As The Discovery Channel recently aired the documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus, based on the book The Jesus Family Tomb, Foursquare leaders are coming out against the claim that Jesus’ bones have been found in an ossuary under an apartment complex in Talpiot, Jerusalem.
While Producer James Cameron (Titanic) and director Simcha Jacobovici claim there is DNA evidence that Jesus’ bones have been found in the Talpiot tomb alongside Mary, Matthew, Joseph and Mary Magdalene, this Easter Sunday Amos Dodge, senior pastor of Capitol Church, a Foursquare church in Vienna, Va., will be addressing more than 5,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to encourage Christians with the biblical account of Jesus’ resurrection.
“Prior to every Easter, almost without fail, another ‘expert’ surfaces with a new shocking revelation ‘proving’ the resurrection of Jesus to be a fraud,” Dodge said in an Easter declaration, noting last year’s release of The Da Vinci Code.
Dodge noted that while director James Cameron had much success with Titanic, that “doesn’t make you an expert on an empty tomb. This Easter, you can believe a guy whose greatest achievement was filming the recreation of a sinking ship, or you can put your trust in the One who died for you, and came back to life, leaving an empty tomb!”
The annual service at the Lincoln Memorial is one of the nation’s largest Easter sunrise services, and will begin at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday. “Easter remains to be one of the most celebrated holidays in the world,” Dodge said. “And on this Easter Sunday morning, two billion people around the world will declare with faith, confidence, assurance and transcendent joy, Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!”
Other Foursquare church involvement against the claim that Jesus’ bones have been found comes directly from Jerusalem, as Charles K., a Foursquare missionary and senior pastor at Narkis Street Congregation in Jerusalem, Israel, also brings a refreshing reminder to Christians. Surrounded by biblical truth proven by leaders in Israel studying archaeology and biblical scholarship, Charles brings helpful information about the historical validity of our Christian faith.
In the Holy Land, there are a “number of scholars from faith backgrounds that excel in archaeology, history and other related disciplines,” Charles notes. “Their expertise enriches the local body of Jesus-followers and provides scholarly answers to a world not entirely hostile to faith, but looking for well thought out explanations and proof for the hope found within us.”
One of the church’s congregants, Stephen Pfann, is the president of the University of the Holy Land. He has been on the cutting edge in defense of the Gospel’s story of Jesus’ death and resurrection via CNN and other major networks. For further information and resources, please visit Pfann’s seb site.
