James Tabor Chases His Tail
Comments(1)I have begun to work on the initial research for writing the third and final portion of my response to the Jesus Family Tomb special that aired on the Discovery Channel last month. I have also begun footnoting a final article that will combine all three blog posts, supplemented with new information and theological perspective, that will permanently adorn my Articles tab.
In my research, I have noted that statistics expert Dr. Andrey Feuerverger, literary analyst Dr. Francios Bovon, and DNA expert Dr. Carney Matheson have all supplied the context in which their conclusions were given, and that shifts their meaning dramatically. All three experts were misrepresented by the filmmakers. The only scholar who remains firmly behind his conclusions is James Tabor, who insists still that this tomb is the tomb of Jesus Christ and His family.
But, in order to hold to a conclusion so flatly contradicted by the facts, Tabor has to resort to circular reasoning and fact-stretching. A blatant example, from a blog post on my birthday:
Although the names are “common” as is so often pointed out by so many, it does indeed seem to be the case that the statistical grouping of these particular names in this particular tomb is far from common. This is confirmed by the mathematical probabilities based on name frequencies, or more directly, by looking at the names in tomb after tomb of which we have record. Nothing like this occurs anywhere else.
Okay, the names are common. Got it. The grouping is the real issue. Got it. The next day, he posts this:
The name Jesus or “Yeshua” is a shortened form of the biblical name Joshua or Yehoshua. It is known of course, but to say it is common is incorrect. If you take all forms of the name Joshua known to us from inscriptions and literary sources as compiled by Tal Ilan (Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity: Palestine 300 BCE to 200 CE) one finds 100 examples of the name out of a total of 2538 male names, which is 3.9%. The specific shortened nickname “Yeshua” is of course much less common than that.
Okay, the name Jesus is . . . uncommon? Wait a minute! Yesterday, you said something different!
In order to remain in the argument, despite solid refutation from reputable scholars, Tabor has to resort to chasing his proverbial tail. It all stems from the initial rebellion in the Garden: now, instead of convincing us that God is simply wrong, enough time has passed and there are no eyewitnesses left to stop the enemy from convincing us that God just doesn’t exist. It started with the Father, but the Son has come under attack. Some deny His existence. Some deny His Resurrection. All deny His Lordship, and would try to convince us to do the same. They are unwitting pawns in a larger cosmic game, and they do not realize for whom they are fighting–nor where that leads.
They see death as the natural end to a natural life, not as the inevitable punishment for their sins against a just and holy God. We should pray for them, even though they persecute us. Perhaps thorough this mess they will see the truth.
