Tuesday, February 27, 2007

THE WILL TO DISBELIEVE

From: Scholars, clergymen deride Jesus documentary (Marshall Thompson, Globe and Mail, February 27th, 2007)

Archeologists and clergymen in the Holy Land have derided assertions in a new documentary produced by the Oscar-winning director James Cameron that contradict major Christian tenets.

The Lost Tomb of Christ argues that 10 ancient ossuaries –– small caskets used to store bones –– discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Discovery Channel.[...]

Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem who was interviewed in the documentary, said the film's hypothesis holds little weight.

“I don't think that Christians are going to buy into this,” Mr. Pfann said. “But skeptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear.”


Which leads us to wonder whether, if religion has been implanted in our genes by evolution, the same must be true about scepticism.

8 comments:

Harry Eagar said...

No, skepticism is emergent and rare.

Oroborous said...

It hasn't been just archeologists and clergymen that have derided the Jesus documentary - dilettantes have taken a crack at it as well.



Oh, excuse me, I meant "autodidactic experts" have taken the doc apart.

Hey Skipper said...

Since naturalistic evolution has thoroughly rubbished the Genesis creation myth, that pretty much lets the air out of the whole balloon.

Which means Cameron's efforts are redundant -- the task he is peforming has already been accomplished.

And pointless. No matter the proof piled on the table, people simply do not prefer it to their far more comforting beliefs.

Hard to argue with that, so far as it goes no further than that. Sadly, as Islam is currently demonstrating, further is precisely where those comforting beliefs often end up.

skepticism is emergent and rare.

Particularly where it requires unwelcome conclusions.

Unknown said...

“But skeptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear.”

The holes are there, we're just pointing them out. But the speaker wants to play the victim card here. If Christianity were some private creed that never tried to impose itself on others, then maybe his plaint could generate some sympathy. But it isn't, and it has, and sees no problem with trying to crowd out competing creeds and worldviews. By all means lets have a creed-filled public square. But don't expect it to be a placid place. The public square is not a reflecting pool for the exclusive use of Christians.

erp said...

I've heard of suspending belief, but this is ridiculous.

Harry Eagar said...

'The public square is not a reflecting pool for the exclusive use of Christians.'

Bravo!

Harry Eagar said...

And after I applauded that, I encountered two minutes of Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women of America, explaining why her organization opposes infecting young girls with anti-HPV vaccine.

It turns out CWA is "opposed to mandates."

You can't make this stuff up.

Lord Grattan said...

I would never expect the "creed-filled public square" to be either a placid place nor a reflecting pool for the exclusive use of Christians.