Lesson continued from last week

Transcription

1 Lesson continued from last week Cornerstone Three: Authenticating Archeology Lesson 17 Today s lesson addresses the third of four cornerstones supporting our belief that the Bible is the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God and thus trustworthy and reliable. Thus far in our series, we have noted the Bible s unique unity and it matchless manuscript evidence. Our third cornerstone consists of the significant and increasing amount of amazing corroborating evidence from the field of archeology. In keeping with our alliteration, we ll call it authenticating archeology. I. Introduction One of the features that separates the Bible from other ancient literature is its meticulous fidelity to historical accuracy. Within the pages of the Bible we find countless references not only to people and places, but also to historical events. The science of archaeology along with secular historical records confirms the precision of the references in the various biblical books. The minute attention to detail observed by the biblical writers is unparalleled in any other ancient literature. Nelson Glueck, a famous Jewish archaeologist, observed, It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference. Archeology consistently confirms the accuracy of Scripture. This lesson deals with the accuracy of the Scriptures as evidenced by archaeology. First, an introductory word about archeology is appropriate. It s natural to think of archaeology as an old science. After all, it involves old things. Most people are surprised to learn that archaeology is a relatively new field of endeavor. Archaeology is the systematic study of things that cultures have left behind. It was not a subject of professional interest until the 1700s. At that time it focused primarily on valuable objects - mainly gold and silver artifacts. The systematic (scientific) approach wasn t widely used until the 1900s years after some critics blindly - and incorrectly - assumed the Bible lacked any evidence to support it. In the late 1800s, higher criticism suggested the Bible was full of myths and errors.

2 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 2 Many archaeologists sought to prove the Bible to be inaccurate. However, archeologists working in the Middle East were surprised that their discoveries actually supported the Bible in virtually all details. Let me mention two examples of such archeologists. William Albright was an archeologist and scholar. During his field studies in the 1930s (which continued until his death in 1971), Albright found conclusive evidence that caused him to reverse his previous position of doubt and skepticism. He proclaimed that the Bible was, in fact, totally consistent with archeological findings. Sir William Ramsay is an example of how an honest scholar of history can change his entire perspective when faced by incontrovertible evidence from history and archaeology. Ramsay began his historical research toward the end of the nineteenth century. When he began his research he based it on the German liberal/critical school of thought, which taught that the New Testament was not written in the first century and was not historically reliable. Instead, it was an invention of the second-century church. Here are Ramsay s own words chronicling his change of mind. Ramsay s studies led him to conclude that Luke s history is unsurpassed in respect of its trustworthiness, and Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy... this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians. From the experience of Ramsay we see that the New Testament writer Luke, author of the greatest portion of the New Testament (Luke and Acts) and an eyewitness of many events during the growth of the first-century church, was a careful historian. We could name other world-renowned archeologists. F. F. Bruce notes: Where Luke has been suspected of inaccuracy, and accuracy has been vindicated by some inscriptional evidence, it may be legitimate to say that archeology has confirmed the New Testament record.

3 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 3 Yale archeologist, Millar Burrows, adds to his above statement: On the whole, however, archeological work has unquestionably strengthened confidence in the reliability of the Scriptural record. More than one archeologist has found his respect for the Bible increased by the experience of excavation in Palestine. The fact is that archeology supports the historical accuracy of Scripture. The evidence is overwhelming! Using the Bible as a guide, archaeologists began finding parts of history they didn t know existed. Ancient cultures thought to be nonexistent were discovered. Ancient cities thought to be myths were found. And events thought to be legends were confirmed. Today the Bible is regarded as a fundamental archeological reference. Not one historical mention in Scripture has been found to be in error. The truth is, rather than archeological evidence pointing against the Bible, the archeological evidence is all in its favor. Anyone who states the contrary is either ignorant of current evidence or unwilling to believe. In examining the historical reliability of the Scriptures we shall look first at the Old Testament and then at the New Testament. It is again important to remind ourselves that these studies and examples only hit the high spots; there are innumerably more examples which could be cited. II. Old Testament The question of whether the Bible is historically accurate in its description of persons, places, and events is of crucial importance. If the message of the Bible is to be taken seriously, then the recording of historical events must be accurate.

