East Meets West: The Uncanny Parallels in the Lives of Buddha and Jesus
Ecclesiastes
Elba Update
Elgin Marbles Debate
Excavation Opportunities 1985
Excavation Opportunities 1986
Excavation Opportunities 1989
Excavation Opportunities 1995
Forgotten Kingdom
Frank Moore Cross—An Interview
Has Richard Friedman Really Discovered a Long-Hidden Book in the Bible?
In Private Hands
Israel Comes to Canaan
Israel Underground
Issue 200
James
Jerusalem 3
Jerusalem Explores and Preserves Its Past
Jerusalem Update
Jerusalem’s Underground Water Systems
Jonah and the Whale
Megiddo Stables or Storehouses?
Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling
New Directions In Dead Sea Scroll Research
One if by Sea…Two if by Land: How Did the Philistines Get to Canaan?
Ossuary Update
Pilate in the Dock
Point/Counterpoint: Pros and Cons of the Contemporary English Version
Portraits In Heroism
Questioning Masada
Qumran
Redating the Exodus—The Debate Goes On
Remembering Ugarit
Rewriting Jerusalem History
Riches at Ein Yael
Roman Jerusalem
Scholars Disagree: Can You Name the Panel with the Israelites?
Sea Peoples Saga
Should the Bible Be Taught in Public Schools?
Special Bible Section
Spotlight on Sepphoris
Sumer
Supporting Roles
Temple Mount
Temple Scroll Revisited
The Age of BAR
The Amman Citadel: An Archaeological Biography
The Babylonian Gap Revisited
The Bible Code: Cracked and Crumbling
the Brother of Jesus
The Dead Sea Scrolls
The God-Fearers: Did They Exist?
The Jacob Cycle in Genesis
The Minoans of Crete: Europe’s Oldest Civilization
The Most Original Bible Text: How to Get There
The Pools of Sepphoris: Ritual Baths or Bathtubs?
The Search for History in the Bible
What Was Qumran?
Where Was Jesus Born?
Where Was the Temple?
Who Invented the Alphabet
Introduction
027
The recently publicized bone box, or ossuary, inscribed in Aramaic, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” has captivated scholars as well as the lay community of Jews and Christians all over the world. The day after it was first revealed to the public by our sister magazine, Biblical Archaeology Review, it appeared on the front page of every major newspaper in the United States and abroad, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune. Whether the inscription on the side of the box refers to the James and the Jesus continues to be hotly debated. Whatever the outcome, however, it is bringing Jesus’ brother James out of the shadows.
Until now, James has been little known, even to scholars. Indeed, in the New Testament itself we find only subtle hints of James’s prominence scattered about the text.
In “Bringing James Out of the Shadows,” Ben Witherington III of Asbury Theological Seminary uses careful detective work to piece together a fuller portrait of James, the first leader of the church. Then, in “Where Was James Buried?,” Father Jerome Murphy-O’Connor of the École Biblique et Archéologique evaluates ancient extrabiblical descriptions of James’s death (and afterlife) to determine whether they shed light on how and where he was buried.—Ed.
The recently publicized bone box, or ossuary, inscribed in Aramaic, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” has captivated scholars as well as the lay community of Jews and Christians all over the world. The day after it was first revealed to the public by our sister magazine, Biblical Archaeology Review, it appeared on the front page of every major newspaper in the United States and abroad, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune. Whether the inscription on the side of the box refers to the James and the Jesus continues to be […]
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