What the experts say about Simcha Jacobovici?s assertions:
“Jesus and Mary are such common names in that era. No one made the connection to the Jesus of Nazareth. It?s perfectly logical to me that this could be a married couple, but all the same it?s sort of a Jane and John equivalent today.”? Dr. Robert Miller of Mount St. Mary?s Seminary in Emmitsburg.
“For Mary and for Jesus there is proof in the Koran that they were infallible. … In Islam the belief is that Jesus did not die. Judas was given the face of Jesus, and Jesus was resurrected on Judas?s body. Muslims believe Jesus will lcome back again.” ? Imam Syed Naqvi of the Idara Jaferia Islamic Center in Burtonsville.
“No one is ever going to find his bones because he?s not there. His body was resurrected. Obviously, if there?s no resurrection, we should all go do something else.” ? Bob Simpson, chief operating officer of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, based in Columbia.
“I am a believer, so I have a stake in the resurrection. But I?m also a historian, and any evidence has to measure up to that.” If confronted with more concrete evidence, “I would have to take it seriously.” ? Dr. Michael J. Gorman, dean of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary?s Seminary, Baltimore.