4 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 4 A. The Flood From the perspective of a biblical worldview, the Deluge - the Flood - depicted in Genesis is the second most catastrophic event in the history of humanity. (What is first? Fall of Man ) From the perspective of critics, it is also the most comical. Critics routinely spoof the biblical flood account as just plain silly. Unfortunately there are many conservative Christian writers and commentators who try to explain away the flood as well. 1. Geologic Phenomena Fossil Evidence Several factors contribute to the formation of a fossil, but the two primary factors are: 1) Sudden burial and 2) substantial pressure Fossil graveyards are found all over the earth ; they are not restricted to one or even several locations. Oddly enough, many scientists and Bible commentators claim belief in a flood. They cannot deny the overwhelming fossil evidence; but for them it was a flood, not The flood meaning there were localized floods all over the world. Let s briefly examine some reasons as to why it was a worldwide and not a localized flood. First is the specific language in chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9 of Genesis. Secondly, because the construction and outfitting and populating of the ark was an absurdity if the flood was local.

5 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 5 A third reason why we know it was a worldwide flood is that, after the flood, God promised never to bring such drowning destruction (Gen. 8:21; 9:11,15). If it was a local flood, then God didn t tell the truth The fourth reason we know the flood was worldwide is because Genesis traces all the people in the world back to Noah A fifth reason is that if it were only local, how then, is it possible that we find fossils all over the world? Did every area of the world have a local flood? Actually, every local area of the world did have a flood and all at the same time! Some beds of fossil fish have been found which extend several square miles. This suggests the fish were suddenly buried alive. This phenomenon is true of land animals as well. Today animals usually decompose quickly, yet huge deposits of reptiles have been found in the Rocky Mountains and in the Black Hills of the United States. Huge beds of fossil mammoths in Siberia, beds of horses in Europe, beds of dinosaurs, and innumerable other graveyards found all over the world declare, the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished (2 Peter 3:6). These finds are not confined to one or two animals, but herds! Something killed off entire, enormous herds all at once. What could have accomplished that? Numerous fossil graveyards contain stupendous quantities of fossilized bones of many different kinds of animals thrown together in jumbled masses so as to be explainable only in terms of catastrophic water action of vast proportions. These include the Agate Spring Quarry in Nebraska, the Siwalik Hills fossil beds in India, and the fossil fish graveyard strata of Lompoc, California, the Old Red sandstone in Scotland, and many other fish graveyards in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, etc.

6 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 6 In many locations in the world are found extensive rock strata containing sometimes billions of fossilized animals, frequently densely packed together. They often display evidence of terror and struggle. These facts seem to suggest anything but slow, calm conditions of formation. An overwhelming preponderance of facts point to a sudden, catastrophic burial of enormous quantities of plants and animals, which are found as fossils today. 2. Global Topography Genesis 8:3 speaks of the water going and returning continually. Psalm 104:6-9 describes the mountains rising and the valleys sinking, with the waters hasting away. Job 12:15 speaks of the waters overturning the earth. These each indicate a tremendous amount of erosion and rearrangement of soil and rock on the earth s surface. The entire surface of the earth was changed and altered by these gigantic forces and pressures produced by the unleashing of the floodwaters. Today newspapers report the vast damage produced by local flood conditions. Multiply that damage on a worldwide scale and it is not difficult to understand the destruction caused by the Deluge, including the gouging out of canyons. The worldwide flood can easily account for what is observed in geology today. Characteristics of the rock structures of the earth's crust suggest catastrophic activity on a giant scale not seen today. Striking evidence from archeology indicates that the Andes and Himalayan mountain chains were pushed up thousands of feet. Evidences from geology point to a violent, catastrophic past history of the earth. They imply global flood with associated volcanic and mountain building activity which changed the face of the earth. 3. The Ark Even those who are not Christians and otherwise not familiar with scripture know the story of Noah and the ark. In Genesis 6 God tells Noah to build an ark.

