|
"International court’s attack on Israel a sign of the free world’s moral collapse"
"Pete Hegseth Is Right for the DOD"
"Why Our Constitution Secures Liberty, Not Democracy"
Woodworking and Construction Hacks
"CNN: Reporters Were Crying and Hugging in the Hallways After Learning of Matt Gaetz's AG Nomination"
"NEW: Democrat Officials Move to Steal the Senate Race in Pennsylvania, Admit to Breaking the Law"
"Pete Hegseth Is a Disruptive Choice for Secretary of Defense. That’s a Good Thing"
Katie Britt will vote with the McConnell machine
Battle for Senate leader heats up — Hit pieces coming from Thune and Cornyn.
After Trump’s Victory, There Can Be No Unity Without A Reckoning
Vivek Ramaswamy, Dark-horse Secretary of State Candidate
Megyn Kelly has a message for Democrats. Wait for the ending.
Trump to choose Tom Homan as his “Border Czar”
"Trump Shows Demography Isn’t Destiny"
"Democrats Get a Wake-Up Call about How Unpopular Their Agenda Really Is"
Live Election Map with ticker shows every winner.
Megyn Kelly Joins Trump at His Final PA Rally of 2024 and Explains Why She's Supporting Him
South Carolina Lawmaker at Trump Rally Highlights Story of 3-Year-Old Maddie Hines, Killed by Illegal Alien
GOP Demands Biden, Harris Launch Probe into Twice-Deported Illegal Alien Accused of Killing Grayson Davis
Previously-Deported Illegal Charged With Killing Arkansas Children’s Hospital Nurse in Horror DUI Crash
New Data on Migrant Crime Rates Raises Eyebrows, Alarms
Thousands of 'potentially fraudulent voter registration applications' Uncovered, Stopped in Pennsylvania
Michigan Will Count Ballot of Chinese National Charged with Voting Illegally
"It Did Occur" - Kentucky County Clerk Confirms Voting Booth 'Glitch'' Shifted Trump Votes To Kamala
Legendary Astronaut Buzz Aldrin 'wholeheartedly' Endorses Donald Trump
Liberal Icon Naomi Wolf Endorses Trump: 'He's Being More Inclusive'
(Washed Up Has Been) Singer Joni Mitchell Screams 'F*** Trump' at Hollywood Bowl
"Analysis: The Final State of the Presidential Race"
He’ll, You Pieces of Garbage
The Future of Warfare -- No more martyrdom!
"Kamala’s Inane Talking Points"
"The Harris Campaign Is Testament to the Toxicity of Woke Politics"
Easy Drywall Patch
Israel Preparing NEW Iran Strike? Iran Vows “Unimaginable” Response | Watchman Newscast
In Logansport, Indiana, Kids are Being Pushed Out of Schools After Migrants Swelled County’s Population by 30%: "Everybody else is falling behind"
Exclusive — Bernie Moreno: We Spend $110,000 Per Illegal Migrant Per Year, More than Twice What ‘the Average American Makes’
Florida County: 41 of 45 People Arrested for Looting after Hurricanes Helene and Milton are Noncitizens
Presidential race: Is a Split Ticket the only Answer?
hurricanes and heat waves are Worse
'Backbone of Iran's missile industry' destroyed by IAF strikes on Islamic Republic
Joe Rogan Experience #2219 - Donald Trump
IDF raids Hezbollah Radwan Forces underground bases, discovers massive cache of weapons
Gallant: ‘After we strike in Iran,’ the world will understand all of our training
The Atlantic Hit Piece On Trump Is A Psy-Op To Justify Post-Election Violence If Harris Loses
Six Al Jazeera journalists are Hamas, PIJ terrorists
Judge Aileen Cannon, who tossed Trump's classified docs case, on list of proposed candidates for attorney general
Iran's Assassination Program in Europe: Europe Goes Back to Sleep
Susan Olsen says Brady Bunch revival was cancelled because she’s MAGA.
Foreign Invaders crisis cost $150B in 2023, forcing some areas to cut police and fire services: report
Israel kills head of Hezbollah Intelligence.
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
Bible Study
See other Bible Study Articles Title: FIRST-PERSON: Can archaeology help confirm the Bible?
Source:
[None]
URL Source: [None]
Published: Dec 2, 2013
Author: David Roach
Post Date: 2013-12-02 06:59:39 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 5705
Comments: 13
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Whenever there's an archaeological discovery related to the Bible, conflicting interpretations by various experts can leave a believer's head spinning.
Take the discovery in Israel of a palace from the era of King David earlier this year. An archaeologist from Hebrew University in Jerusalem said there's "unequivocal evidence" that David and his descendants ruled at the site. But critics, including some committed believers, say it could have belonged to other kingdoms and that David's palace likely would have been in Jerusalem some 18 miles northwest. Still others claim there is no archaeological evidence that David even existed. Similar confusion ensued this spring when archaeologists discovered a massive complex that may have been an administrative center in Abraham's native Ur, with division over whether the patriarch's Ur was at that site or farther north.
Since debate often surrounds the discovery of biblical sites, lovers of the Bible may be tempted to give up on archaeology, pronouncing it unhelpful and opting instead to accept Scripture's historical accounts on "blind faith," convinced that historical evidence will never be able to confirm biblical accounts. Admittedly, archaeology's main contribution to biblical studies has been to provide background information. But at the same time, 20th-century theologian Carl F.H. Henry reminded that archaeologists have done significant work in confirming biblical claims (see “God, Revelation and Authority,” volume 4).
Before giving up on archaeology, consider the following:
-- In the late 1800s, critical scholars regarded the Hittites as an Old Testament fiction. Except for references in the Bible, there was no evidence they existed. Then archaeologists discovered some 10,000 Hittite and Akkadian texts and over time concluded that Hittites were the dominant power in Asia Minor until 1200 BC.
-- Skeptics once regarded as ludicrous the claim that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, since writing was thought not to have existed in his day. But thanks to archaeology, we now know that full-fledged phonetically spelled writing existed as early as 2400 BC, well before Moses.
-- Critics once claimed the Hebrew exile to Babylon was a myth. Over time, though, scholars of the ancient Near East realized, according to archaeologist William Albright, that "there is not a single known case when a town of Judah proper was continuously occupied through the exilic period."
-- Genesis 10:21 names Eber as a main figure in the line of Shem, producing the Hebrews, the Joktanide Arabs and some Aramean tribes. Numbers 24:24 calls these people groups "Eber" collectively. For years, critics said the name Eber had no historical basis. Then archaeologists discovered 15,000 clay tablets in 1976 in Syria, some of which mentioned Eber by name.
The examples of archaeology's value in confirming the Bible could continue, perhaps most notably with mention of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which helped establish the accuracy of the Old Testament text. But the idea is clear.
Of course, new finds will continue to spur debate, and archaeology is an inexact science. Still, informed believers should never let secular pundits convince them it has no value in confirming Scripture. As the decades pass, new discoveries will add to the list of accounts once scoffed at by skeptics but later established as indisputable facts.
--30--
David Roach is a writer in Shelbyville, Ky. This column first appeared at the blog of Bible Mesh, a website that teaches the Bible as a unified story pointing to Christ (online at www.biblemesh.com/blog). Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 13.
Replies to Comment # 13.
There are no replies to Comment # 13.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 13.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
|
