André Lemaire, a researcher at the Sorbonne in Paris, wrote in the Biblical Archaeology Review that the stone, a burial artifact, is probably a reference to Christ, the New York Times reported today. Lemaire dates it to three decades after the Crucifixion.
He acknowledges, however, that the words — “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” — do not conclusively indicate a reference to the James known in Christian tradition.
