Church of The Holy Sepulchre - Challenges To Authenticity

Challenges To Authenticity

Although the identification of the Aedicule as the site of Jesus' tomb is not a tenet of faith for any major Christian denomination, many Catholic and Orthodox Christians hold fast to this traditional location. However, due to the many issues the site raises, several scholars have rejected its validity. The very fact that outside the city of Jerusalem were at the beginning of the first Christian millennium many places called in the local jargon "Golgotha" (because all of them were used as a place of execution) complicates the task of finding that one where Jesus was executed. Meanwhile, the traditional location of Golgotha is considered by some historians as unfit, due to the rocky structure the tradition put forward as the exact place of execution.

After time spent in Palestine in 1882–83, General Charles George Gordon found a location outside the old city walls that he suggested to have been the real location of Golgotha. Although the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has its tomb just a few yards away from its Golgotha, there is no particular reason to regard this close juxtaposition as a necessity; however, Gordon followed this principle, concluding that his site for Golgotha must also be the approximate location for Jesus' burial, identifying a nearby tomb, now called the Garden Tomb, as the location for the event. Pottery and archaeological findings in the area have subsequently been dated to the 7th century BC so, in the opinion of archaeologists the Garden Tomb site would have been abandoned by the 1st century. Biblically this does not match three of the Gospel accounts (Matthew, Luke, and John) which specifically state the tomb was new and no one had ever been laid inside. Despite the archaeological discoveries, the Garden Tomb has become a popular place of pilgrimage among Protestants. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leaders have been more hesitant to formally commit to the identification even though many Mormons regard the Garden Tomb as the correct location of Jesus' tomb.

Currently, no other potential site for the tomb has received much attention or academic support.