King Harod's Tomb Discovered

From: Yahoo.com



Herod was the Jewish proxy ruler of the Holy Land under imperial Roman occupation from 37 B.C. His most famous construction project was expanding the Jewish Second Temple in Jerusalem.

Remnants of his extensive building work in Jerusalem are still visible in Jerusalem's Old City, and he undertook major construction projects in Caesaria, Jericho, the hilltop fortress of Masada and elsewhere.

At the excavation site, on the steep, rocky slopes of a cone-shaped hill 2,230 feet high, Netzer's assistant, Yaakov Kalmar, said that an account of Herod's funeral by the first-century historian Josephus Flavius left little doubt that it took place at Herodium. The newly discovered tomb was regal in its opulence.

"We have here all the attributes of a royal funeral," Kalmar said. "We didn't find inscriptions so far... The work is not finished."

The account (of the Massacre of the Innocents), however does not appear in other Gospels, and experts are not convinced of its accuracy, especially the implications of mass infanticide. Some believe the decree applied only to Bethlehem, a small town at the time, where there may have been as few as 15 toddlers.

I once read that: "Archaeology is the enemy of faith." Another writer emphatically stated that "Archaeology is a tool of the devil, used to blur the truths of the bible."

Well, I happen to agree with both - though I doubt the devil has anything to do with Archaeology.

Archaeologists do not look for "Truth"; we look for facts. Truth is a philosophical point of view, not something that can be proven through scientific research. When you begin looking for answers in the archaeological / historical record, you may destroy the faith of some, but I would argue that if their faith is so easily shattered then their problem is not with the researchers but with themselves.

If Archaeology were able to scientifically prove, through ancient records or the lack of a mass grave of infants (or something), that the Massacre of the Innocents did not happen - would this shake Christianity to its foundation? No. Christianity and the Holy Roman Church has existed for near 1600 years and every time science has offered evidence to counter the official doctrine of faith, the religion has learned to adapt its mythology to incorporate the new information.

This is not to say that this adaptation has been smooth. Scientists were tried for herasy for even thinking that the earth was round or that the sun did not revolve around the earth. Anything that challenged the authority of the Church would, at first, be answered with fire and pain. Eventually the message would be supported by others even in the face of the Church's opposition.

Scientists hid their findings in secrets writings (yes, you knew I was going there) in hopes that they could have others confirm their ideas on the natural world without the Church or its agents discovering their attack on religious truth.

I wonder how the Church will fight the idea that the Massacre of the Innocents didn't happen the way the bible might have portrayed it. And if this story is innaccurate - it's just another chink in their mythos that's been punched through.

When I tell people "Always the Quest", I'm sure that there's some force in this world that would rather have people like myself - the Enemies of Faith - be executed for crimes against their religion. Religion and science have been at war since the creation of the Christian faith. Eventually, like with most things, the strength of one will be put against the strength of another and a change will be produced.

We shall wait... and see.

-Tom