by VorJack
Well, it looks like it’s time for the mythicists to pack up. The Telegraph suggests that an archeologist has found a nail used in the crucifixion:
Nail from Christ’s crucifixion found?
A nail dating from the time of Christ’s crucifixion has been found at a remote fort believed to have once been a stronghold of the Knights Templar.
I love the question mark at the end of the title. “We’re just asking!”
The nail was found last summer in a decorated box in a fort on the tiny isle of Ilheu de Pontinha, just off the coast of Madeira.
Pontinha was thought to have been held by the Knights Templar, the religious order that was part of the Christian forces which occupied Jerusalem during the Crusades in the 12th century.
The knights were part of the plot of Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code.
Well, that last point does it for me.
My first thought was that this is another case where the media outlet is the one sensationalizing the find rather than the archeologist. Over at the Examiner, however, Chris Cunnyngham suggests something else: the whole thing is a hoax from the beginning:
News reports are placing this find on “the tiny isle of Ilheu de Pontinha, just off the coast of Madeira.” A quick check of Google maps brings up nothing but a general search leads us to the “Principality of the Pontinha” a “self-proclaimed country founded by Prince D. Renato Barros.” Renato Barros announced his secession from Portugal in a 2007 press release and headquarters his country in the “Fort of São José.” It seems that all three of these entities – the Ilheu, the Principality, and the Fort – are the same thing – a precarious pile of rocks on the side of a jetty off the southern city of Funchal that may indeed be an old fort. It is not an island anymore though it could have been on at one time.
[...]
So, boiled down, this is what we have: A man buys an old building, pronounces it a nation, secedes from his country, proclaims himself Prince, conducts archaeological digs and claims to have found three Templar skeletons and a nail that may have been a venerated relic of a crucifixion. And if it was a crucifixion nail it was one of thousands available.
I’m curious now: media sensationalism or complete fraud?
“I’m curious now: media sensationalism or complete fraud?” Er…both?
So they find a rusty nail and their best guess for what it was used for is nailing up the savior of humanity. Right…
Apparently, VorJack, you need a monocle of faith to correct that failing eye of faith.
One way to test the nail: stick it in your eye, and if it cures whatever ails you and does not damage your eyeball, it’s the real thing. It’s a miracle, for Christ’s sake.
Lots of people have been down with that method. If the accused manages to survive a dunking and near-drowning, she was a witch and they kill her. If she sinks and dies, she was innocent and they send regrets to the family blah, blah.
Better way to use the method: Throw the contents of the church collection plate up as high as possible. Any money that stays up, God gets to keep. Any money that comes down, you get to keep.
If it was used for the crucifixion they would have had to pull it out of the cross, right? Shouldn’t the nail be bent? It looks pretty straight and unused to me.
Oh, and if it was a nail used for the crucifixion, shouldn’t it have some, you know, blood on it? Pfft. Hell, even if it did have blood on it, there’s no way to know if it was one of the nails used to kinda sorta kill Jesus–and even if it was proven to be one of the crucifixion nails, all that proves is that nails were used in the crucifixion of Jesus. I file that under “big frakkin’ deal.”
Maybe we can finally test Jesus’ DNA…
LOL I was just going to mention that. And after we find his gnenetic material we can fill the holes in the DNA with African frog DNA, raise the offsring on a secluded island, and make it into an amusement park/zoo. Not sure what it should be named though…
That looks like a nail that I found in my backyard when I was 10 years old.
I wonder if it would hold Benny Hinn to a tree by the foreskin…
In the Torygraph? Complete fraud.
that nail? It’s so tiny! Did they use that one on his ears or something?
lol, that’s what I was thinking……
either that, or Jesus had really small hands
I found one of those in my backyard in the ground. It’s true, Jesus did come to the America’s after he died and talk to the native American’s. And thus create the Mormon’s religion.
ROFLMFAO! (Hint: you might make a LOT of money by contacting the Latter Day Aints with your find…they might want to dip it in gold and place it on their Holey of Holies.) ^_^
Yeah, I will tell my Aunt. Her house was built on holiest of holy.
Drat! i was going to say the same thing!
Or maybe that means our nails compliment one another.
I imagine some of the excitement for Christians might be that this is one less thing they would have to have “faith” about.
Jesus walks into an inn. The manager comes up and asks “Can I help you?”
Jesus hands him three nails and says “Yes, can you put me up for the night?”
almost made me spit my coffee on the screen………..funny!
