Archaeology and the Old Testament

Transcription

1 Archaeology and the Old Testament Dr. Patrick Zukeran surveys the importance of archaeology with regard to its confirmation of biblical history. This article is also available in Spanish. Understanding Archaeology Christianity is a historical faith based on actual events recorded in the Bible. Archaeology has therefore played a key role in biblical studies and Christian apologetics in several ways. First, archaeology has confirmed the historical accuracy of the Bible. It has verified many ancient sites, civilizations, and biblical characters whose existence was questioned by the academic world and often dismissed as myths. Biblical archaeology has silenced many critics as new discoveries supported the facts of the Bible. Second, archaeology helps us improve our understanding of the Bible. Although we do not have the original writings of the authors, thousands of ancient manuscripts affirm that we have an accurate transmission of the original texts.{1} Archaeology can also help us to understand more accurately the nuances and uses of biblical words as they were used in their day. Third, archaeology helps illustrate and explain Bible passages. The events of the Bible occurred at a certain time, in a particular culture, influenced by a particular social and political structure. Archaeology gives us insights into these areas. Archaeology also helps to supplement topics not covered in the Bible. Much of what we know of the pagan religions and the intertestamental period comes from archaeological

2 research. As we approach this study we must keep in mind the limits of archaeology. First, it does not prove the divine inspiration of the Bible. It can only confirm the accuracy of the events. Second, unlike other fields of science, archaeology cannot recreate the process under study. Archaeologists must study and interpret the evidence left behind. All conclusions must allow for revision and reinterpretation based on new discoveries. Third, how archaeological evidence is understood depends on the interpreter s presuppositions and worldview. It is important to understand that many researchers are skeptics of the Bible and hostile to its world view. Fourth, thousands of archives have been discovered, but an enormous amount of material has been lost. For example, the library in Alexandria held over one million volumes, but all were lost in a seventh century fire. Fifth, only a fraction of available archaeological sites have been surveyed, and only a fraction of surveyed sites have been excavated. In fact, it is estimated that less than two percent of surveyed sites have been worked on. Once work begins, only a fraction of an excavation site is actually examined, and only a small part of what is examined is published. For example, the photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls were withheld from the public for forty years after they were uncovered. It is important to understand that the Scriptures remain the primary source of authority. We must not elevate archaeology to the point that it becomes the judge for the validity of Scripture. Randall Price states, There are indeed instances where the information needed to resolve a historical or chronological question is lacking from both archaeology and the Bible, but it is unwarranted to assume the material evidence taken from the more limited content of archaeological excavations can be used to dispute the literary evidence from the more complete content of the canonical scriptures. {2} The

3 Bible has proven to be an accurate and trustworthy source of history. Noted archaeologist Nelson Glueck writes, As a matter of fact, however, it may be clearly stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a single biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible. {3} The Discovery of the Hittites The Hittites played a prominent role in Old Testament history. They interacted with biblical figures as early as Abraham and as late as Solomon. They are mentioned in Genesis 15:20 as people who inhabited the land of Canaan. 1 Kings 10:29 records that they purchased chariots and horses from King Solomon. The most prominent Hittite is Uriah the husband of Bathsheba. The Hittites were a powerful force in the Middle East from 1750 B.C. until 1200 B.C. Prior to the late 19 th century, nothing was known of the Hittites outside the Bible, and many critics alleged that they were an invention of the biblical authors. In 1876 a dramatic discovery changed this perception. A British scholar named A. H. Sayce found inscriptions carved on rocks in Turkey. He suspected that they might be evidence of the Hittite nation. Ten years later, more clay tablets were found in Turkey at a place called Boghaz-koy. German cuneiform expert Hugo Winckler investigated the tablets and began his own expedition at the site in Winckler s excavations uncovered five temples, a fortified citadel and several massive sculptures. In one storeroom he found over ten thousand clay tablets. One of the documents proved to be a record of a treaty between Ramesses II and the Hittite king. Other tablets showed that Boghaz-koy was the capital of the Hittite kingdom. Its original name was Hattusha and the city covered an area of 300 acres. The Hittite nation

