Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Beetle · 09-25-2003, 10:20 AM

Archaeology week at Christianity Today continues. This afternoon's edition: "What Do the Stones Cry Out?" by Christian M.M. Brady (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/138/33.0.html)

Quote:

So what is the appropriate role of archaeology in the study of the Bible? While not rejecting out of hand the possibility that archaeology may present a challenge to the biblical account of history or (as is most often the case) a traditional reconstruction of biblical history, students of the Bible should take a more constructive and conciliatory view of archaeology. The primary role of archaeology is that of illumination. Often the results of archaeological research yield information of great importance in matters mundane, such as the kinds of pots people used, how they cooked, wrote, and, in some cases, even what they wore. This is extremely important, since the Bible rarely give us such detailed information concerning the everyday life of ancient Israel and specifically about the lives of women. These gaps can be filled at least partially through archaeology.

It's interesting that just after this, he holds up "Hezekiah's Tunnel" and Jericho as examples of archaeology supporting the Bible. I thought the opinion was still deeply divided on those events.

Doctor X · 09-25-2003, 06:06 PM

The man is disengenuous. His quote should really be:

Quote:

. . . that archaeology may present a challenge to the biblical account of history (as is most often the case) or a traditional reconstruction of biblical history, . . .

which he would know if he bothered to study the archeology.

--J.D.

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