In a year when Cameron is currently preparing two of the biggest-budget science-fiction epics ever filmed which will rely for their success upon impressive box-office receipts from the religiously-devout American public, addressing such controversial subject matter is a distinctly temerarious venture and one which he may come to regret. Certainly Strata-Sphere, for slightly different reasons, sees the film as a PR disaster: "The man has no concept of what science is all about and sees everything through the Hollywood intellectual model of 'it's close, why can’t it be true'?"

Sharon Cobb remembers the reality-archeology ballyhoo of yesteryear: "Do you remember when Geraldo Rivera did a live broadcast in the 80s at the site of Al Capone's vault and when the wrecking balls broke through, there was nothing inside the vault? Well, The Lost Tomb Of Jesus was sort of like that, only less credible." While Gunderson Bee illustrates why shows like this are still being made: "Here in the US, we don't have things that old. It's just fascinating."

Clerical whispers reports religious indignation in Africa, although deflates its own authority a little by referring to Dan Brown, author of the DaVinci Code, as ‘James Brown’: “'These people are full of imaginations, prejudice and are fools' said an angry Ndingi. This revelation comes barely a year after another movie personality made almost similar claims. James Brown, in his movie, the Da Vinci Code, claimed that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’s wife"

ReligioPolitical talk also spotted the Dan Brown Connection: “Apparently moviemaker James Cameron wishes he had obtained the film rights to The Da Vinci Code” and The lesser of two weevils goes on to note that the original 1980 speculation which spawned this whole circus had already been explored in the arguably more appropriate setting of a Kathy Reichs novel. Considering that the story is close to twenty years old it has stirred up Christian bloggers across the US to a surprising degree, as SF Pulpit demonstrates with its exhaustive roundup of comment.

JD Rhoades, at 'What Fresh Hell is this?' is typical of the less devout critics “Now, I'm no archaeologist, nor am I particularly religious. But if there's one thing I'm an expert in, it's nonsense, and the Cameron/Jacobovici theory is to nonsense what Mount Rushmore is to statuary”

James Richardson was one of those rare religious skeptics who seemed to find the documentary quite stimulating viewing: "Wouldn't the religious right want to know whether Jesus's remains had been found? That he was married? Wouldn't they want to know if they were believing in a falsehood?" Pastor Bob Cornwall links to the ever-reliable Daily Show for Jon Stewart's acerbic analysis. Meanwhile Back-spin thinks that what we need in these troubled times is a song.

There were quite a few bloggers who found the opportunity for some simple mischief in the furore, as in this quote from BC’s politically incorrect thoughts: "I can’t wait to see what they do with the sequel, The Lost Tomb of Mohammed", or Blaire, who shares her revelation with us: "I just watched The Lost Tomb of Jesus. Looks like I was wrong. Jesus totally existed and definitely had a child with Mary Magdalene and he never rose up the heaven just like at the end of Cats. I was wrong and James Cameron was right. I’m sorry. I’m converting to Christianity now."

Wikipedia has a great deal of interesting detail that led the original discoverers of the tomb to their conclusion, but we would remind you that Wikipedia is edited by many unseen hands and that you should be cautious about placing excessive faith in the article. Which is why this quote, from Red Alerts, is the perfect last word on this precarious pile of optimistic speculation:

"And Jacobovici’s evidence that one of his dubious claims is actually fact? 'People can Google this' I rest my case."

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