7 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 7 The word ark is the word tebahin in Hebrew. It means box God didn t tell Noah to build a boat; He told him to build a box. It wasn't designed to sail or to be propelled. It wasn t going anywhere; it was only designed to float. You recall that one of the purposes of our study is to strengthen our faith. So, to that end, I m going to give you some detail about the ark. Its immense size Vessels as large as the ark were not built until the 19 th century. The critical length to width ratio - 6:1 Built by a man who was not a shipbuilder Someone has calculated that the capacity of the ark is equivalent to 522 railroad box cars. Its internal space was 100,000 square feet and its total volume, 1.5 million cubic feet. According to calculations, the ark was sufficiently large enough to carry two of every species of air-breathing animal in the world; and, it could be done on half the deck space. And the rest was for Noah and his family. Only supernatural revelation would know the quantity of animals, the capacity needed and what the best structure was for a floating vessel. This is wonderful evidence of the inspired character of Scripture. If Moses had invented the flood story, if somebody else had invented the flood story, they never would have imagined or designed a ship like the ark. It would never have been conceived by anybody in the ancient world. 4. Epic of Gilgamesh Until the late nineteenth century, it was presumed that the Genesis Flood was relegated to the text of Scripture. All that changed, however, in December 1853 when Hormuzd Rassam, who a year earlier had replaced the great Assyriologist Henry Layard in the excavations at Nineveh, discovered the palace of Assurbanipal. There, among the treasures of the great library of Assyria's last king, he uncovered twelve clay tablets. Continued

8 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 8 Rassam shipped the twelve tablets to London, where they were once again buried in the basement of the British Museum amid myriad archaeological artifacts. As if by accident, George Smith stumbled upon tablet 11 in November To the astonishment of the West, he translated the account "of a flood, a ship caught on a mountain, and a bird sent out in search of dry land the first independent confirmation of a vast flood in ancient Mesopotamia, complete with a Noah-like figure and an ark." Columbia University professor David Damrosch rightly referred to the Epic of Gilgamesh as "one of the most sensational finds in the history of archaeology." Yet this was only the beginning. Smith's newfound fame caused funds to materialize as if by magic. In May 1873, "lightning struck again." In the library of Assurbanipal s northern palace, Smith uncovered seventeen lines of the Epic of Atrahasis, an even earlier version of the Flood story. In sum, Smith had uncovered not one but two cuneiform confirmations demonstrating that the Flood account had a currency outside the biblical text. While other flood accounts have continued to surface, the Epic of Gilgamesh remains the best known of the extrabiblical Flood stories. Though the Epic of Gilgamesh is an important piece of ancient history, it is rife with numerous historical errors. Furthermore, the Epic of Gilgamesh does not stand alone among various cultures stories of a great flood. There are over 270 different nations, races, and tribes that have in their tradition a flood story. Let me just give you a random selection of various peoples that have a flood story. The Samokubo tribe of Papau, New Guinea; the Athapascan Indians on America's West Coast; the Papago Indians of Arizona; the Algonquin Indians of Northeast United States; the Brazilian tribes, a number of them; the original people of Cuba; the Mexicans; the natives of Alaska; the Hottentots; the Greenlanders; natives of Hawaii. They have a flood story with a main character named Nu'u. The Welsh, the Lithuanians, and flood traditions exist in the history of India and China and Egypt. That's a sampling of different people groups that have a flood story in their tradition.

