Waswe, Olketa Old Samting Pruvim Jesus Stap Bifor?
“PRUV Abaotem Jesus Stap Long Raeting Long Ston.” Hem nao toktok wea stap long kava bilong magasin Biblical Archaeology Review (November/December 2002). Datfala kava garem piksa bilong wanfala limestone box wea olketa faendem long Israel for putim olketa bon bilong man insaed. Olketa Jew start long first century B.C.E. go kasem 70 C.E. iusim olketa kaen box olsem. Samting wea mekem disfala box barava spesol hem nao raeting bilong Aramaic languis wea stap long saed bilong hem. Olketa savveman agree hao datfala raeting sei: “James, son bilong Joseph, brata bilong Jesus.”
Bible talem hao Jesus bilong Nazareth hem garem wanfala brata wea nem bilong hem James wea hem son bilong Joseph, hasband bilong Mary. Taem Jesus Christ teach long homtaon bilong hem, olketa wea herem hem sapraes and ask olsem: “Waswe, no diswan nao son bilong carpenter? Waswe, no Mary nao nem bilong mami bilong hem, and no olketa brata bilong hem nao James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And waswe, no olketa sista bilong hem nao stap witim iumi?”—Matthew 13:54-56; Luke 4:22; John 6:42.
Tru nao, datfala raeting long box hem savve minim Jesus bilong Nazareth. Sapos James wea datfala raeting story abaotem hem nao haf brata bilong Jesus Christ, then diswan nao “barava oldfala pruv abaotem Jesus wea olketa faendem wea no kam from Bible.” Datwan nao samting wea André Lemaire, wanfala savveman saed long olketa oldfala raeting and wea raetem datfala article long Biblical Archaeology Review hem talem. Hershel Shanks, editor bilong datfala magasin, sei datfala box “hem samting wea man savve lukim and holem wea kam from taem bilong datfala important man wea winim eni narawan wea stap long disfala earth bifor.”
Bat, long first century planti pipol garem olketa sem nem olsem thrifala nem wea stap long datfala box. So maet long datfala taem no famili bilong Jesus Christ nomoa garem olketa famili member wea nem bilong olketa James, Joseph, and Jesus. Lemaire hem sei: “Insaed long tufala genereson bifor 70 C.E., Jerusalem. . . maet garem samting olsem 20 pipol wea nem bilong olketa ‘James/Jacob son bilong Joseph brata bilong Jesus.’” Nomata olsem, hem ting 90-percent chance stap wea showimaot hao datfala nem James long datfala box hem nao haf brata bilong Jesus Christ.
Nara samting tu mekem samfala bilivim hao datfala raeting hem minim James, haf brata bilong Jesus Christ. Nomata planti taem pipol raetem nem bilong dadi bilong man wea dae, pipol no olowe raetem nem bilong brata bilong hem. Dastawe, samfala savveman ting disfala Jesus hem mas samwan wea important, so olketa ting hem masbi Jesus Christ, man wea startim Christian Wei.
Waswe, Disfala Box Hem Tru Wan?
Wanem kaen box nao diswan? Hem wanfala box wea olketa savve putim bone bilong olketa man wea dae, wea olketa tekem from cave wea olketa berem man hia insaed. Planti pipol stealim kaen box olsem from olketa beregraon long Jerusalem. Olketa faendem disfala box wea garem nem bilong James long hem no long wanfala ples wea olketa dig long hem bat from pipol wea sellim olketa oldfala samting. Man wea ownim datfala box sei hem peim long olketa year bilong 1970 for tu-thri handred dollar nomoa. Dastawe, pipol no really savve wea nao disfala box hem kam from. Professor Bruce Chilton bilong Bard College, New York sei: “Sapos iu no savve pruvim wea nao iu faendem wanfala oldfala samting and wea nao diswan bin stap for klosap 2,000 year, iu kanduit joinim datfala samting witim pipol wea iu tingse hem story abaotem.”
From olketa no savve wea nao olketa faendem disfala box, André Lemaire hem sendem box hia go long Geological Survey of Israel. Olketa man for duim research pruvim hao olketa wakem datfala box from limestone wea stap long first or mek-tu century C.E. Olketa reportim hao luk olsem “olketa wea wakem no iusim olketa tul wea pipol distaem iusim.” Nomata olsem, olketa savveman saed long Bible wea The New York Times interviewim, sei “nomata pruv wea olketa garem hem point go long Jesus, hem no strongfala pruv.”
Time magasin hem sei “klosap evriwan wea kasem education nating daotem wei wea Jesus hem really laef bifor.” Nomata olsem, planti pipol tingse masbi samfala moa pruv abaotem Jesus wea no part long Bible hem stap. Waswe, olketa oldfala samting wea man faendem hem nao faondeson for iumi biliv long Jesus Christ? Wanem pruv nao showimaot hao “datfala man wea important winim eni narawan wea stap long earth” hem really stap bifor?
[Olketa Piksa Credit Line long page 3]
Long left, Box bilong James: AFP PHOTO/J.P. Moczulski; Long right saed, datfala raeting: AFP PHOTO/HO