Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
news.nationalgeographic.com
Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
1–10 of 67 posts
Re: Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
#2That's Angels and Demons feels right there. Almost expecting Tom Hanks to show up.
Re: Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
#3Something about that picture reminds me of VGER from Star Trek.
But seriously, it should be an interesting read once they've fully studied it.
Re: Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
#4When I saw the title, I thought maybe they'd found actual evidence about where Jesus was buried. No, it's the traditional birthplace, identified as such in AD 329, apparently.
Edit: find->found
Re: Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
#5I had the privilege of visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after attending an astronomy conference in Israel a year ago. My wife and I got there for a mass just a little before 6am so it wasn't very crowded. It was really an extraordinary experience. The Edicule had something of a steampunk feel to it, which I was not expecting. As the article mentions, it was built in the 1800s, but due to the Status Quo agreement, it has not been maintained at all and it looked like it could collapse at any moment.
The whole mass felt very surreal. As it was being celebrated there was simultaneously an Armenian liturgy and Greek Orthodox liturgy being celebrated on other sides of the Edicule. If you've ever been to one of those liturgies, you know that there's an almost constant drone of chant throughout. At times it was hard to hear the priest in front of us! I'm still not sure whether to interpret the experience as being a wonderful illustration of the unity or the disunity of the Christian Church.
Re: Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
#6It's surprising that they've done this, given the Immovable Ladder's example of just how difficult it is to alter anything in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Re: Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
#7When I saw the title, I thought maybe they'd found actual evidence about where Jesus was buried. No, it's the traditional birthplace, identified as such in AD 329, apparently. Edit: find->found
Yes. Not his actual tomb at all. It's like opening an old room in an old church. Not really as amazing as the title sounds.
Re: Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
#8When I saw the title, I thought maybe they'd found actual evidence about where Jesus was buried. No, it's the traditional birthplace, identified as such in AD 329, apparently. Edit: find->found
Can you clarify? The article is pretty clear about it being the known tomb. They exposed the marble surface.
Re: Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
#9When I saw the title, I thought maybe they'd found actual evidence about where Jesus was buried. No, it's the traditional birthplace, identified as such in AD 329, apparently. Edit: find->found
Can you clarify? The article is pretty clear about it being the known tomb. They exposed the marble surface.
The article may be clear, but the title is not.
Re: Tomb venerated as burial place of Christ exposed for first time in centuries
#10I had the privilege of visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after attending an astronomy conference in Israel a year ago. My wife and I got there for a mass just a little before 6am so it wasn't very crowded. It was really an extraordinary experience. The Edicule had something of a steampunk feel to it, which I was not expecting. As the article mentions, it was built in the 1800s, but due to the Status Quo agree…
Spent the winter in Israel a couple of years ago. The old city in Jerusalem is awe inspiring.
As for the Holy Sepulchre, as a non-Christian I found it pretty surreal. Clearly for the faithful it's a big deal, saw people outright crying coming out of the Sepulchre.
The church itself is beautiful, powerful artwork from all of the sects (Ethiopian included). Particularly the fresco at the entrance, Christ being laid to rest, the disciples in tears, pretty moving piece.
Unfortunately my experience was darkened by a group of troublemaker teenagers; saw them shove an old woman deep in prayer, just appalling. On leaving they followed me and one of them spit in my hair. When I turned around the kid said, "only water, only water".
Needless to say Jerusalem's a complex mix of cultures, history, and religions.