9 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 9 Because of this high volume of flood stories, Bible critics charge that the Jewish writers concocted their own flood story, or even borrowed from the Epic of Gilgamesh or other cultures stories. But what does clear logical thinking really indicate? These similar stories arising from different cultures are clearly indicative of a common inheritance an actual event In commenting on the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Biblical account, professor of archaeology Alfred J. Hoerth explains, "Both accounts derive from the same source the actual event. There was a flood, and both the Bible and the Epic record it. As the descendants of Noah drifted apart and away from God, there must have been a long parade of human corruptions and polytheistic encrustations on the original and actual event." So, instead of providing evidence that the Biblical Flood did not occur, in fact, it provides convincing proof that a worldwide flood did occur! Hugh Miller, a careful investigator of these stories way back in the 1800s, wrote, "The destruction of well nigh the whole human race in an early age of the world's history by a great deluge appears to have so impressed the minds of the few survivors and seems to have been handed down to their children in consequence with such terror struck impressiveness that their remote descendents of the present day have not even yet forgotten it." For more information and resources on the Flood visit or B. Conquest of Canaan In the past many liberal scholars believed that the Israelites slowly and peacefully infiltrated the central hill country of Canaan. Those scholars rejected the biblical account. Excavation in the cities of Bethel, Lachish and Debir showed that the biblical account was correct. Canaan was taken through conquest; all of those sites revealed destruction around 1200 BC.

10 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 10 Renowned archeologist Paul Lapp concludes: The archaeological evidence supports the view that the biblical traditions developed from an actual historical conquest under Joshua in the late thirteenth century BC. C. King Sargon One of the most interesting confirmations of this general time period relates to the Assyrian king referred to by name only in Isaiah 20:1. There we read that Sargon, the king of Assyria, sent his tartan (commander-in-chief) against the Philistine City of Ashdod, on the Mediterranean coast. Many Bible critics believed that this was clearly a mistake, for no King Sargon was known. The Bible reference was subsequently substantiated by archeology and in fact demonstrated the reliability of the Bible in no less than three different ways. It showed that there was a King Sargon, despite those critics who insisted there was no such king. Second, it confirmed the particular reference to a campaign by Sargon against Philistine Ashdod. Third, it showed that the Bible writers even knew the titles of the Assyrians with whom they were in frequent, though hostile, contact. D. Use of Writing Until this century with its archeological discoveries, it was believed that Moses could not have written the first five books of the Old Testament because writing was said to be virtually unknown or at least not commonly used. Modern historical and archaeological discoveries, however, show that writing was in common use prior to the time of Moses. It is clear that Moses had the capacity to write the first five books. Writings have been found in the ruins of Ur, Kish, and Fara. In the ruins of these cities thousands of clay and stone tablets showing written records before Abraham s day were found. The Weld Dynastic Prism, the oldest known Outline of World History, was written 100 years before Abraham. It was found in 1922 at Larsa by the

11 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 11 Weld-Blundell Expedition and lists the kings from the beginning of the race to the time of the writer (2170 BC), a scribe named Nur-Ninsubur. In 1902 a French team of archaeologists found in Babylon a stone carving of Hammurabi s Code of Laws. Hammurabi, king of Babylon about 2000 BC, lived in Abraham s time and is identified as Amraphel in Genesis 14. He was one of the kings Abraham chased when he rescued Lot. Hammurabi had his scribes codify the laws of his kingdom, engrave them on stones, and set them up in the principal cities. A schoolroom of Abraham s day, located in Ur, has been unearthed including exercise tablets for mathematics, grammar, history, and medicine. Perhaps this is the very school that Abraham attended. In Egypt thousands of inscriptions have been found which date more than a thousand years before Moses. In 1888 the Tell-el-Amarna Tablets were found in Egypt. These 400 tablets are letters written about the time of Moses by various kings of Palestine and Syria to the Pharaohs of Egypt. Other evidence abounds which indicates the practice of writing was well known among ancient civilizations. While learned men were loudly proclaiming no such thing as writing in Moses day, God, in his providence, used the spade of archaeologists to bring to light hundreds of thousands of books which were written long before the time in question. In addition, these discoveries confirm the Biblical account of history. E. The Hittites The Hittites, mentioned some 50 times in the Old Testament, were considered for a long time to be a biblically fabricated people. That is, the biblical references to the Hittites used to be regarded as historically worthless because they were never mentioned in secular history. Once again, archeology authenticated the Scripture. Archaeologist A. H. Sayce was the first scholar to identify the Hittite people from a non-biblical source - the monuments. In 1876 he released his information and

