Article April 23, 2007 Issue

How can we truly know Jesus?

BY JUNE SULLIVAN

IN THE EARLY '70S, a rock opera's title song dared to pose the question, "Jesus Christ, Superstar / Do you think you're what they say you are?"

In fact, questions about Jesus have engaged humanity for millennia. Recently, another set of challenging questions was raised in the Discovery Channel's documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus, produced by famed filmmaker James Cameron.

The Cameron documentary contends that ossuaries (or bone boxes), discovered in a south Jerusalem tomb in 1980, contain the bones of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and "Judah, son of Jesus." If true, these findings would seriously contradict New Testament Scripture.