SHOW ME THE MONEY: Capitalizing on the growth industry of Biblical revisionism

Director James Cameron, of "Terminator" and "Titanic" fame, has put his name back in the news for the first time in many years. Will his new Discovery Channel video venture — launched along with a book by Simcha Jacobovici — make him as much money and bring as much fame as his last hit, "Titanic," which grossed over a billion dollars worldwide? Well, at the very least he's created a new controversy. His claim? That he has DNA evidence to prove that a bunch of "bone boxes" found in Jerusalem twenty seven years ago came from the tomb of Jesus, his mother Mary, his "wife" Mary Magdelene, and a number of his siblings. Oh, yes...and lets not forget the bones of Jesus and Mary Magdelene's "son" Judah, who was also uncovered in the archeological dig. This, of course, would be the grandson of God if Cameron is correct. Take that, Dan Brown. James Cameron just one-upped you in a big way.

And the best part of this sensational story? It has real sects appeal!

Never mind that Bar-Ilan University Prof. Amos Kloner, the Jewish archeologist who actually oversaw the dig and has done most of the work on the project in the years since, calls Cameron's claim sheer "nonsense." Kloner has stated that the names on the ossuaries only resemble some of the names of people in Jesus' family, and as Jesus was a Galilean, there's virtually no chance whatsoever that he or any members of his family would have been buried in a middle-class family's tomb in Jerusalem.

As for the DNA evidence, what can Cameron possibly be talking about? Unless someone has some of Christ's DNA (they don't) or that of a member of his family (again, none available) how can he make such a claim? At the very least, he might be able to show that some of the people buried in the crypt are related in some way, but that's the best he could hope for under the circumstances. To make any claims beyond that is sheer speculation. For a media outlet like the Discovery Channel to start stooping to such sensationalism creates even more speculation. Have they just given up on the notion of journalistic integrity? Or are they just more interested in ratings at any cost?

In the end, money and controversy seem to be motiviating factors. It appears that Cameron and Jacobovici are simply trying to make a buck and rake some muck by playing Biblical Crypt Keepers to a gullible public that will cough up any amount of money to have their ears tickled by some slick hucksters with a sensationalistic story. Remember, this is the same pair of dudes who brought us "The Exodus Decoded" a few years back, another Discovery Channel film that claimed to explain away every major feature of the Exodus story. In light of this latest release, it appears that their previous effort at Biblical revisionism was designed to soften up their theologically-challenged audience for the big sucker punch to follow.