Digging up past

The discovery near Jerusalem last fall (Compass 11/1/02 [print edition only]) of a limestone ossuary -- a container for the bones of the dead -- has fueled speculation linking it to Jesus of Nazareth.

The ossuary is inscribed "Jacob (Ya'akov, which can be translated as James) son of Joseph (Yosef), brother of Jesus (Yeshua')."

The ossuary was featured prominently in USA Weekend (April 11-13), carried in numerous American newspapers.

The article, "In the Name of the Brother," was written by Ben Witherington III and Hershel Shanks, co-authors of a new book on the ossuary and what they say it means. Shanks is editor-in-chief of Biblical Archaeology Review and Bible Review. Witherington is a New Testament professor at Ashbury Theological Seminary in Lexington, Ky.

The article contains good information about ossuaries and the Jewish roots of Christianity. But it also takes pains to challenge Catholic and Orthodox beliefs about the perpetual virginity of Mary by seeming to accept that the James of the ossuary was the full-blood brother of Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesuit Fr. Joseph Fitzmyer, writing in America magazine ("Whose Name Is This?" 11/18/02), provides a more balanced view. Fr. Fitzmyer is professor emertius of biblical studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

The ossuary and the inscription seem to have been done in the first century and are not forgeries, he said. But, he wrote, that's not the same thing as saying the Jesus, Joseph and James named are the same people mentioned in the New Testament, since all three were common Jewish names of that era.

Indeed, he notes, the New Testament mentions at least five different persons named James. Only the one often called James of Jerusalem, does St. Paul refer to as "the brother of the Lord" (Gal 1:19). Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, and Eusebius of Caesarea, a fourth century historian, also call this James the brother "of Jesus who was called the Christ" or "of the Lord." But, Fr. Fitzmyer said, "there is no evidence ... that this James had a father named Joseph."

Both the Aramaic ('ah) and Greek (adelphos) words for brother mean both blood-brothers or siblings and relatives or kinsmans (but not cousins as some mistakenly say).

Finally, Shanks and others have said the odds of the names James, Joseph and Jesus appearing in this order from that time and place are between one-in-four and one-in-20. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of probability knows that betting on such odds is an invitation to losing.

In short, this ossuary could be linked to Jesus of Nazareth, but there is no proof and many good reasons to think otherwise.