The Demise of Biblical Archaeology
As Geocities is closing here is the new web site:
http://www.rejectionofpascalswager.net/bibleanalysis.html
And on there is this:
The Demise of Biblical Archaeology
Indeed , there is now so much contrary evidence against the historical accuracy of the Bible that the term "biblical archaeology" has now been discarded in professional archeology! [The preferred term now being Syro-Palestinian archaeology [1]] The whole paradigm of archaeology in the Near East has shifted away from thinking of the Bible as a reliable archaeological field guide to that of a collection of ancient fairy tales and legends.
The BBC journalist Matthew Sturgis account in his book It Ain't Necessarily So (2001) summarizes the current situation nicely:
A new generation of archaeologists has emerged...they are challenging the intellectual assumptions of their predecessors...During the years since World War II it has become harder and harder to escape this sense of doubt. The expected discoveries of specific biblical artifacts and buildings were simply not being made...Discrepancies between the biblical account and the ever increasing archaeological record become more noticeable and harder to ignore...Rather than using the Old Testament as a field guide, the current crop of archaeologists is increasingly putting the Bible aside...The very term biblical archaeology has become tainted, and is now rejected by many academics...The old quest to confirm the historical truths of the events in the Bible has been replaced by a new agenda: to build a full and detailed picture of life in the ancient Near East. If the Bible is consulted at all, it is approached with varying degrees of skepticism. The onus of proof has shifted: the text [of the Bible] is now considered historically unreliable until proven otherwise. [2]
Over the last decade, quote a number of books have been published outlining this state of affairs.
•T.W. Davis, “Shifting Sands: The Rise and Fall of Biblical Archaeology”, Oxford 2004
•I. Finkelstein, “The Bible Unearthed”, Free Press 2001
•A.D. Marcus, “The View from Nebo”, Little, Brown & Co 2000
•M. Sturgis, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”, Headline 2001
•T.L. Thompson, “The Mythic Past”, Basic Books 1999
•T.L. Thompson, “The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives”, Trinity 2002
Basically the main thesis of these books can be summarized as follows: much of what passed as history (such Abraham and the “patriarchal narrative”, Moses and the exodus and the conquest of Canaan) is now considered, based on the mass of available archaeological evidence, to be largely mythical. The Israeli archaeologist, I. Finkelstein (see his book above) goes even further; he asserts that historical evidence is lacking for even the united kingdom of David and Solomon! Indeed today some of the major events and characters of the Old Testament are no longer considered historical!
•Abraham and the patriarchal narratives
•Moses and Exodus
•Joshua and the conquest of Canaan.
While it is true that David and Solomon existed, the archaeological evidence shows that the kingdom of David and Solomon were nowhere near how they are described in the Bible. Indeed Jerusalem during the time of David and Solomon was little more than a village with less than 5,000 people!
There are clear fictive elements in other Biblical books as well.
•The books of Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah contain contradictions, elements of numerology and anachronisms.
•The books of Ruth, Esther, Job and Jonah are works of pure fiction.
•The book of Daniel is fraudulent fiction masquerading as a prophetic work.
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So there DOC!
Robert