4 had been discovered! Less than a decade after Winckler s find, Czech scholar Bedrich Hronzny proved the Hittite language is an early relative of the Indo-European languages of Greek, Latin, French, German, and English. The Hittite language now has a central place in the study of the history of the Indo-European languages. The discovery also confirmed other biblical facts. Five temples were found containing many tablets with details of the rites and ceremonies that priests performed. These ceremonies described rites for purification from sin and purification of a new temple. The instructions proved to be very elaborate and lengthy. Critics once criticized the laws and instructions found in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy as too complicated for the time it was written (1400 B.C.). The Boghaz-koy texts along with others from Egyptian sites and a site along the Euphrates called Emar have proven that the ceremonies described in the Jewish Pentateuch are consistent with the ceremonies of the cultures of this time period. The Hittite Empire made treaties with civilizations they conquered. Two dozen of these have been translated and provide a better understanding of treaties in the Old Testament. The discovery of the Hittite Empire at Boghaz-koy has significantly advanced our understanding of the patriarchal period. Dr. Fred Wright summarizes the importance of this find in regard to biblical historicity: Now the Bible picture of this people fits in perfectly with what we know of the Hittite nation from the monuments. As an empire they never conquered the land of Canaan itself, although the Hittite local tribes did settle there at an early date. Nothing discovered by the excavators has in any way discredited the Biblical account. Scripture accuracy has once more been proved by the archaeologist.{4}

5 The discovery of the Hittites has proven to be one of the great archaeological finds of all time. It has helped to confirm the biblical narrative and had a great impact on Middle East archaeological study. Because of it, we have come to a greater understanding of the history of our language, as well as the religious, social, and political practices of the ancient Middle East. Sodom and Gomorrah The story of Sodom and Gomorrah has long been viewed as a legend. Critics assume that it was created to communicate moral principles. However, throughout the Bible this story is treated as a historical event. The Old Testament prophets refer to the destruction of Sodom on several occasions (Deut. 29:23, Isa. 13:19, Jer. 49:18), and these cities play a key role in the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles (Matt. 10:15, 2 Pet. 2:6 and Jude 1:7). What has archaeology found to establish the existence of these cities? Archaeologists have searched the Dead Sea region for many years in search of Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 14:3 gives their location as the Valley of Siddim known as the Salt Sea, another name for the Dead Sea. On the east side six wadies, or river valleys, flow into the Dead Sea. Along five of these wadies, ancient cities were discovered. The northern most is named Bab edh-drha. In 1924, renowned archaeologist Dr. William Albright excavated at this site, searching for Sodom and Gomorrah. He discovered it to be a heavily fortified city. Although he connected this city with one of the biblical Cities of the Plains, he could not find conclusive evidence to justify this assumption. More digging was done in 1965, 1967, and The archaeologists discovered a 23-inch thick wall around the city, along with numerous houses and a large temple. Outside the city were huge grave sites where thousands of skeletons were unearthed. This revealed that the city had been well

6 populated during the early Bronze Age, about the time Abraham would have lived. Most intriguing was evidence that a massive fire had destroyed the city. It lay buried under a coating of ash several feet thick. A cemetery one kilometer outside the city contained charred remains of roofs, posts, and bricks turned red from heat. Dr. Bryant Wood, in describing these charnel houses, stated that a fire began on the roofs of these buildings. Eventually the burning roof collapsed into the interior and spread inside the building. This was the case in every house they excavated. Such a massive fiery destruction would match the biblical account that the city was destroyed by fire that rained down from heaven. Wood states, The evidence would suggest that this site of Bab edh-drha is the biblical city of Sodom. {5} Five cities of the plain are mentioned in Genesis 14: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zoar, and Zeboiim. Remnants of these other four cities are also found along the Dead Sea. Following a southward path from Bab edh-drha there is the city called Numeria. Continuing south is the city called es-safi. Further south are the ancient cities of Feifa and Khanazir. Studies at these cities revealed that they had been abandoned at the same time about B.C. Many archaeologists believe if Bab ed-drha is Sodom, Numeria is Gomorrah, and es-safi is Zoar. What fascinated the archaeologists is that these cities were covered in the same ash as Bab ed-drha. Numeria, believed to be Gomorrah, had seven feet of ash in some places. In every one of the destroyed cities ash deposits made the soil a spongy charcoal, making it impossible to rebuild. According to the Bible, four of the five cities were destroyed, leaving Lot to flee to Zoar. Zoar was not destroyed by fire, but was abandoned during this period. Although archaeologists are still disputing these findings,

