BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Four million people saw the documentary. Millions more bought the book. But did they buy the message?

Now, as the world’s 2 billion Christians prepare to celebrate their most holy of days — Easter — scholars are debating the work of Jewish archaeology author Simcha Jacobovici, whose new documentary “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” and book “The Jesus Family Tomb” challenge the foundations of Christianity. Jacobovici claims to have identified the mortal remains of Jesus of Nazareth.

And that galls Christians, who believe Jesus left no body behind.

“No one is ever going to find his bones because he’s not there. His body was resurrected. Obviously, if there’s no resurrection, then we should all go do something else,” Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware Chief Operating Officer Bob Simpson said. “Abraham, the founder of the Jewish faith, his bones are somewhere in the Middle East. Mohammed, the founder of Islam, his bones are somewhere in the Middle East.”

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One thing they agree on is that, in accord with the New Testament Gospels, Jesus was buried in a stone tomb in Jerusalem.

Although burial in mass graves was honorable, soft earth for a traditional Jewish burial was not always readily available. Interring a body for a year in a stone antechamber was a common practice among the upper classes, who could afford the tombs during the time of Jesus. After one year, the decomposed bones would be placed in a limestone box, or ossuary.

“In the world of science, people who die have bodies, and it’s not unusual for people to find their bodies,” Jacobovici told The Examiner.

His book claims that a tomb discovered in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem in 1980 contained the physical remains of “Jesus, son of Joseph” and “Mariamne also known as Mara” (Mary Magdalene), as well as Judas son of Jesus, James and Jose (the brothers of Jesus), Mary Jesus’ mother, and an as yet unidentified Matthew.

In addition to challenging the resurrection, which is at the heart of Christianity, Jacobovici’s claims provoke an explosive possibility: Jesus and Mariamne likely were related by marriage and had at least one child.

Cardinal William Keeler, the Archbishop of Baltimore, repeatedly refused to be interviewed or comment on the book, the documentary, or the theological or historical issues it raises.

But other scholars were willing to take up the fight.

“I was actually surprised to find a couple of reputable scholars involved [in Jacobovici’s work],” said professor Robert Miller, who teaches scripture at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, the main training ground for the Baltimore Archdiocese.

Interest in “the bones of Jesus” — including allegations of his marrying and having children — is a late phenomenon, Miller said.

Dan Brown’s best seller “The Da Vinci Code” relies in part on Leonardo da Vinci’s depiction of Jesus sitting next to Mary in “The Last Supper” to suggest the artist believed they were romantically involved.

“There’s been this flurry of ‘Is Mary Magdalene married to Jesus?’ with books like ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and movies like ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ and ‘Dogma,’ ” Miller said. “Certainly, the popularity of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ made this a very opportune time” to release “The Jesus Family Tomb.”

Others criticized the arguments made in the book.

“You’ve got a lot of claims being made about a very small and probably insignificant discovery,” said Michael Gorman, a methodist and dean of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. “Until someone decided to sensationalize it, it had really gone unnoticed.”

Christians are not the only faithful to teach Jesus’ resurrection.

The Quran teaches that Jesus was divinely conceived, and that Judas Iscariot suffered in his place on the cross.

“Muslims believe that Jesus was [raised to heaven] and that he will come back again,” said Imam Syed Naqvi of the Idara Jaferia Islamic Center in Burtonsville. “History always has conflicting research. Tomorrow, something else can come up. If something clashes with divine revelation, we will not bother to take it as truth.”

Christian and Jewish scholars criticized the documentary for relying heavily on the combination of the names — including Jesus and Mary — in an era when those were two of the most popular names given to children.

Even experts cited by Jacobovici contested his interpretation.

Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner, who wrote the original excavation report on the site, called the book’s claims nonsense.

“In their movie they are billing it as ‘never-before-reported information,’ but it is not new. I published all the details in the Antiqot journal in 1996, and I didn’t say it was the tomb of Jesus’ family,” Kloner, now a professor of archaeology at Israel’s Bar Ilan University, told the Catholic News Service.

Kloner noted Jesus’ family hailed from Galilee, not Jerusalem, casting doubt that they would have had a burial cave in Jerusalem.

The topic has been a staple of debate on the Society of Biblical Literature’s Web site, and University of the Holy Land professor Stephen Pfann, a Dead Sea Scrolls expert, set up his own blog debunking the book.

“These are simply the most common names of the day,” said Pfann, who also was cited in “The Jesus Family Tomb.” “The Talpiot tomb is unique only because it has so many names preserved among its ossuaries.”

Jacobovici said other researchers agreed with his conclusions.

“Yes, these are common names,” he said. “By the same token, the numbers zero through nine are very common numbers, but if you try to get into my bank account you’re going to have a very tough time. It’s the combination that makes them rare.”

Produced by James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of “Titanic,” the documentary drew a spate of media coverage for its claims challenging accepted Christian dogma.

Despite widespread ridicule from scholars, the documentary drew 4.1 million viewers when it aired on the Discovery Channel on March 4. Jacobovici’s book rocketed to sixth place on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list March 18.

When the dust settles, Miller said. the debate provides good fodder for academics, but he doesn’t expect it to have any impact.

“It’s not the sort of thing that people will let challenge their faith,” he said.

khille@baltimoreexaminer.com