ripped from the pages of speculative sensationalism
The Science Channel premiered a new series tonight (Sunday) called "Biblical Conspiracies." One of the episodes was titled "Nails of the Cross." The description from the Science website: "Two nails were discovered in the tomb of the High Priest Caiaphas who, according to the gospels, sent Jesus to the Romans, who then sent him to the cross. Using high tech tools, scientists try to prove that these nails were used to crucify Jesus."
This is a follow up documentary to the recent Simcha Jacobovici program that was on the Discovery Channel I believe, that also sought to prove that the nails may have been the ones used in Jesus’ crucifixion. Many mainstream scholars dismissed his claims out of hand after that airing, but this program features a skeptic of Jacobovici who proves that the nails were, in fact, used in a crucifixion. He found bone and wood on the nails. Before it was proved to be wood (in an altered form), it was thought that it might have been the Shroud. One other Shroud-related point is a depiction of how the nail may have nailed into wood and through the palm. The program shows the use of a scanning electron microscope as well as many other scientific tests and interviews of various scientific experts.
There may be two interesting segments. Here is a link to the schedules for . . .
- Nails of the Cross: Two nails were discovered in the tomb of the High Priest Caiaphas who, according to the gospels, sent Jesus to the Romans, who then sent him to the cross. Using high tech tools, scientists try to prove that these nails were used to crucify Jesus.
- Secrets of the Crucifixion: A scientific investigation of 2,000-year-old bones may hold the key to the Crucifixion, revealing that the classical depiction of Jesus on the cross may be all wrong.
And then there is also . . .
- Bride of God: Gathering dust at the British Library is a 1500-year-old manuscript, written by an anonymous monk. After millennia of rumors, this seems to be the first solid written evidence that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
And this is what the Science Channel calls science; it’s kind of like thinking that Ice Road Truckers and Ax Men are history on the History Channel.