7 this is one discovery we will be hearing more about in years to come. The Walls of Jericho According to the Bible, the conquest of Jericho occurred in approximately 1440 B.C. The miraculous nature of the conquest has caused some scholars to dismiss the story as folklore. Does archaeology support the biblical account? Over the past century four prominent archaeologists have excavated the site: Carl Watzinger from , John Garstang in the 1930 s, Kathleen Kenyon from , and currently Bryant Wood. The result of their work has been remarkable. First, they discovered that Jericho had an impressive system of fortifications. Surrounding the city was a retaining wall fifteen feet high. At its top was an eight-foot brick wall strengthened from behind by an earthen rampart. Domestic structures were found behind this first wall. Another brick wall enclosed the rest of the city. The domestic structures found between the two walls is consistent with Joshua s description of Rahab s quarters (Josh. 2:15). Archeologists also found that in one part of the city, large piles of bricks were found at the base of both the inner and outer walls, indicating a sudden collapse of the fortifications. Scholars feel that an earthquake, which may also explain the damming of the Jordan in the biblical account, caused this collapse. The collapsed bricks formed a ramp by which an invader might easily enter the city (Josh. 6:20). Of this amazing discovery Garstang states, As to the main fact, then, there remains no doubt: the walls fell outwards so completely, the attackers would be able to clamber up and over the ruins of the city. {6} This is remarkable because when attacked city walls fall inward, not outward. A thick layer of soot indicates that the city was destroyed by fire as described in Joshua 6:24. Kenyon describes it this

8 way. The destruction was complete. Walls and floors were blackened or reddened by fire and every room was filled with fallen bricks. {7} Archaeologists also discovered large amounts of grain at the site. This is again consistent with the biblical account that the city was captured quickly. If it had fallen as a result of a siege, the grain would have been used up. According to Joshua 6:17, the Israelites were forbidden to plunder the city, but had to destroy it totally. Although the archaeologists agreed Jericho was violently destroyed, they disagreed on the date of the conquest. Garstang held to the biblical date of 1400 B.C. while Watzinger and Kenyon believed the destruction occurred in 1550 B.C. In other words, if the later date is accurate, Joshua arrived at a previously destroyed Jericho. This earlier date would pose a serious challenge to the historicity of the Old Testament. Dr. Bryant Wood, who is currently excavating the site, found that Kenyon s early date was based on faulty assumptions about pottery found at the site. His later date is also based on the discovery of Egyptian amulets in the tombs northwest of Jericho. Inscribed under these amulets were the names of Egyptian Pharaohs dating from B.C., showing that the cemetery was in use up to the end of the late Bronze Age ( B.C.). Finally, a piece of charcoal found in the debris was carbon-14 dated to be 1410 B.C. The evidence leads Wood to this conclusion. The pottery, stratigraphic considerations, scarab data and a carbon-14 date all point to a destruction of the city around the end of the Late Bronze Age, about 1400 BCE. {8} Thus, current archeological evidence supports the Bible s account of when and how Jericho fell. House of David One of the most beloved characters in the Bible is King David.

9 Scripture says that he was a man after God s own heart. He is revered as the greatest of all Israelite kings and the messianic covenant is established through his lineage. Despite his key role in Israel s history, until recently no evidence outside the Bible attested to his existence. For this reason critics questioned the existence of a King David. In the summer of 1993, an archaeologist made what has been labeled as a phenomenal and stunning discovery. Dr. Avraham Biran and his team were excavating a site labeled Tell Dan, located in northern Galilee at the foot of Mt. Hermon. Evidence indicates that this is the site of the Old Testament land of Dan. The team had discovered an impressive royal plaza. As they were clearing the debris, they discovered in the ruins the remains of a black basalt stele, or stone slab, containing Aramaic inscriptions. The stele contained thirteen lines of writing but none of the sentences were complete. Some of the lines contained only three letters while the widest contained fourteen. The letters that remained were clearly engraved and easy to read. Two of the lines included the phrases The King of Israel and House of David. This is the first reference to King David found outside of the Bible. This discovery has caused many critics to reconsider their view of the historicity of the Davidic kingdom. Pottery found in the vicinity, along with the construction and style of writing, lead Dr. Biran to argue that the stele was erected in the first quarter of the ninth century B.C., about a century after the death of King David. The translation team discovered that the inscription told of warfare between the Israelites and the Arameans, which the Bible refers to during this period. In this find, a ruler of the Arameans probably Hazael is victorious over Israel and Judah. The stele was erected to celebrate the defeat of the two kings. In 1994 two more pieces were found with

