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Archaeology and the Bible
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Overview:
Archaeology in Palestine and Israel has undergone a major change since World
War II. Prior to that time, many, if not most, archaeologists working there were Christians or
Jews with at least some theological training. Many were motivated by a desire to
find evidence that confirmed the accuracy of the Bible. In recent decades, many
archaeologists have taken a secular stance and have approached the evidence
without prior religious assumptions. As a result, skilled, intelligent, devoted
and thoughtful archaeologists have adopted mutually exclusive, opposing beliefs
about the accuracy of the Bible.
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Religious conservatives make statements affirming the accuracy of
the Bible, like:
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Nelson Glueck: "It is worth emphasizing that, in all this work, no
archaeological discovery has ever controverted a single, properly understood
biblical statement." 1
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W.F. Albright: "Discovery after discovery has
established the accuracy of innumerable details [in the Bible], and has
brought increasing recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of
history."
2
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Linda Harvey, founder and president of Mission America:
"Numerous archaeological finds have confirmed the Bible solely on its
historical merit. It records many prophecies that were later fulfilled.
Its authority was meant to rest on both its spiritual guidance and its
historical validity." 3 |
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Religious liberals and secularists make statements discounting
the value of the Bible as a source of historical information. Examples are:
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Philip Davies: "The gap between the Biblical Israel and the historical
Israel as we derive it from archaeology is huge. We have almost two
entirely different societies. Beyond the name 'Israel' and the same
geographical location, they have almost nothing in common." 4
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David Ord & Robert Coote: "Many biblical stories are like Animal
Farm. They are true, though not historically accurate or factual. They
are concerned with proclaiming a message, not with providing us with a
chronology of events from the history of Israel or the life of Jesus of
Nazareth. We must learn to read them not as history but as message."
5
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Garnett H. Reid, a supporter of the traditional orthodox view,
speaks of the secularist "minimalist" school of biblical archeology: "If
minimalists are correct, the Bible has nothing to say as a historiographic document. Biblical data regarding history is therefore
nondata, or pseudodata, and is of no value anyway because whatever past
it attests was itself unreal. Even if the reader could derive facts
about the past, they would not be normative for today." 6 |
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Topics covered in this section:
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Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament)
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Christian Scriptures (New Testament) | |
Documents of the Mormon church:
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References:
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Quoted in Josh McDowell, "The best of Josh McDowell: A ready
defense," Here's Life Publishers, (1990), Page 93. Read
reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
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W.F. Albright, "The Archaeology of Palestine, Rev. ed.,"
Pelican books, (1960), Page 127 - 128. Out
of print. However, Amazon.com may be able to get a used copy
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Linda Harvey, "Postmodernism: Postmodern language and Alternative
Theology," at:
http://missionamerica.com/
- Philip Davies, "What separates a Minimalist from a Maximalist? Not
much," Bible archaeology Review, 2000-MAR/APR Vol. 26, #2, Pages
24 to 27; 72, & 73.
- David Robert Ord & Robert B Coote, "Is the Bible Really True?" Orbis, (1994)
- Garnett H. Reid, "Minimalism and Biblical History," Bibliothca Sacra 155:
620 (1998): Pages 394-410.
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Copyright © 2001 to 2018 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2001-OCT-21
Latest update: 2018-FEB-22
Author: B.A. Robinson 
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