Randy Ingermason, who has a PH.D in physics from U.C. Berkley, has put together a fun set of statistics relating to the Jesus Family Tomb. In his March 26, 2007 article here, he introduces the reader to Bayes’ Theorum and at the same time gives you a crash course in statistical analysis.

What’s fun about Ingermason’s article is that he not only gives you five different possible scenarios (click on “Continue reading …” below), but he also gives you a downloadable Excel spreadsheet so that you can run the numbers yourself. How likely is it that the tomb at Talpiot is really the Lost Tomb of Jesus? You do the math!

HT: Dr. Darrell Bock at Bock’s Blog (Dr. Bock has multiple posts at his blog relating to the Jesus Tomb, including email exchanges with Jim Tabor, the biblical scholar and historical consultant on the Lost Family Tomb Documentary.)

Note: For more information on this blog about the Jesus Family Tomb, see the following articles:

• The Lost Tomb Losing More Ground
• How to Ensure Bias in a Presentation
• The Rabbi, the Historian and the Resurrection

(more…)

The Nativity Story was released on DVD today in the stores. If you did not see this movie back in December, let me recommend it to you as a biblically faithful, historically accurate and artistically sensitive portrayal of the events surrounding the birth of Christ. Seeing this movie in the theater was one of the highlights of this past year’s Christmas for our family.

I was surprised and disappointed that the movie did not do very well at the box office. Christianity Today has an article here discussing the timing of the film and the rushed schedule that did not allow for adequate publicity or proper promotion.

Regardless of box office performance, this is a beautifully made film that deserves to be seen by many more people now that it has come out on DVD. We will certainly be picking up a copy and making it a part of our Christmas celebration each year.

Albert Mohler has two great back-to-back posts on the importance to Christian faith of the literal, physical resurrection of Jesus. He cites both a Jewish rabbi and a secular historian to make his point. Although some people would claim that it doesn’t matter to Christian faith whether or not Jesus actually rose from the dead, the Bible says differently, and both of these writers agree.

Rabbi Marc Gellman: “I know many Christian clergy who have told me that the main truth of Christianity for them is to love as Jesus loved and that no archeological discovery can change that spiritual lesson. I love these folks but, as an outsider, I just don’t agree that decisive refutation of Jesus’ resurrection would have no effect on Christian faith. Unlike Judaism and Islam and Hinduism and even Buddhism, which are built on God’s teachings, Christianity is built both on God’s teachings as well as on an historical event proving a transcendental miracle.”

Gellman continues: “The divide separating Christians from non-Christians is not between those who think loving all people is good and those who think loving all people is bad. The real divide is between those who believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day as proof that he was indeed the Messiah sent by God, and those who do not believe this article of faith and this audacious historical claim.”

And here is historian A. N. Wilson weighing in on the supposed find of Jesus’ lost tomb: “Long ago, Paul the Apostle wrote to his friends in Corinth that if Christ did not rise from the dead, their faith was in vain. No doubt, if Cameron’s find were proved to be authentic, it would destroy the Christian religion. The Pope could shut up shop. The Church of England could be absorbed by the National Trust as just a collection of medieval buildings. Unbelievers in the resurrection would feel that their scepticism had been justified and the vast majority of Christian believers, who profess their faith in Christ risen from the dead, would be compelled to admit their faith had been based on a mistake.”

Make no mistake about it. Without the resurrection of Jesus, there is no true Christian faith.

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day . . . If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4,14)

You can read Mohler’s two commentaries here:

• Rabbi Gellman Gets It — The Resurrection Really Matters
• A. N. Wilson Gets It Too — No Resurrection, No Christianity

Here is a classic quote from Billy Graham that bears repeating in light of the recent “Jesus Tomb” special:

“There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or Alexander the Great died at the age of 33. It is strange that historians accept thousands of facts for which they can produce only shreds of evidence. But in the face of overwhelming evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ they cast a skeptical eye and hold intellectual doubts. The trouble with those people is that they do not want to believe.” – Billy Graham, Peace with God

HT: Minister’s ToolBox