texas' or something like that trade - and it is pretty well written.

I initially didn't think of Preacher as a 'descendents of Christ' book, though. I was under the impression that the guy was looking for God to make him accountable for leaving...more like a maltheistic view. I'll have to give it another read.

-- Posted by: Fred at February 28, 2007 4:19 PM

I think it's covered in the third volume "Proud Americans". It's not the titular character, and it's not exactly Dan Brown.

-- Posted by: ryan at March 1, 2007 12:27 AM