DNA evidence? *snort*  From where, exactly?

That's what I said!

Maybe they got it from the shroud of Turin....

Because there is no evidence Jesus existed, that's why. 

Well, there is a difference between "no" evidence and insufficient evidence, isn't there?  To what extent do ancient textual claims that a person existed actually represent reasonable evidence?  That's the question that drives the debate, not whether there is literally no evidence.  After all, we know that Robin Hood and King Arthur existed, don't we?

And why is this in the atheism section?  You figure it out. 

Here's a clue:  consider the source of the OP.   

After all, even in this instance does not the statistical analysis (and DNA?!?) linking Jesus as being the son of Joseph and Mary require that the NT texts were correct even in giving us Jesus' parent's name?  On what grounds do we arbitrarily accept this data and not the rest?  (Yes, yes, I know.  There was no evidence for the existence of Jesus so whether we find Jesus or we don't find Jesus Christianity is disproved).

Nobody can disprove Christianity, and that is certainly not what Jesus mythers have done.  What they have done is to show that there is reasonable doubt regarding the positive "evidence" that has so far been offered up by proponents of the Jesus hypothesis.

I agree with you, for the same reason.

Scholar offers new criticism of 'Jesus Tomb' documentary

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Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST  Mar. 14, 2007

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A prominent scholar looking into the factual basis of a popular but widely criticized documentary film that claims to have located the tomb of Jesus said Tuesday that a crucial piece of evidence filmmakers used to support their claim is a mistake.

Stephen Pfann, a textual scholar and paleographer at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, said he has released a paper claiming the makers of "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" were mistaken when they identified an ancient ossuary from the cave as belonging to the New Testament's Mary Magdalene.

Produced by Oscar-winning director James Cameron and directed by Simcha Jacobovici, the documentary has drawn intense media coverage for its claims challenging accepted Christian dogma.

Despite widespread ridicule from scholars, it drew more than 4 million viewers when it aired on the Discovery Channel on March 4. A companion book, "The Jesus Family Tomb," has rocketed to sixth place on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list.

The film and book suggest that a first-century ossuary found in a south Jerusalem cave in 1980 contained the remains of Jesus, contradicting the Christian belief that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven. Ossuaries are stone boxes used at the time to store the bones of the dead.

The filmmakers also suggest that Mary Magdalene was buried in the tomb, that she and Jesus were married, and that an ossuary labeled "Judah son of Jesus" belonged to their son.

The scholars who analyzed the Greek inscription on one of the ossuaries after its discovery read it as "Mariamene e Mara," meaning "Mary the teacher" or "Mary the master."

Before the movie was screened, Jacobovici said that particular inscription provided crucial support for his claim. The name Mariamene is rare, and in some early Christian texts it is believed to refer to Mary Magdalene.

But having analyzed the inscription, Pfann, who made a brief appearance in the film as an ossuary expert, published a detailed article on his university's Web site asserting that it doesn't read "Mariamene" at all.

The inscription, Pfann said, is made up of two names inscribed by two different hands: the first, "Mariame," was inscribed in a formal Greek script, and later, when the bones of another woman were added to the box, another scribe using a different cursive script added the words "kai Mara," meaning "and Mara." Mara is a different form of the name Martha.

According to Pfann's reading, the ossuary did not house the bones of "Mary the teacher," but rather of two women, "Mary and Martha."

"In view of the above, there is no longer any reason to be tempted to link this ossuary...to Mary Magdalene or any other person in Biblical, non-Biblical or church tradition," Pfann wrote.

In the interest of telling a good story, Pfann said, the documentary engaged in some "fudging" of the facts.

"James Cameron is a great guru of science fiction, and he's taking it to a new level with Simcha Jacobovici. You take a little bit of science, spin a good yarn out of it and you get another Terminator or Life of Brian," Pfann said.

In Israel Tuesday for a screening of the film, the Toronto-based Jacobovici welcomed Pfann's criticism, saying "every inscription should be re-examined."

But Jacobovici said scholars who researched the ossuary in the past agreed with the film's reading. "Anyone who looks at it can see that the script was written by the same hand," Jacobovici said.

Jacobovici has faced criticism much tougher than Pfann's academic critique. The film has been termed "archeo-porn," and Jacobovici has been accused of "pimping the Bible."

Jacobovici attributes most of the criticism to scholars' discomfort with journalists "casting light into their ossuary monopoly."

"What we're doing is democratizing this knowledge, and this is driving some people crazy," Jacobovici said.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173823735069&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

STARTLING NEW EVIDENCE SUGGESTS TOMB WAS THAT OF JESUS

Mar 21, 8:53 AM EDT
By Matt Tillman
CR Press Writer

JERUSALEM, Israel -- A startling new discovery in a tomb purported to be that of Jesus of Nazareth and his immediate family may prove that to be the case.

