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What archeological evidence has there been for the historicity of the Bible? First let me say that a belief in God is not as many modern educators preach, they allow their religious bigotry to spill over into the class room which is a sign of a lack of ethical and even legal communication. They would label religious believers as ignorant and superstitious meaning uneducated or having or showing a belief in superstitions. This would translate as they have some kind of proof that these beliefs are false, which they cannot produce evidence and when asked quote another bigot or reinterpret some mundane fact as proof. That being said I would submit that millions of testimonies from witnesses and writings have been written and taken on the subject of validity. Which modern educator's explain away as mass hallucinations and a conspiracy to subvert or suppress science. Consider the poem of Gilgamesh one of the oldest known written epic hero stories and the fact that they mention a world wide flood that killed everything living accept those in the Ark and of course Gilgamesh a demi god so the story goes. My point is this if in 7th century BC Mesopotamia the fact that the story of Noah's Ark was being circulated and sea shells are recovered from mountain tops why do they claim it never happened? Most of your archeological evidence is found in Islamic controlled countries. For 1500 years they have had the reputation of destroying and building on top of other religious Holy sites. Consider the site of the Hebrew temple the only place they are a permitted to offer sacrifice and it is were they placed the dome of the Rock. Early societies were scavengers and would carry away materials to build another place. They also built over top of ancient sites with modern structures. If you are looking for secular proof you will not find it, the secular world and education systems are at enmity with Christianity. The dead sea scrolls have in their contents a copy of the book of Isaiah and is dated to be more than 4500 years old. Read the bible, consider its content, this is a fact there is more written material on the life and death of Jesus than any other subject known to man. The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus the Christ of Calvary, believe or don't believe either way it is a matter of faith whether in secular explanations or Biblical accounts you have to take then both on faith science uses inference which is an assumption of truth based on an earlier assumption, Faith is the essence of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. How do you view yourself as an immortal soul created in the image of God or as an animal with no purpose other tan to eat drink sleep and gratify your basic instincts. Consider that Higher trains of Nobel thought like love, kindness, selflessness and integrity and honor, their is a secular educator some where with credentials a mile long that will say it does not exist. Love is a reaction to instinct, and pheromones and loyalty is a punishment reward controlled action. All the while they will expect you revere and honor their achievement's in education and assign truth and validity to what they say and believe they have no vested interest other than higher education as their agenda.
I just watched a doc on British TV on archaeologists finding the Ark in Mount Ararat (Turkey). Isn't it strange that even archaeological evidences are so open to interpretation, they can be read in any way that you will. Even Jerusalem where something of King David's city is being rediscovered is about territorial politics. There is already a wealth of scientific corroboration even within the consistencies of the Bible... what other work of literature can use words that mean the same thing, over 3000 years. Look at how hard it is for us to understand what Shakespeare wrote for common people to enjoy, and thats obscurity only after 300 years. Simon Schama has written a book and also this month (Sept) has begun a BBC TV series on the Story of the Jews... his main point is that his faith and culture has survived because at its heart, inside the empty ark of the covenant, is the Word which speaks from before history, from outside of Time and Space, into our language and culture today.
The Moabite Stone. In 1868 the German missionary F. A. Klein made a remarkable discovery of an ancient inscription at Dhiban (Dibon). This has become known as the Moabite Stone. A cast was made of its writing, but the stone itself was broken up by the Bedouin before it could be moved. However, most of the pieces were recovered, and the stone is now preserved in the Louvre, Paris, with a copy in the British Museum, London. It was originally erected at Dibon, in Moab, and gives King Mesha’s version of his revolt against Israel. (2 Ki. 1:1; 3:4, 5) It reads, in part: “I (am) Mesha, son of Chemosh-[ . . . ], king of Moab, the Dibonite. . . As for Omri, king of Israel, he humbled Moab many years (lit., days), for Chemosh [the god of Moab] was angry at his land. And his son followed him and he also said, ‘I will humble Moab.’ In my time he spoke (thus), but I have triumphed over him and over his house, while Israel hath perished for ever!. . . And Chemosh said to me, ‘Go, take Nebo from Israel!’ So I went by night and fought against it from the break of dawn until noon, taking it and slaying all. . . And I took from there the [vessels] of Yahweh, dragging them before Chemosh.” Note the mention of the divine name in the last sentence. The Moabite Stone also mentions the following Bible places: Ataroth and Nebo (Num. 32:34, 38); the Arnon, Aroer, Medeba, and Dibon (Josh. 13:9); Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, Jahaz, and Kiriathaim (Josh. 13:17-19); Bezer (Josh. 20:8), Horonaim (Isa. 15:5); and Beth-diblathaim and Kerioth (Jer. 48:22, 24). It thus supports the historicity of these places.
I humbly submit that when one considers the record of numerous historical discoveries that at one time were said to be nothing but fanciful legends.(Psalms 2:2; Psalms 14:1) These discoveries made exactly where the Bible said they would be found and most often by unbelievers whose true mission was to prove the Bible wrong.(Isaiah 46:10) Consider just two 1. The dead sea scrolls; written by a people who the wise faulty lounge commandos said could not read or write. 2. King David a person; who the wise faulty lounge commandos said never lived. Many of these scoffers would become believers when confronted with the physical evidence of their esoteric errors and many incorrect ideological edicts. (Psalms 103:6) The book Walking The Bible a journey by land through the five books of Moses by Bruce Feiler is a good start. PBS made a show that's also on DVD with Feiler using only the Bible's archaeological markers with help from local Arab and Jewish guides along his journey. The dvd is a great conversation starter for any non-Bible folks who just want the facts. In the Lord's freedom and exploration......warrior on
Archaeological evidence for the historicity of the Bible can be found in the following works: Jonathan N. Tubb, "Biblical Archaeology," Global Encyclopedia, 1984, III, p. 242. G. Frederick Owen, D.D., Ed.D., "Archeological Supplement" The New Chain Reference Bible, 4th ed., Frank C. Thompson (1964), p. 4322. Is There Anything Left You Can Trust, Amazing Facts Study Guide No. 1 (Frederick, MD, 1994), p. 5. Also, search for the works of the famous Jewish archeologist, Nelson Glueck, who declared, declared, "It may be stated, categorically, that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference."
A LOT actually - so much that it has its own discipline called Biblical archaeology. Biblical archaeology involves the recovery and scientific investigation of the material remains of past cultures that can illuminate the periods and descriptions in the Bible, be they from the Old Testament (Tanakh) or from the New Testament. The principal location of interest for this branch of the archaeological sciences is what is known in the relevant religions as the Holy Land.
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