10 inscriptions which refer to Jehoram, the son of Ahab, ruler over Israel, and Ahaziah, who was the ruler over the House of David or Judah. These names and facts correspond to the account given in chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Kings. Dr. Hershel Shanks of Biblical Archaeological Review states, The stele brings to life the biblical text in a very dramatic way. It also gives us more confidence in the historical reality of the biblical text. {9} The find has confirmed a number of facts. First, the use of the term House of David implies that there was a Davidic dynasty that ruled Israel. We can conclude, then, that a historic King David existed. Second, the kingdoms of Judah and Israel were prominent political entities as the Bible describes. Critics long viewed the two nations as simply insignificant states. Dr. Bryant Wood summarizes the importance of this find this way. In our day, most scholars, archaeologist and biblical scholars would take a very critical view of the historical accuracy of many of the accounts in the Bible.... Many scholars have said there never was a David or a Solomon, and now we have a stele that actually mentions David. {10} Although many archeologists remain skeptical of the biblical record, the evidence for the historical accuracy of the Bible continues to build. Notes 1. See Are the Biblical Documents Reliable? available on the Web at 2. Randall Price, The Stones Cry Out (Eugene, OR.: Harvest House Publishers, 1997), 46. e, Nelson Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, (New York: Farrar, Strous and Cudahy, 1959), 136. e, 173.

11 4.Fred Wright, Highlights of Archaeology in the Bible Lands, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1955), Price, John Garstang, The Foundations of Bible History; Joshua, Judges (London: Constable, 1931), Kathleen Kenyon and Thomas Holland, Excavations at Jericho Vol. 3: The Architecture and Stratigraphy of the Tell, (London: BSA), Bryant Wood, Did the Israelites Conquer Jericho? Biblical Archaeological Review, March/April, 1990, John Wilford, Areologists say Evidence of House of David Found. Dallas Morning News, 6 August 1993, 1A 10. Price, 173. Bibliography 1. Biblical Archaeological Review, March/April 1994, David Found at Dan, Bryce, Trevor. The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford: Clarendon Press, Freedman, Noel and Geoghegan, Jeffrey. House of David Is There! Biblical Archaeological Review. March/April,1995, Garstang, John. The Foundations of Bible History; Joshua, Judges. London: Constable, The Land of the Hittites. London: Constable and Company, Geisler, Norman. When Skeptics Ask. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, Glueck, Nelson. Rivers in the Desert. New York: Farrar, Strous and Cudahy, Hoerth, Alfred. Archaeology and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, Kenyon, Kathleen and Holland, Thomas. Excavations at Jericho Vol. 3: The Architecture and Stratigraphy of the Tell. London: BSA 370.

12 10.. Digging Up Jericho. New York: Fredrick Praeger Publisher, Lemonick, Michael. Score One for the Bible. Time Magazine, 5 March 1990, Are the Bible Stories True? Time Magazine, December 18, 1995, McDowell, Josh. Evidence That Demands a Verdict. San Bernadino: Here s Life Publishers, More Evidence That Demands a Verdict. San Bernadino: Here s Life Publishers, Merrill, Eugene. The Very Stones Cry Out: A New Witness to an Ancient Record. Gospel Herald at the Sunday School Times. Fall 1995, 54-55, Millard, Alan. Nelson s Illustrated Wonders and Discoveries of the Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, Price, Randall. The Stones Cry Out. Eugene, OR.: Harvest House Publishers, Wilford, John. Archaeologists say Evidence of House of David Found. Dallas Morning News, 6 August 1993, 1A and 11A. 19. Wood, Bryant. Did the Israelites Conquer Jericho? Biblical Archaeological Review, Vol. 16:2, Wright, Fred. Highlights of Archaeology in the Bible Lands. Chicago: Moody Press, Yamauchi, Edwin, The Stones and the Scriptures. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, Probe Ministries. Authority of the Bible A Strong Argument for Christianity Dr. Pat Zukeran examines some of the compelling evidence for the reliability and the authority of the Bible. The uniqueness

13 and astounding accuracy of this ancient text is an important apologetic for Christianity. This article is also available in Spanish. There are many books today that claim to be the Word of God. The Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Mormon, and other religious works all claim to be divinely inspired. The Bible claims to be the only book that is divinely inspired and that all other claims of inspiration from other works should be ruled out. Does the Bible confirm its exclusive claim to be the Word of God? The totality of evidences presents a strong case for the divine inspiration of the Bible. The strongest argument for the divine inspiration of the Bible is the testimony of Jesus. Jesus claimed to be the divine Son of God and confirmed His claims through His sinless, miraculous life and resurrection. The events of His life have been recorded in the four Gospels, which have proven to be historically accurate and written by first century eyewitnesses.{1} Since Jesus is God incarnate, whatever He taught is true, and anything opposed to His teaching is false. Jesus directly affirmed the authority of the Old Testament and indirectly affirmed the New Testament. In Luke 11:51, Jesus identified the prophets and the canon of the Old Testament. He names Abel as the first prophet from Genesis, and Zechariah the last prophet mentioned in 2 Chronicles, the last book in the Jewish Old Testament (which contains the same books we have today although placed in a different order). In Mark 7:8-9, Jesus refers to the Old Testament as the commands of God. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus states that the Law and the Prophets referring to the Old Testament is authoritative and imperishable. Throughout His ministry, Jesus made clear His teachings, corrections, and actions were consistent with the Old Testament. He also judged others teachings and traditions by the Old Testament. He thus demonstrated His affirmation of