Famed Israeli archaeologist Dr. Jaacob Naylimuph, who was granted exclusive permission by the Israeli Archaeology and Antiquities Ministry to examine the tomb, claims to have found a single copper bracelet seven weeks ago. The item was found in a small recessed cavity under the rubble at the bottom of the ossuary where the bones of Jesus were kept. "The item was in good condition, but heavily encrusted with dirt that was almost the consistency of cement," said Naylimuph.

The scientist continued, "We only found it by accident. We were using a metal detector to see if we could find any coins to help us date the tomb. The batteries of the metal detector had gone kaput, and my assistant, Chaim Mahm, set the device in the niche to change the battery. When he turned it on to check the charge in the new battery, the detector squealed like it was a pig who had been stepped on."

The assistant's mother could not be reached for comment.

When the assistant moved the metal detector out of the small niche, the squeal stopped, but reoccured when the detector was returned to the niche. After some rooting around, a small, hidden compartment was discovered.

Inside was a round disc of something like stone. Taking the item back to his laboratory in Tel Aviv, the doctor was able to scrape off a bit of the cement-like stone, and analyze it. "It turned out to be parchment soaked in blood mixed with dirt, which had been wrapped around an object made of metal, and then packed inside a dirt clod. Over time the parchment-blood-dirt compound had dryed into a thick disc of hardened stone-like substance, preserving the treasure we found inside, a strip of copper," Dr. Naylimuph said.

"We were very excited by that casing. What was even more exciting, though, was what we discovered when we examined the copper strip. It turned out to be a torc, a sort of bracelet to be worn on the upper arm, above the elbow, and was decorated only with an inscription on the outer side."

The jewelry measures 2.5 cm in width, .25 cm thick, and about 25.25 c. in length, and resembles a torc or bracelet. Dr. Naylimuph informed our C.R. staffer, "It is scuffed and well worn down on the edges, and shows signs of use, as if the owner wore it often, maybe habitually. This is nothing new. Bracelets are mentioned several times in the Old Testament. It is well known that jewelry was worn in ancient days, and the Jews, being much like other peoples, only more so, certainly wore jewelry, including bracelets and rings. They did, however, not feature images of any sort, because that was specifically forbidden by the Talmud, based on reading from the Torah. Inscriptions, however, do occur in finds like this one, though they are rare. You see, engraving was terribly expensive. It would take quite a sum of shekels to find a Jewish coppersmith who would also engrave the metal with personalized inscriptions."

The inscription was in Aramaic, and was short. In English, it would translate as, "What Would I Do?"

"That could mean the jewelry once belonged to Jesus Himself, and was the source for the modern fad of wearing similar bracelets made of rubber with 'What Would Jesus Do' or (more commonly) 'WWJD' imprinted on them. The copper one we found was apparently worn on a regular basis. It shows signs of habitual use." Dr. Naylimuph revealed. When asked by our C.R. reporter if it is at all possible that the blood that was found mixed with dirt that was surrounding the bracelet could be the blood of Jesus, the eminent archaeologist deferred. "That's possible, I suppose, but I wouldn't want to make such a leap. If he wore at the time of his crucifixion, it would certainly be covered in blood unless it had been cleaned afterward. Why someone would clean blood off and then wrap it in parchment soaked in blood is unclear. But the Roman guards would have certainly confiscated it, had they found it when he was stripped for crucifixion.

"They were well known to be scavengers, like vultures, they were. The New Testament tells us that the Romans who crucified Jesus took his garments, so I don't understand why they wouldn't have taken this copper bracelet, as well," said the doctor. "Unless, that is, it was worn as designed - above the elbow, where it would have been hidden from view by the sleeves of his toga, and may be why it was never mentioned in the New Testament. Had they known about it, the gospel writers would have mentioned it, and we would have dozens of accounts throughout the following 2,000 years of the discovery provenance of the 3 or 4 objects each claimed to be "True Torc of Christ" and the miracles which surrounded them and of the bloody wars fought over them. This one, obviously the original, might have remained hidden when the back of the toga was rent to expose the back to the lash during the whipping."

Dr. Naylimuph ended his interview with this provocative tidbit, "Blood typing the bones found in the ossuary that was over the secret chamber in which the bracelet was discovered could confirm or rule out any connection."

Updates will follow as new information is revealed by the doctor.

Follow the link below:
http://www.404lounge.net/

I'm sure RG could manage to set you up with an address.  :)

Look at that! I try to be nice and agreeable and all like that, and the thread dies!

I'm actually looking for a prophet more than a profit.
But I'll take what I can git.
And since the outlay is minimal, ANYTHING would be profit!
How much ya offerin'?