12 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 12 revolutionized critical theory concerning the Hittites. Since Sayce s time in the last century, much information about the Hittites has been discovered, confirming again the historical accuracy of the Old Testament. So vast is the amount of evidence today that museums all over the world contain Hittite artifacts. In fact, one entire museum in Ankara, Turkey is devoted to Hittite relics. F. Summary These are just a few; there are many, many more. The facts and evidence from history and archaeology reflect the amazing accuracy with which the persons, places and events are listed during the different periods of Old Testament history. III. New Testament The New Testament is primarily a record of the salvation work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is not primarily a historical record. Yet when the New Testament addresses historical issues, it is accurate and reliable. A. The in the Gospel of Luke Certain critics say the worst bungling of the New Testament occurs in Luke 2:1-5. They doubt that any enrollment or registration was ever required by the Roman Emperor. Secular records say that Saturninus (not Quirinius, as Luke states) was governor of Syria at the time. The whole idea of a census which would force people to return to their ancestral home is ridiculed. It is surmised that this census was invented to accommodate Micah s prophecy that says that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. What has archaeology to say to these charges? First, such enrollments did take place. An edict issued by the governor of Egypt, dated AD 104, has been unearthed. It reads in part:... it is necessary to compel all those who for any cause whatsoever are residing outside their districts to return to their own homes that they may both carry out the regular order of the census.... these enrollments were to ascertain the payment due the Roman treasury.

13 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 13 A careful study of available documents indicates enrollments occurred every fourteen years. Here there is a problem, for the enrollment in question must have been the one that Josephus says took place between 9 and 6 BC. Luke says Syria s governor was Quirinius (Luke 2:2), but secular records show that Quirinius was not governor until AD 6, and Saturninus was governor during the time in question. (Most readers realize that the birth of Christ actually dates somewhere before 4 BC due to a mistake made in the sixth century when the Roman dating replaced the BC-AD system.) Did Luke confuse the two governors? Hardly. Once again archeology vindicated the accuracy of Biblical detail. An inscription found at Tiber and another at Antioch shows that Quirinius was governor. The first time was between 10 and 7 BC. As commander of the Roman forces in the Homonadensian War, he had military jurisdiction over Syria. Thus, while Saturninus was the civic governor, and bore the official title, Quirinius was the military governor. This also explains the phrase concerning Quirinius AD 6 governorship. B. The of John s Gospel Until recently, skeptics viewed the existence of the pools depicted in John's gospel to be little more than legend. Only fools believed in John's pools. 1. The Pool of In June 2004, workers in the Old City of Jerusalem unearthed the place where Jesus cured the man born blind. Today, you can step into the very Pool of Siloam in which the blind man "washed and came back seeing." 2. The Pool of John 5:1-14 tells of a miraculous healing performed by Jesus Christ at the pool of Bethesda. The story states that people in need of healing lay by the five porticos or porches, waiting for an angel to stir the waters of the pool, at which time the ill could be healed. Jesus healed a man there merely by his

14 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 14 word. For hundreds of years the location of the pool had been lost. Some doubted if it ever existed. Biblical scholar F. F. Bruce describes how this pool was found: The pool of Bethesda, described in John 5:2, has been located in the northeast quarter of the old city of Jerusalem, the quarter which was called Bezetha, or New Town, in the first century AD. In 1888 excavations near St. Anne s Church, in that quarter, revealed the remains of an ancient church building. Beneath this lay a crypt, with its north wall divided into five compartments in imitation of arches; on this wall there could also be distinguished traces of an old fresco representing the angel troubling the water. Clearly those who built this structure believed that it marked the site of the pool of Bethesda. And subsequent excavations below the crypt showed that they were right; a flight of steps was uncovered leading down to a pool with five shallow porticos on its north side, directly underneath the five imitation arches on the north wall of the crypt. There are few sites in Jerusalem, mentioned in the Gospels, which can be identified so confidently. C. The of Pontius Pilate In the past, liberal critics discounted the existence of Proconsul Pontius Pilate, who gave the crucifixion order for Jesus Christ. In 1961 an Italian archaeologist, Antonio Frova, discovered an inscription at Caesarea Maritima on a stone slab which at the time of the discovery was being used as a section of steps leading into the Caesarea Theater. The inscription in Latin contained four lines, three of which are partially readable. Roughly translated they are as follows: Tiberium Pontius Pilate Prefect of Judea This inscription clarifies the title of Pontius Pilate as prefect at least during a time in his rulership. Roman historian of the first century, Tacitus, and first-century Jewish historian, Josephus, later referred to him as procurator. The New Testament calls him governor (Matthew 27:2), a term which incorporates both titles. This inscription is the only archaeological evidence of both Pilate s name and this title.