14 the Old Testament to be the Word of God. Jesus even specifically affirmed as historical several disputed stories of the Old Testament. He affirms as true the accounts of Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:4-5), Noah and the flood (Matthew 24:39), Jonah and the whale (Matthew 12:40), Sodom and Gomorrah (Matthew 10:15), and more. Jesus confirmed the Old Testament and promised that the Holy Spirit would inspire the apostles in the continuation of His teaching and in the writing of what would become the New Testament (John 14:25-26 and John 16:12-13). The apostles demonstrated that they came with the authority of God through the miracles they performed as Jesus and the Prophets did before them. The book of Acts, which records the miracles of the apostles, has also proven to be a historically accurate record written by a first century eyewitness. Prophecy Many religious books claim to be divinely inspired, but only the Bible has evidence of supernatural confirmation. We have seen that Jesus, being God incarnate, affirms the inspiration of the Bible. Another evidence of supernatural confirmation is the testimony of prophecy. The biblical authors made hundreds of specific prophecies of future events that have come to pass in the manner they were predicted. No book in history can compare to the Bible when it comes to the fulfillment of prophecy. Here are some examples. Ezekiel 26, which was written in 587 B.C., predicted the destruction of Tyre, a city made up of two parts: a mainland port city, and an island city half a mile off shore. Ezekiel prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would destroy the city, many nations would fight against her, the debris of the city would be thrown into the ocean, the city would never be found again, and fishermen would come there to lay their nets.

15 In 573 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the mainland city of Tyre. Many of the refugees of the city sailed to the island, and the island city of Tyre remained a powerful city. In 333 B.C., however, Alexander the Great laid siege to Tyre. Using the rubble of mainland Tyre, he built a causeway to the island city of Tyre. He then captured and completely destroyed the city. Today, Tyre is a small fishing town where fishing boats come to rest and fisherman spread their nets. The great ancient city of Tyre to this day lies buried in ruins exactly as prophesied. If we were to calculate the odds of this event happening by chance, the figures would be astronomical. No, it was not by coincidence.{2} Here s another example. There are nearly one hundred prophecies made about Jesus in the Old Testament, prophecies such as His place of birth, how he would die, His rejection by the nation of Israel, and so on. All these prophecies were made hundreds of years before Jesus ever came to earth. Because of the accuracy of the prophecies, many skeptics have believed that they must have been written after A.D. 70 after the birth and death of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem. They have thereby tried to deny that they are even prophecies. However, in 1947 the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. These scrolls contained the book of Isaiah and other prophetic books. When dated, they were found to be written from 120 to 100 B.C.,{3} well before Jesus was born. It would have been an incredible accomplishment for Jesus to have fulfilled the numerous prophecies. Some say these prophecies were fulfilled by chance, but the odds against this would be exceptionally large. It would take more a greater leap of faith to believe in that chance happening than in the fact that Jesus is God and these prophecies are divinely inspired. The record of prophecy is thus evidence for the unique and supernatural origin of the Bible.

16 Unity The Bible is the only book with supernatural confirmation to support its claim of divine inspiration. The testimony of Christ and the legacy of prophecy are two proofs for inspiration. A third line of evidence is the unity of the Bible. The Bible covers hundreds of topics, yet it does not contradict itself. It remains united in its theme. Well, what s so amazing about that? you may ask. Consider these facts. First, the Bible was written over a span of fifteen hundred years. Second, it was written by more than forty men from every walk of life. For example, Moses was educated in Egypt, Peter was a fisherman, Solomon was a king, Luke was a doctor, Amos was a shepherd, and Matthew was a tax collector. All the writers were of vastly different occupations and backgrounds. Third, it was written in many different places. The Bible was written on three different continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. Moses wrote in the desert of Sinai, Paul wrote in a prison in Rome, Daniel wrote in exile in Babylon, and Ezra wrote in the ruined city of Jerusalem. Fourth, it was written under many different circumstances. David wrote during a time of war, Jeremiah wrote at the sorrowful time of Israel s downfall, Peter wrote while Israel was under Roman domination, and Joshua wrote while invading the land of Canaan. Fifth, the writers had different purposes for writing. Isaiah wrote to warn Israel of God s coming judgment on their sin; Matthew wrote to prove to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah; Zechariah wrote to encourage a disheartened Israel who had returned from Babylonian exile; and Paul wrote addressing problems in different Asian and European churches.

