Criticism over Cameron's Jesus documentary

(New York - WABC, February 26, 2007) (WABC) -- There is a new, controversial documentary by director James Cameron. The same man who brought Titanic to the big screen is now taking on Christianity, with claims by a panel of scholars that questions whether Jesus rose from the dead.

Eyewitness News reporter Joe Torres has details from the Upper West Side.

If you listen to the researchers, they'll tell you they may have uncovered the greatest archeological find in history. Talk to the critics, however, and it's a different viewpoint regarding the news. They say it's a massive publicity stunt for a soon-to-air TV documentary. Either way, the central finding of this research appears to discredit a bedrock belief of the Christian faith.

Oscar-wining filmmaker James Cameron's upcoming documentary says inside an ossuary, archeologists found the bones of Jesus Christ. The claim challenges the very foundation of the Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus.

"The simple fact is that there's never been a shred of physical, archeological evidence to support that fact until right now," Cameron said.

Researches found the ossuary and nine other limestone bone boxes in a Jerusalem cave in 1980. According to Cameron's two-year project, the family burial site, DNA analysis and forensic evidence suggest Jesus and Mary Magdalene may have had a son, named Judah.

The senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Midtown questions Cameron's findings by pointing to the Biblical eyewitness accounts of Jesus' disciples.

"And these people said, 'We saw him raised,' and 11 of the 12 of them literally were martyred for their faith," Reverend David Epstein said. "Now that's evidence beyond a reasonable doubt."

However, some theologians say Christ's resurrection was not physical, and therefore does not conflict with Cameron's findings.

"One might affirm resurrection in a more spiritual way, in which the husk of the body is left behind," theologian James Tabor said. "It could very well be a way that the early Christians thought of it."

The filmmakers acknowleged today that they have heard no response from the Vatican regarding this documentary. However, the head of the Catholic league in New York City denounced the findings of the documentary as a whole, calling it a "Titanic fraud."

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