Is Near Eastern "Mystery Man" John the Baptizer?

MSNBC.com reported yesterday that scientists from the University of Oxford have determined that the reliquary bones discovered in an ancient monastery church on the small Bulgarian island of Sveti Ivan (St. John) all come from a near eastern (middle-eastern) man of the first century, CE.

While there is no way to positively identify the bones with the biblical figure of John the Baptizer, the discovery of the bones do fit with the ancient Christian practices of building saintly relics into church buildings. (These practices continue to the present day. Do you know what relic is imbedded in your church's altar stone?)

According to the msnbc article, "Historical research by Oxford professor Georges Kazan suggests that relics supposedly from John the Baptist were on the move out of Jerusalem by the fourth century. Many of these artifacts were shuttled through the ancient city of Constantinople and may well have been given to the Sveti Ivan monastery from there.... A program detailing the research will be aired on the United Kingdom National Geographic Channel on Sunday. National Geographic funded the research."

To read the article (including photos) by Stephanie Pappas, Senior Writer at msnbc.com, click on this URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47822985/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.T9tIwZiwXM1