17 If we put all these factors together the Bible was written over fifteen hundred years by forty different authors at different places, under various circumstances, and addressing a multitude of issues how amazing that with such diversity, the Bible proclaims a unified message! That unity is organized around one theme: God s redemption of man and all of creation. The writers address numerous controversial subjects yet contradictions never appear. The Bible is an incredible document. Let me offer you a good illustration. Suppose ten medical students graduating in the same year from medical school wrote position papers on four controversial subjects. Would they all agree on each point? No, we would have disagreements from one author to another. Now look at the authorship of the Bible. All these authors, from a span of fifteen hundred years, wrote on many controversial subjects, yet they do not contradict one another. It seems one author guided these writers through the whole process: the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21 states, No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. The unity of the Bible is just one more amazing proof of the divine inspiration and authority of the Bible. Archaeology We ve studied the testimony of Jesus, prophecy, and the unity of the Bible as providing supernatural confirmation of the divine inspiration of the Bible. Another line of evidence is archaeology. Archaeology does not directly prove the Bibles inspiration, but it does prove its historical reliability. Middle Eastern archaeological investigations have proven the Bible to be true and unerringly accurate in its historical descriptions. Nelson Glueck, a renowned Jewish archaeologist, states, No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a

18 biblical reference.{4} Dr. William Albright, who was probably the foremost authority in Middle East archaeology in his time, said this about the Bible: There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of the Old Testament.{5} At this time, the number of archaeological discoveries that relate to the Bible number in the hundreds of thousands.{6} Archaeology has verified numerous ancient sites, civilizations, and biblical characters whose existence was questioned by the academic world and often dismissed as myths. Biblical archaeology has silenced many critics as new discoveries supported the facts of the Bible. Here are a few examples of the historical accuracy of the Bible. The Bible records that the Hittites were a powerful force in the Middle East from 1750 B.C. until 1200 B.C. (Genesis 15:20, 2 Samuel 11, and 1 Kings 10:29). Prior to the late nineteenth century, nothing was known of the Hittites outside the Bible, and many critics alleged that they were an invention of the biblical authors. However, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, archaeologists in Turkey discovered a city which proved to be the capital of the Hittite empire. In the city they discovered a massive library of thousands of tablets. These tablets showed that the Hittite language was an early relative of the Indo-European languages. Another example is the story of Jericho recorded in the book of Joshua. For years, skeptics thought the story of the falling walls of Jericho was a myth. However, recent archaeological discoveries have led several prominent scholars to conclude that the biblical description of the fall of Jericho is consistent with the discoveries they have made. One of the leading archaeologists on Jericho presently is Dr. Bryant Wood. His research has shown that the archaeological evidence matches perfectly with the biblical record.{7}

19 Archaeology has also demonstrated the accuracy of the New Testament. One of the most well attested to New Testament authors is Luke. Scholars have found him to be a very accurate historian, even in many of his details. In the Gospel of Luke and Acts, Luke names thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities, and nine islands without error.{8} A. N. Sherwin-White states, For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming.... Any attempt to reject its basic historicity must now appear absurd. Roman historians have long taken it for granted.{9} There is no other ancient book that has so much archaeological evidence to support its accounts. Since God is a God of truth, we should expect His revelation to present what is historically true. Archaeology presents tangible proof of the historical accuracy of the Bible. The Bible Alone Is God s Word We have given several proofs for the divine inspiration of the Bible. These include the testimony of Jesus the divine Son of God, prophecy, unity, and archaeology. Accepting the divine inspiration of the Bible leads to the conclusion that all other works cannot be divinely inspired. This does not mean other works do not contain truth. All people are created in the image of God and can articulate principles that are true. However, only the Bible proves to be divinely inspired by God and therefore, other claims of divine inspiration should be ruled out for several reasons. The Bible is the only book that gives supernatural confirmation to support its claim of divine inspiration. Other scriptures which contradict it cannot, therefore, be true. The law of non-contradiction states that two contradictory statements cannot be true at the same time. If one proposition is known to be true, its opposite must be false. If it is true that I am presently alive, it cannot also be true to say that I am presently not alive. This is a universal law which is

