Jesus and Archaeology

Although there is no archaeological evidence directly pointing to the existence of Jesus, there is an abundance of archaeological evidence that relates to the time period that Jesus lived, to people that Jesus encountered while here on earth and also to the early Christian church.  These include the Galilee boat and the ossuary of James (Jesus’s brother).

"Jesus boat"

In 1986, the waters of the Sea of Galilee were at low levels (Currie & Hyslop, 2010, p. 274).  This is when what has been called the Galilee boat (and also known as the “Jesus boat”) was found.  The boat measures 30 feet long and 8 feet wide (Currie & Hyslop, 2010, p. 274).  It is dated back between the last of the 1^st century B.C.E. and the middle of 1^st century C.E. (Currie & Hyslop, 2010, p. 274).

The ossuary possibly belonging to James, Jesus’s half-brother has also been found (Vergano, 2010).  The limestone box containing human remains has an inscription on the outside that states, “James, son 

of Joseph, brother of Jesus” (Vergano, 2010).  Bone boxes of this sort were used between the years 20 B.C. and 70 A.D.  James died in A.D. 62 (Vergano, 2010).  The inscription seems to be authentic, but it cannot be verified.  There are claims that the “brother of Jesus” part of the inscription could have been forged, but nonetheless it could have belonged to James.

The Possible Ossuary of
James, half-brother of Jesus

Although these two finds do not point to anything concrete, they are appealing.  If the ossuary and its inscription are indeed authentic, this could point to the existence of Jesus.  Although the boat found in the Sea of Galilee was named the “Jesus boat”, this shows that boats existed during that time period that could carry thirteen people, Jesus and his 12 disciples, as occurred several times in the Gospels (Currie & Hyslop, 2010, p. 274).  This both are very interesting finds, although the meaning of these finds are a matter of opinion.

Note:  I will be changing the posting schedule to only twice a week (Mondays and Fridays) in order to allow time for more thorough research.  Also, I will be editing past posts in order to be more thorough on those posts.  Thanks for your understanding.

References:

Currie, R., & Hyslop, S. G. (2010). The letter and the scroll, what archaeology tells us about the bible. Natl Geographic Society.

[Untitled photograph of the possible ossuary of James]. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2013, from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/story/2012-03-17/james-ossuary-jesus/53578490/1

[Untitled photograph of the Jesus Boat]. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2013, from                      

                http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jesus-boat

Vergano, D. (2012, March 18). 'james ossuary’ verdict adds to burial box furor. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/story/2012-03-17/james-ossuary-jesus/53578490/1

Capital Punishment: A Biblical Prospective

The Bible mentions capital punishment for several different crimes a few of which are homicide (Exod. 21:12, Lev. 24:17, and Num. 35:16-34), kidnapping (Exod. 21:16, Deut. 24:7), and human sacrifice (Lev. 20:2-5)¹, but do these rules still apply to today’s times?  Should the United States continue allowing capital punishment in certain states?

It has been debated both among Christians and among non-Christians upon whether capital punishment is good or bad.  Upon reading the Bible, this could be interpreted for both sides.  There were a lot of rules for capital punishment in the Old Testament and there are a lot of scripture in the New Testament that could also be seen as promoting capital punishment.  There is also scripture in the New Testament that could be used to say that capital punishment is immoral.  I am going to discuss several of these scripture and tell what I believe each of these scriptures entail.  Since this is a more opinionated discuss on the interpretation of scripture, I will use a variety of sources.

Here is a Christian who supports the death penalty.  These are a lot of the most popular reasons that Christians believe in capital punishment. 

The most popular reason for Christians to believe in the death penalty is Exodus 20:13 which, in the KJV, says, “Thou shalt not kill.”  Most biblical scholars believe that this should instead be interpreted as “thou shall not murder” which is what most modern Bibles state.  Christians that support the death penalty say that it is not murder, but rather is just killing.  According to www.thefreedictionary.com, the definition of murder is “the unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice”.  Whether the act is unlawful depends on whether the act is legal at the time, i.e. whether the death penalty is legal in that state or not.  The phrase “premeditated malice” leads to my conclusion that the death penalty is murder and therefore is spoke against in Exodus 20:13.  The death penalty is premeditated and I also believe that it shows malice because the death penalty is intended for revenge.  It is intended to harm someone because of an act that they committed to someone else.  Therefore, I believe that this scripture does not promote the death penalty, but rather speaks against the death penalty.

Furthermore, Jesus’s nature is forgiving.  Jesus not only supports, but demands forgiveness.  In Matthew 18:21-22 (KJV), the Bible says, “Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”  Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”  This states that we should forgive each other when someone sins against us.  In Mark 11:25, Jesus says, ““And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”  Jesus says that if we do not forgive those that sin against us, God will not forgive us of our sins.  If we kill someone because they have sinned by murdering someone else, how is this showing forgiveness towards that person?  This testimony about why the song “Forgiveness” by Matthew West was written shows how powerful forgiveness can be. (Here is the full story about this testimony.)

There are many other scriptures that may point to capital punishment as being holy, but for the verses that I have shared above, I have decided that the death penalty is immoral.  I think that forgiveness is better than revenge and this is something that I live by.  I believe that there are better ways to protect our society than the death penalty.

Notes:

A comprehensive list of mentions of capital punishment in the Bible can be seen in “Capital Punishment and the Bible” by G.C. Hanks (2002).