catholicsphere

As many are debating the archeology and science behind the claim of discovery of the tomb of Jesus (which, it’s probably the tomb of a Jesus, just not the Jesus), there is something deeper and more important that Christians need to look at and evaluate: the Church and the Scriptures.

As Christians, we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, based on the teaching of the Church and the Scriptures. We have found them (Christ Jesus, the Church and the Scriptures) trustworthy in their guidance on these matters. So, when we look at issues that touch our life and beliefs, we should examine them in the light of our faith.

Based on testimony at many levels — whether we consciously acknowledge them or not — we profess, that God has said and done precisely what we read in the Scriptures and what the testimony of the Church throughout the centuries witnesses to us.

When something like this comes along, where science, skeptics and silliness attempt to derail our faith, we should examine our faith in what we’ve been taught first and foremost, and take that with us into our examination of new “evidence”. We should weigh what we will be leaving behind if we accept the “evidence”.

In the case of “Jesus’ tomb”, if we accept it, we have to leave behind major tenets of the Christian faith. Most obviously, we reject the claim of Jesus’ ascension to be “seated at the right hand of the Father”. We reject the claim of his bodily resurrection. But, deeper still, we reject the testimony of the apostles, the Scriptures, and the Church.

Leaving all that behind, what remains of faith?

We no longer believe in a God that saves us, but reduce Jesus to a “good man”, an “itinerate preacher” or a “wise prophet”. But, He is not God.

And, we must then call into question everything that we have accepted through the testimony of the Church. We put at risk no less than what it means to be Christian.

This does not mean that we should reject straight-away any evidence that is brought simply because it might challenge our belief system. On the contrary, we should examine the evidence with eyes, mind and a heart of faith. To do any less would be to have a blind faith.

However, as the writer tells us in Hebrews, “faith is the evidence of things unseen”. From that we know that faith is also evidence that we must weigh alongside that which is seen.

In the case of “the Jesus tomb”, we look at the evidence we have — both physical and spiritual — that Jesus remained unmarried, that He rose bodily from the dead, that He ascended in glory to the Father heaven … that evidence which is unseen by us, but was seen by the apostles, disciples and others in the day they occurred. And, that they pass down to us through the Church and the Scriptures to this very day.

There is the historical, non-Christian testimonies to various events in the life of Christ Jesus as well.

All of this together gives us solid evidence of what we believe; of our faith. A reasonable faith.

And, it gives us reason to be significantly skeptical of the stories of a filmmaker and those he chooses to surround himself with.

Certainly weigh the evidence. But, in doing so, also count the cost in accepting it.

[tags]catholic, jesus tomb, church, catholicsphere, faith, christ, jesus, christian, scripture[/tags]