What James Cameron’s Discovery film successfully proves is that Jesus sells. What it doesn’t prove is what it claims—that anyone has authentic evidence about the tomb of Jesus and his family members; instead, like the Da Vinci Code, Cameron’s film proves that what sells best is fiction pretending to be fact.

Yet events like these raise questions that matter for many people—not only for believers, but also for many who have left belief behind and are asking what, if anything, they can put in its place: what do we know about Jesus of Nazareth, and what do we not know? How can we verify either claim?

For even fake archeological claims remind us how much we do not know about Jesus--and even the Da Vinci Code did much to raise public awareness that there are, in fact, genuine archeological discoveries that really are changing what we know about the beginnings of Christianity.

The surprise discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1945 opened up whole new perspectives on the world in which Jesus lived—as the discovery in Egypt of previously unknown early Christian gospels—the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and over 50 other early Christian writings, discovered between 1890 and 1973, when the Gospel of Judas was found and first published only last April.

But aren’t these hyped as well? Often they are; no wonder such hype can lead reflective people to suspect that all such claims are nothing but more commercialized trash. Discerning what is genuine is not easy, but expertise helps.

Had Cameron’s evidence been persuasive, he could have easily lined up an impressive array of archeologists to present it. In that case, many people would have taken note of his claims, and archeologists would be holding major conferences about it right now. For despite the conspiracy theorists, archeologists love participating in important discoveries—even, and especially—when these challenge established beliefs.

Here is another clue: sensationalism usually claims to know “the real story” about Jesus and the events of his time—as if there were only one story. Such claims remain hypothetical, often wildly so.

Since we have no single written account about Jesus contemporaneous with him—even the New Testament gospels are written more than a generation after his death---and no external historical sources from the time that mention him, such accounts tell us all we have ever known about Jesus; astonishingly, the Christian movement grew out of them.

What genuine discoveries—like the Dead Sea Scrolls and the non-canonical gospels—do offer are new roads of access into the heart of the early Christian movement as it was first taking shape. No wonder, then, that so many people are investigating these discoveries with enormous excitement—and that their work generates so much controversy.

What, then, do we know about Jesus of Nazareth, and how do we know it? Asking these questions, we don’t need hype—and we don’t find sound bite answers.

Historical explorations may lead us into the deeper question--what the stories about Jesus might mean.