20 practiced daily in every part of the world. Even if you claim, the law of non-contradiction is false, you are asserting this statement is true and its opposite is false. In other words you end up appealing to the law you are trying to deny thus making a self-defeating argument. Since we have good reason to believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, any teaching that contradicts the Bible must be false. The Bible makes exclusive claims regarding God, truth and salvation that would exclude other scriptures. The Bible teaches that any deity other than the God of the Bible is a false deity (Exodus 20). Jesus declared that he is the divine Son of God, the source of truth, and the only way to eternal life (John 1 & 14:6). A look at a few works from other religions illustrates this point. The Hindu scriptures include the Vedas and the Upanishads. These books present views of God that are contrary to the Bible. The Vedas are polytheistic, and the Upanishads present a pantheistic worldview of an impersonal divine essence called Brahma, not a personal God. The Koran, the holy book of Islam, denies the deity of Christ, the triune nature of God, and the atoning work of Christ on the cross (Sura 4:116, 168). These are foundational truths taught in the Bible. The Pali Canon, the holy scriptures of Southern Buddhism, teach a naturalistic worldview (or pantheistic, as some schools interpret it). It also teaches salvation by works and the doctrine of reincarnation. The worldview of the Pali Canon and its view of salvation contradict biblical teachings. Since these works contradict biblical teaching, we reject their claim to divine inspiration. The Bible alone proves to be divinely inspired and its exclusive claims rule out the claims of other books. Notes

21 1. For more information refer to the articles The Historical Reliability of the Gospels ( and The Uniqueness of Jesus ( 2. Ralph H. Alexander, Ezekiel, in The Expositor s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), Norman Geisler and William Nix,A General Introduction to the Bible, (Chicago, IL.: Moody Press, 1986), Nelson Glueck, Rivers in the Desert: A History of the Negev (New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Cudahy, 1959), William F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel (Baltimore: John Hopkins, 1953), Randall Price, The Stones Cry Out (Eugene, OR.: Harvest House Publishers, 1997), Ibid., Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999), s.v., Archaeology, New Testament. 9. Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino: Here s Life Publishers,1999), Probe Ministries Evidence for God s Existence Romans chapter 1 says that God has planted evidence of Himself throughout His creation so we are without excuse. Sue Bohlin looks at different types of evidence indicating that God really does exist.

22 A Just Right Universe There s so much about the universe, and our world in particular, that we take for granted because it works so well. But Christian astronomer Dr. Hugh Ross has cited twenty-six different characteristics about the universe that enable it to sustain life. And there are thirty-three characteristics about our galaxy, our solar system, and the planet Earth that are finely-tuned to allow life to exist.{1} I do well to make the meat, potatoes, vegetables, and bread all come out at the same time for dinner; we re talking about fifty-nine different aspects all being kept in perfect balance so the universe hangs together and we can live in it! Our Earth, for instance, is perfectly designed for life. It s the just right size for the atmosphere we need. Its size and corresponding gravity hold a thin, but not too thin, layer of gases to protect us and allow us to breathe. When astronaut John Glenn returned to space, one of the things that struck him was how thin and fragile our atmosphere is (only 50 miles above the Earth). If our planet were smaller it couldn t support an atmosphere, like on Mercury. If it were larger, like Jupiter, the atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, which is poison for us.{2} Earth is the only planet we know of that contains an atmosphere that can support human, animal, and plant life. The Earth is also placed at a just right distance from the sun and the other planets in our solar system. If we were closer to the sun, we d burn up. If we were farther away, we d freeze. Because Earth s orbit is nearly circular, this slightly elliptical shape means that we enjoy a quite narrow range of temperatures, which is important to life. The speed of Earth s rotation on its axis, completing one turn every 24 hours, means that the sun warms the planet evenly. Compare our world to the moon, where there are incredible temperature variations because it lacks sufficient atmosphere or water to

