UPDATE: Nazareth scholar: 'No house from Jesus's time found there'
With their usual impeccable timing to coincide with "Christian" holidays, archaeologists in Israel announced today that they had found the "first home from Jesus' [sic] time in Nazareth." Before we get all excited about this purported discovery, let us recall a number of facts, including the glaring one that prior to this moment in time, for almost 2,000 years there has been no other evidence of habitation in Nazareth during the era in question. What this fact means is that there has existed no evidence whatsoever that Nazareth was a town during Jesus's alleged time, as it is depicted in the New Testament, leading not a few to cast doubt on the historicity of the gospel tale overall.
Over a decade ago, in my book The Christ Conspiracy I related this research concerning the lack of evidence of a town in Nazareth during Jesus's purported era, concluding that Christ was made to come from Nazareth because in reality he was a product in part of the Nazarene brotherhood. Indeed, it has been argued that Nazareth appears to have been a necropolis during the time Jesus supposedly lived there, a fact that would preclude its habitation by people, especially Jews, who would not live so near to the buried dead.
Past dubious discoveries
Another fact which needs to be kept in mind before jumping to unwarranted conclusions - in this case that, since Nazareth obviously was a town, therefore Jesus must have existed as a historical character - is that archaeologists, scholars and others, along with the media, have in the past made terrific blunders concerning biblical-era finds, not the least of which were the so-called James Ossuary and Jesus Family Tomb. As I reported in 2006 regarding the "James Ossuary" - in a three-part article published in Secular Nation - the artifact, which was widely touted in the press as "the first proof of Jesus' existence," was later deemed bogus, as concerns its historical value vis-a-vis Jesus and his supposed brother James. Ditto with the Jesus Family Tomb, which, although certainly ancient and apparently from the right era, could in no way serve as evidence of the existence of the gospel Jesus as a historical personage.
Moreover, these various finds, including also the Judas Gospel - which likewise did not serve to provide any credible, scientific evidence of Christ's existence as a historical figure - are oddly timed to be reported to the media at major "Christian" holidays, such as Easter and Christmas, as if to bolster the faith at those important times. This sort of propagandistic Church PR has been quite common over the centuries.
When the dust settles on this find, it will be interesting to see what "Nazareth myth" experts such as Frank Zindler, James Randi and Rene Salm have to say about the subject.
First home from Jesus' time found in Nazareth
Today in Nazareth, boyhood home of Jesus, archaeologists showed off the remains of a home that may have belonged to one of his neighbors, the first such dwelling from that era.
The simple house was one of about 50 that belonged to the impoverished Jewish families who lived in the hamlet. The remains of a wall, a hideout from Roman soldiers, a courtyard and a roof-top water system were found after builders dug up the courtyard of a former convent to make room for a new Christian center, just yards from the Basilica of the Annunciation.
"This may well have been a place that Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with," archaeologist Yardena Alexandre, excavations director at the Israel Antiquities Authority, told the Associated Press. Jesus may have played around the house with his cousins and friends, he added. "It's a logical suggestion."
Further Reading
Bone-Box No Proof of Jesus
Judas Gospel gives new view of Jesus' betrayer?
Where Jesus never walked
The Myth of Nazareth
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They just don't give up. They believe what they want to believe, and they will force reality to fit their delusions. And just in time for Christmas!
I know it's true 'cause I was one of the kids next door! 
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|2009-12-22 06:45:30 AaronThey're saying they found a home that "era", how long is an era? Then they super-impose Jesus onto the finding. It was the era of Jesus, so it could have been one of his neighbors homes.
Just a way to get attention I guess.
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|2009-12-22 09:13:06 Jeff Hansen"May have"...
I don't see anything in the Gospels giving a hint of where their home would've been. I'd like to see when the layer they're digging is dated, too. It's sad to see legitimate archaeology trivialized like this.
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|2009-12-22 15:00:41 josephine publicAnything to make a buck- no matter how ludicrous it is. I wonder who much they're charging to perpetuate the myth and give tours of this location? I'm sure linking it to the name of a well-known mythical being makes the price of the tour go up. Once again they screw up the facts just to serve their own purposes.
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|2009-12-22 15:05:19 JH Chrestos - Either Hoax or Over-zealous believersThese people are truly unsinkable ducks. They have their own pseudo-history cottage industry going on. The strategies are the same as those of their close cousins in pseudo-sciences such as homeopaths, acupuncture, dowsing, ghost hunters, cryptozoology, aliens, and people that think the democratic process exists. They use words and vague descriptions that sound official. The timing is quite fishy. Basic facts are ignored such as 'there was no town of Nazareth during Jesus supposed time'. But why let the facts get in the way.
There are two realistic possibilities: 1) It's a Hoax or 2) they have unearthed a home from a later period of time than they report and have convinced themselves that they have found Jesus' home.
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|2009-12-27 22:27:11 The_ObserverThe archaeological dig was done by Israeli archeologists for the Israel Antiquities Authority and not treasure seekers. The former do not on the whole push an agenda for Christians and Christianity. The place may or may not be the Nazareth that Jesus lived in but I can accept it for what it was 2000 years ago, a small town (like most places in the world at that time) with a grave-yard. Live with it...
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|2009-12-28 03:01:48 Acharya SPerhaps you need to live with this, linked prominently to the top of this very post:
Nazareth scholar: 'No house from Jesus's time found there'
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|2009-12-27 23:32:10 Steve Latham - Benefit of the doubt ...
It's easy to make fun, but Christians are no different than those who look for reasons not to believe. Evolution, global warming, and other "scientific" concepts take just as much faith from "followers" to believe those that champion their existence.
Who cares ... let those that believe ... believe. If you don't, why waste your time trying to prove them wrong. Do something that YOU believe is right.
I guess if making others feel bad about their beliefs makes you feel good ... then more power to you.
Good luck!
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|2009-12-27 21:07:14 Acharya SSorry, but sorting through the facts behind a huge percentage of the world's destructive delusions is not simply an attempt at "making others feel bad about their beliefs." It is a highly necessary effort. Yours is a very puerile comment, and one that will hardly succeed in dissuading us from continuing to expose deleterious delusions that have caused the deaths of hundreds of millions worldwide.
And indeed, we ARE doing something we feel is right: exposing at great risk of being insulted with both vicious and namby-pamby commentary such as yours one of the major causes of depravity and atrocity on the planet.
If you would like to sit idly by while people suffer from these delusions, so it can make you feel better from some pretentious holier-than-thou complex, feel free.