15 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 15 D. The of Christ s Crucifixion Liberals have contended that Jesus was tied rather than nailed to the cross and that his corpse was likely thrown into shallow grave and eaten by wild dogs that roamed the execution grounds. They point to the lack of evidence that crucified victims were nailed to their crosses. Recently, archeologists discovered a reservoir of archeological nuggets that provide a powerful counter to objections raised by scholars against the biblical account of Christ's crucifixion and burial. In U.S. News and World Report, Jeffrey Sheler highlights the significance of the recent discovery of the remains of a man crucified during the first century. Explorers found the skeletal remains of a crucified man in a burial cave at Giva'at ha-mitvar, near the Nablus road outside of Jerusalem. It was a momentous discovery: never before had the remains of a crucifixion victim been recovered. The bones were preserved in a stone burial box called an ossuary and appeared to be those of a man about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 24 to 28 years old. His open arms had been nailed to the crossbar, in the manner similar to that shown in crucifixion paintings. The knees had been doubled up and turned sideways, and a single large iron nail had been driven through both heels. The nail still lodged in the heel bone of one foot, though the executioners had removed the body from the cross after death was found bent, apparently having hit a knot in the wood. The shin bones seem to have been broken, corroborating what the Gospel of John suggests was normal practice in Roman crucifixions. E. Summary What is the testimony of Biblical scholars? Henry Morris states: This great antiquity of the Bible histories in comparison with those of other writings, combined with the evolutionary preconceptions of the 19 th century, led many scholars to insist that the Bible histories also were in large part merely legendary. As long as nothing was available, except copies of ancient manuscripts for the evaluation of ancient histories, such teachings may have been persuasive. Now, however, it is no longer possible to reject the substantial historicity of the Bible, at least as far back

16 Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 16 as the time of Abraham, because of the remarkable discoveries of archaeology. It is significant that, in view of the great mass of corroborative evidence regarding the biblical history of these periods, there exists today not one find of archaeology that proves the Bible to be in error at any point. Scholar Norman Geisler adds: In every period of Old Testament history, we find that there is good evidence from archaeology that the Scriptures speak the truth. While many have doubted the accuracy of the Bible, time and continued research have consistently demonstrated that the Word of God is better informed than its critics. In fact, while thousands of finds from the ancient world support in broad outline and often in detail the biblical picture, not one incontrovertible find has ever contradicted the Bible. Archaeological and historical evidence concerning the historical events, places, names and concepts mentioned in the New Testament conclusively affirm the basic historical reliability of the New Testament text. IV. Conclusion In our discussion of the authenticating archaeology of the Scriptures, we have only touched, not even scratched, the surface. We have omitted much more than we have discussed; we have not even examined the topic of the Bible and science. As we examine the evidence for our foundational statement that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God and thus trustworthy and reliable, what does the evidence that we have gathered indicate? The evidence is insurmountable. The unique unity, the matchless manuscript evidence and the authenticating archeology stand as staggering and unanswerable proof of the divine inspiration of Scripture. And, there is yet more evidence to come. Lesson Eighteen: Cornerstone Four - Perfect Prophecy

17 F Battle for Truth Lesson Seventeen/page 17