23 retain or deflect the sun s energy. Speaking of the moon, its important that there is only one moon, not two or three or none, and it s the just right size and distance from us. The moon s gravity impacts the movement of ocean currents, keeping the water from becoming stagnant.{3} Water itself is an important part of a just right world. Plants, animals and human beings are mostly made of water, and we need it to live. One of the things that makes Earth unique is the abundance of water in a liquid state. Water has surface tension. This means that water can move upward, against gravity, to bring liquid nutrients to the tops of the tallest plants. Everything else in the world freezes from the bottom up, but water freezes from the top down. Everything else contracts when it freezes, but water expands. This means that in winter, ponds and rivers and lakes can freeze at the surface, but allow fish and other marine creatures to live down below. The fact that we live on a just right planet in a just right universe is evidence that it all was created by a loving God. The Nagging Itch of Ought As a mother, I was convinced of the existence of a moral God when my children, without being taught, would complain that something wasn t fair. Fair? Who taught them about fair? Why is it that no one ever has to teach children about fairness, but all parents hear the universal wail of That s not fa-a-aa-a-air! The concept of fairness is about an internal awareness that there s a certain way that things ought to be. It s not limited to three-year-olds who are unhappy that their older siblings get to stay up later. We see the same thing on Save the Whales bumper stickers. Why should we save the

24 whales? Because we ought to take care of the world. Why should we take care of the world? Because we just should, that s why. It s the right thing to do. There s that sense of ought again. Certain values can be found in all human cultures, a belief that we act certain ways because they re the right thing to do. Murdering one s own people is wrong, for example. Lying and cheating is wrong. So is stealing. Where did this universal sense of right and wrong come from? If we just evolved from the apes, and there is nothing except space, time, and matter, then from where did this moral sense of right and wrong arise? A moral sense of right and wrong isn t connected to our muscles or bones or blood. Some scientists argue that it comes from our genes that belief in morality selects us for survival and reproduction. But if pressed, those same scientists would assure you that ultimate right and wrong don t exist in a measurable way, and it s only the illusion of morality that helps us survive. But if one researcher stole another s data and published results under his own name, all the theories about morality as illusion would go right out the window. I don t know of any scientist who wouldn t cry, That s not fair! Living in the real world is a true antidote for sophisticated arguments against right and wrong. Apologist Greg Koukl points out that guilt is another indicator of ultimate right and wrong. It s tied into our understanding of things that are right and things that are wrong. We feel guilty when we think we ve violated a moral rule, an ought. And that feeling hurts. It doesn t hurt our body; it hurts our souls. An ethical violation is not a physical thing, like a punch in the nose, producing physical pain. It s a soulish injury producing a soulish pain. That s why I call it ethical pain. That s what guilt is ethical pain. {4}

25 The reason all human beings start out with an awareness of right and wrong, the reason we all yearn for justice and fairness, is that we are made in the image of God, who is just and right. The reason we feel violated when someone does us wrong is that a moral law has been broken and you can t have a moral law without a moral law giver. Every time we feel that old feeling of, It s not fa-a-a-a-a-air! rising up within us, it s a signpost pointing us to the existence of God. He has left signposts pointing to Himself all over creation. That s why we are without excuse. Evidence of Design Implies a Designer If you ve ever visited or seen pictures of Mount Rushmore (South Dakota USA), you cannot help but look at the gigantic sculpture of four presidents faces and wonder at the skill of the sculptor. You know, without having to be told, that the natural forces of wind and rain did not erode the rock into those shapes. It took the skilled hands of an artist. William Paley made a compelling argument years ago that the intricacies of a watch are so clearly engineered that it cannot be the product of nature: a watch demands a watchmaker. In the same way, the more we discover about our world and ourselves, the more we see that like an expertly-fashioned watch, our world and we ourselves have been finely crafted with intentional design. And design implies a designer. Since we live in our bodies and take so much of our abilities for granted, it s understandable that we might miss the evidence of design within ourselves much like a fish might be oblivious to what it means to be wet. Dr. Phillip Bishop at the University of Alabama, challenges us to consider what would happen if we commissioned a team of mechanical engineers

26 to develop a robot that could lift 500 pounds. And let s say we also commissioned them to design a robot that could play Chopin. They could probably do that. But what if we asked them to come up with a robot that could do both, and limit the robot s weight to 250 pounds, and require that it be able to do a variety of similar tasks? They d laugh in our faces, no matter how much time or money we gave them to do it. But you know, all we d be asking them to do is to come up with a very crude replication of former football player Mike Reid.{5} Probably the greatest evidence of design in creation is DNA, the material of which our genes are made, as well as the genetic material for every living thing on the planet. One of the startling discoveries about DNA is that it is a highly complex informational code, so complex that scientists struggle hard to decipher even the tiniest portions of the various genes in every organism. DNA conveys intelligent information; in fact, molecular biologists use language terms code, translation, transcription to describe what it does and how it acts. Communication engineers and information scientists tell us that you can t have a code without a codemaker, so it would seem that DNA is probably the strongest indicator in our world that there is an intelligent Designer behind its existence. