2007年VOA标准英语-New Film and Book Outline Possible Existence of

By Kane Farabaugh
New York City
01 March 2007
 
watch Jesus Tomb report 

Academy Award-winning director James Cameron is at the center of a controversy¹ that strikes at the heart of some of Christianity's fundamental beliefs.  Cameron has made a documentary that suggests first century tombs found in 1980 in a Jerusalem suburb contain the remains² of Jesus Christ and his family.  In New York this week, scholars and religious leaders alike began lining³ up to debunk⁴ the film's claims.

 

 
Jesus family tomb
When Israeli archaeologist Shimon Gibson arrived at the entrance to a long, hidden tomb in a southern Jerusalem suburb in 1980, he knew it held historical value.  After all, the ten ossuaries – first century Jewish stone coffins⁵ which held the remains of the dead – would help historians better understand Jewish life during the time of Christ.

 

Gibson says, "We viewed it as a general, as a normal family tomb of a Jewish family from the first century A.D. based on the appearance of the tomb.  Based on the inscriptions⁷ all these names were known, none of them to us seemed to be unusual."

 

Neither Gibson, nor his two colleagues Amos Kloner and Yosef Gat, believed at the time that these limestone⁸ coffins could be the modern day key to cracking a real-life Da Vinci Code.

 

Cameron is the executive producer of the Discovery Channel's The Lost Tomb of Jesus.  He told reporters in New York that the ossuaries not only might have contained the remains of Jesus Christ, but also could have been the final resting place of the Virgin⁹ Mary, Joseph, Mary Magdalene and Judah, the son of Jesus.

 

"There will certainly be those that will in some way say that we are attempting to undermine Christianity, and that's really very far from the case,” Cameron says.  “I think what this find does, and what this film does, and what this investigation¹⁰ does is it celebrates the real life existence of these people."

 

The film's director, Simcha Jocobovici, researched the ossuaries for more than two years.  At the center of his studies are the inscriptions written on the outside of six of them.  The manner in which two of the names are written led the filmmakers to believe they can be uniquely attributed to Mary Magdalene and Joseph.

 

Another ossuary – which perhaps is the most controversial implication – contains the inscription⁶ "Judah, son of Jesus." 

 

The filmmakers contend that it is more than just coincidence the names on the coffins, with the exception of Judah, match the Biblical names in the family of Jesus Christ.  Statisticians consulted for the film concluded the odds¹¹ are remote that another family in Jerusalem at the time with the same names could be buried in the same tomb.

 

Filmmaker and researcher Simcha Jocobovici says the range was two million to one in favor of this tomb, to the low end, and 600 to one in favor of this tomb being the tomb of Christ.

 

Archaeologist Charles Pellogrino joined Jacobovici in conducting research for the film.  Together, they tested the so-called human residue¹² in the two ossuaries connected to Mary Magdalene and Jesus to determine their relationship through DNA¹³.  The samples did not match, lending support to the argument that the remains in these two ossuaries could be husband and wife.

 

"I'm an agnostic with no particular religious axe¹⁴ to grind,” Pellogrino says.  “I've come to this point, and as far as the actual historical Jesus existing, and the people of this tomb and what they were trying to teach us.  I for one am a believer now – at this stage.  Who knows what future evidence will show."

 

It is not the first time a documentary has suggested the ossuaries were related to Christ.  In 1996, the BBC interviewed Amos Kloner – the lead archaeologist in 1980 – about their significance.  He promptly¹⁵ dismissed any connection.  This conclusion is a major reason why the ossuaries have been largely ignored in the archives of the Israeli Antiquities¹⁶ Authority up to this point.

 

Kloner was also interviewed for the current film.  He continues to emphasize that the names on the ossuaries were common names in Jerusalem in the first century, and that any link to the family of Christ is preposterous¹⁷.

 

While Gibson also participated in the research for the current film, he too remains skeptical¹⁸.

 

"Now that we have this idea which has been put forward, I have to say that I'm skeptical, but that's the way I am,” Gibson says.  “I'm willing to accept the possibility here, but I'm not going to deny that there is an interesting set of variables here which I need now to think about and look into more detail.  I think a lot of new research needs to be done."

 

The filmmakers state that these findings are only the beginning of the debate about whether or not the tomb – still largely intact below a garden in a Jerusalem housing complex – belongs to the family of Jesus Christ.

 

They hope future advances in DNA technology will help them explore deeper questions of whether or not Jesus Christ was also a husband, and a father.

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

4 debunk   

v.揭穿真相，暴露

参考例句：

• let's debunk some of the most common falsehoods.让我们来揭穿一些最常见的谬误吧。
• Sequences of maps can also debunk misconceptions.一系列的地图，也有助于厘清错误概念。

5 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白

6 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

7 inscriptions   

（作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记

参考例句：

• Centuries of wind and rain had worn away the inscriptions on the gravestones. 几个世纪的风雨已磨损了墓碑上的碑文。
• The inscriptions on the stone tablet have become blurred with the passage of time. 年代久了，石碑上的字迹已经模糊了。

8 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

9 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

12 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。

13 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

14 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

15 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

16 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

17 preposterous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的

参考例句：

• The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
• It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。

18 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。