For a follow up, here is a great take on a classic joke:
It had been raining for days and days, and a terrible flood had come over the land. The waters rose so high that one man was forced to climb onto the roof of his house.
As the waters rose higher and higher, a man in a rowboat appeared, and told him to get in. “No,” replied the man on the roof. “I have faith in the Lord, the Lord will save me.” So the man in the rowboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.
The waters rose higher and higher, and suddenly a speedboat appeared. “Climb in!” shouted a man in the boat. “No,” replied the man on the roof. “I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me.” So the man in the speedboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.
The waters continued to rise. A helicopter appeared and over the loudspeaker, the pilot announced he would lower a rope to the man on the roof. “No,” replied the man on the roof. “I have faith in the Lord, the Lord will save me.” So the helicopter went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.
The waters rose higher and higher, and eventually they rose so high that the man on the roof was washed away, and alas, the poor man drowned.
The End.
Good film.
Were you aiming that comment at Hedwig? It seems out of place where it is.
If so, sadly the song ‘Nailed’ isn’t in the movie. It was in the stage play, and is also on the soundtrack for the movie.
I know have the Hedwig and the Angry Inch song “Nailed” running through my head.
“By the gold light of your halo I wanna nail ya…”
These kinds of things are proof that we have not all evolved at the same pace.
It’s one thing to have one nut job standing up and questioning such things… but to see a group of people flock to even consider such outlandish speculations based on erroneous presumptions… is well… retarded.
Oh wait!!! That sounds like what all the Religious Dumbasses of the World do! It makes sense now.
“Well, that last point does it for me.”
I guess that means that you are now firmly convinced that this is the one true nail.
If it was really in a very old decorated box then it could be that the Knights were bringing it back to earn points with some king or even the poop for example. I’m sure we’ll find out when it is tested for blood. That would be cool, too. We could find out if Jesus had DNA.
OK, that’s enough silliness.
Since Jesus was half human and half god, the potential for cloning sort sort of super being to do our bidding is irresistible. We just have to make sure the results don´t turn evil and somehow get out of control. I vote for mixing Jesus´ DNA with that of a great white shark, and possibly adding laser capability.
For some reason I never thought about the ability to clone Jesus. We could make little Son of Gods running around doing miracles! Then I’d definitely be a believer!
that made me imagine little miniature Jesus’s (would that be pronounced Jesi?) running around……….zapping evil
it’s a slow day
Get serious! Jesus is God. He doesn’t have nor would he need DNA. If he wanted another Him, he would simply create Him. Hey! maybe that’s how He did the Resurrection.
Jeeeeezus, what a headache. It doesn’t have to be a fabrication; even if it’s real, the ASSumptions start flying. A death shroud with a face imprint on it of a bearded dude must have been Jesus’ shroud. An old nail just oooh, must be one that was driven through Christ’s hands.
See just a mite, just a tad of a pattern here?
Yeah, wooden crosses were used for capital punishment back in certain times and places. Can you even imagine the furor and foofaraw if one had managed to stay preserved? Oooh, especially it came from near the very place. Sheeeesh.
Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeezus!
It’s both. The thing is, however, that the media have no excuse for not investigating the possibility of fraud. Not to mention, when they couch claims in terms of a question — rather than a statement — this reveals right at the outset that they are not sure of it.
But that, apparently, is not enough to prevent them from reporting it, anyway.
Ethical journalists do not report things they have not bothered to confirm. Thus the Telegraph has no excuse … even if this turns out to have been a hoax.
It used to be that journalists actually analyzed information instead of just passing it on. Facts used to be checked. If there were serious doubts about the veracity of a claim, (other) experts would be consulted. If the claim were found to be untrue or highly questionable, the story would either be killed or dissenting viewpoints would be presented to debunk seemingly false information, or to at least challenge it.
Now I think you can claim pretty much anything and, if they think people would read it, news agencies will publish it pretty much as-is in many cases (don’t want someone else to get the scoop before you do!). If they do bother to present a critical voice, they make it seem like the claim and counterclaim are on equal footing, not matter how preposterous or demonstratably false the original claim is.
So now I’m sure some people are thinking “Hey, with that nail, Christianity has been proven right yet again! Take that, Dawkins!” whereas if they had been presented with more information about the dodgy nature of the find, they’d at least have a chance of thinking critically.