Take the 'Jesus Family Tomb' Coverage Challenge and Win | Christianity Today

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Christianity Today, February (Web-only), 2007

Contest

Take the 'Jesus Family Tomb' Coverage Challenge and Win

What media outlet did the worst job covering the Talpiot tomb news?

posted 2/28/2007 12:11PM

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The only thing more ridiculous than filmmakers' claims that a tomb outside Jerusalem once held the bones of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, a son of Jesus, and other family members is some of the media coverage those claims have garnered.

It's hard to top James Cameron when he says things like, "This is the biggest archeological story of the century. It's absolutely not a publicity stunt." But some media outlets seem to be trying hard to do so.

Here's a sample, from Nashville's WKRN, which began its report:

For many mainstream or traditional Christians, the belief that Jesus was resurrected from the dead is essential to their very faith[,] so hearing that scientists have used DNA samples to prove that his remains were once in a buried stone casket, if true, would cause them to re-think most everything they have ever believed. In response, many Christians refuse to listen.

While we're pretty comprehensive in surveying the mainstream media, there surely will be even better gems than this. So it's contest time. What media outlet has the most credulous, exaggerated, or otherwise wacky report on the "tomb of Jesus"? Entries (use the feedback form below) are due by Friday, March 9. The winner will receive a one-year subscription to Christianity Today (or one of our sister publications) and a copy of The Tomb of Jesus (the tie-in book to the Discovery Channel "documentary"). The winner will be determined purely at the whim of one or more editors here at CT. So don't take the contest too seriously. We hope you're not taking the documentary too seriously, either.

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February (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51

Comments (65)

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Displaying 1–5 of 65 comments

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leo

March 06, 2007 12:00am

Chuck Colson gives the following media examples in his commentary for today: At the website Get Religion (which analyzes the media's coverage of religion), Daniel Pulliam put it this way: Many "news organizations [are] reporting [Cameron's] words as gospel truth." He's right. A headline in the New York Times's blog read "Raising the Titanic, Sinking Christianity?" Time followed, proclaiming that "this time, the ship [Cameron's] sinking is Christianity." While Newsweek magazine did manage to quote Cameron's critics, as Pulliam pointed out, "their words [were treated] as equal to that" of the moviemakerwho, by the way, admits he's not a "theologist or an archaeologist," just a filmmaker. http://tinyurl.com/2ohhuu

nashville star

March 05, 2007 11:51am

WKRN did a good job covering this story without hype. They have a religion reporter who covers faith several times a week. He reported on what effect a Jesus casket would have on Christian faith. Is it bad coverage to ask the questions?

Gordon

March 04, 2007 1:56pm

The "best" coverage of this issue by far is this satirical report in The Jerusalem Post, entitled "Leonardo emerges from Talpiot tomb to redo 'Last Supper'": http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1171894550667&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Brad

March 04, 2007 8:14am

Submission for most wacked article: The TV Review from the NY Times: http://movies2.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/arts/television/03stan.html Here's how it starts: "Creationists reject the theory of evolution. Religious pilgrims still line up for the Shroud of Turin. So it is unlikely that many Christians will lose sleep — let alone faith — because of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” on the Discovery Channel tomorrow." Here's the caption under the picture leading into the story: "Worshipers at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus is traditionally believed to be buried. But a new documentary says he might have been buried elsewhere."

Job.A.Raj

March 03, 2007 10:46am

The very christianity is existing on the resurrection of Jesus. The chrisitians believe and as per the Bible he was Ascended in to heaven and all the disciples are the witnesses. Also the Bible says Mary Magdelene went to the tomb where she finds only the linen in which he was covered,and the tomb was empty, and the tomb was belong to a man called Joseph a council member and belong to Arimathea, the bible dont mentioned it as it belong to the family. so let me conclude by refering Luke24:5(later part)" Why do you seek the Living among the dead". thats how the christianity exists. Let not people try to waste their time in order to gain momentary fame and money.

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