Researchers have confirmed the authenticity of lead tablets that discuss Jesus Christ and date to the period of His ministry. As genuine artifacts, they serve as an additional, non-Biblical source to reference the existence of Christ.
A series of tables, or codices, written on lead and bound together with rings, has been confirmed as genuine. The codices date to the time of Christ’s ministry and detail his visit to the temple in Jerusalem. They add a chapter to the Gospel account that follows Christ’s driving out of the money changers.
What is written on the tablets is even more intriguing than their age. The tablets refer to God as both male and female, and suggest Christ was a member of an Hebrew sect and He did not seek to found a new, Christian religion.
The tablets tell a story that Jesus entered the temple to view the Face of God, and to restore an ancient Hebrew tradition that dated to the time of King David.
The tablets are bound with metal rings, much like a binder.
These claims are virtually heretical, and as such many Christians view them with skepticism.
The tablets were discovered in 2008 by a Jordanian Bedouin in a cave. Scholars have studied the tablets and have concluded that they are authentic, dating back to the time of Christ. The dating method involved looking at the decay of the lead in the tablets and eliminating the possibility that they were artificially aged. Researchers concluded the lead is in an advanced state of decay, suggesting it is 2,000 years old. They also evaluated the language and the text, and found it is a form of Paleo-Hebrew. Taken together, the facts seems to affirm the tablets are authentic and date to the time of Christ’s ministry, or at least shortly following his death.
The tablets are concluded to be between 1,800 and 2,000 years old.
There are virtually no contemporary references to Christ, aside from a few Roman historians who briefly mention Christ or the Christians in their work. These tablets are now another source.
Following the death of Christ, many false gospels were composed. These were finally and firmly rejected when the Church established the canon of the Bible in the late fourth century. Could these tablets contain one of those false gospels?
It’s not only possible, but likely. However, the tablets do serve as evidence that someone named Jesus existed and had a profound impact on the world during His ministry.
By Marshall Connolly
