James Ossuary - Significance

Significance

Assuming that the inscription on the James ossuary is genuine, the next question is whether "brother of Jesus" refers to Jesus, the founder of Christianity.

Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University stated that, of the thousands of ossuaries found, only one has been found with a reference to a brother, concluding that "there is little doubt that this was done only when there was a very meaningful reason to refer to a family member of the deceased, usually due to his importance and fame." He produced a statistical analysis of the occurrence of these three names in ancient Jerusalem and concluded that, at the time, there were 1.71 people named James with a father named Joseph and a brother named Jesus. Professor Fuchs says he can state with 95 per cent assurance that it is a statistically accurate conclusion.

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