Roughly paraphrasing G.K. Chesterton: “When a man ceases to believe in God, it’s not so much that he believes in nothing, as it is he is willing to believe in anything.” Proving this maxim once again, the media have given splash to a completely discredited discovery of the “bones” of Jesus (including an assumption that they are buried in a tomb with his “wife,” Mary Magdalen). I have to admit this nonsense caught me by surprise but shouldn’t have. Under the general notion of “what will they think of next?” one can only say that the stranger and more anti-Christian something is, the more likely the media are to treat it as though it were serious.
The tragedy is probably not so much in what these reports do for atheism (it needs little help) as what these reports do for Islam in its onslaught against Christianity in much of the third world.
If you are interested, Dr. Ben Witherington has offered a very cogent refutation of this latest media circus.
The photo posted here is of the Holy Sepulchre (the edicule, or small building, where Christ’s empty tomb remains to this day). Apparently, this holy place which evidences the miracle of the Holy Fire each year at Pascha is unknown to the modern media. Orthodox faithful will continue to gather here to celebrate Christ’s resurrection, and pray for people who cannot yet seem to believe.
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