javarush

I've read opinions that, as an executed criminal, Jesus' body may have been disposed to a common burial ground and thereby lost to history. OTOH, I've also noted the evidence of the crucified Yehochanan/Jehohanan being discovered in an ossuary which implies a formal burial. One offered explanation for this is that Yehochanan may have been executed by Roman, rather than Jewish, authorities and so was not permanently disgraced to the criminal dump. That is, he may have been indeed been disposed as a criminal for a time but then recovered for final internment in the ossuary. IMO, this requires that the location of his remains was recorded/remembered until recovery. This scenario offers a counterexample to the position that the whereabouts of Jesus' body was immediately lost because of being dumped anonymously. This is not to say that his body's location was never publicly revealed, never recovered, and eventually lost. But in fairness, if valid, then IMO this example of tracking a corpse should be accounted alongside any "lost to the dump" arguments.

Peter Kirby

Can we back up? I sense there are a lot of opinions here, but I'd like to know which ones are tracked most closely to our sources (textual and archaeological) and which ones are just opinions.

In any case, I have an essay in the Infidels library that broaches this subject, in the section on "Roman Crucifixion and Jewish Burial."

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Peter Kirby

javarush

From the provided link:


Quite clarifying. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the case of Yehochanan is most likely an exceptional one. Thank you.