1st Century Christian Ossuary

 A lot has been made about the Discovery Channel show about finding the Tomb of Jesus.  This tomb, located over 2 kilometers from the old City of Jerusalem, has for the most part been discredited.  However, the story has recently been resurrected (pun intended) because other tombs have been discovered int he immediate vicinity of this tomb and these new 1st tombs have ossuaries that have christian inscriptions on them.  Of course, to promote the discovery, some are promoting this as proof of the "Jesus Tomb".

Yet the conclusion of the following:

What we apparently have is a family connected to the Jesus movement who reaches beyond the standard burial norms of the Jewish culture of the period to express itself individually in these unique ways (University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2012, February 28). Tomb exploration reveals first archaeological evidence of Christianity from the time of Jesus. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 26, 2012)

 Forget the hype going around about the claim about it being associated with the Tomb of Jesus (that does not bear repeating).  The important discovery here is that archeological science has found the first definitive proof of a Christian presence in the vicinity of 1st century Jerusalem.  The Church was growing and the followers were more than happy to share their beliefs on the 1st century equivalent of a tombstone.  That, my friends, is a wonderful discuvery.

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Tomb exploration reveals first archaeological evidence of Christianity from the time of Jesus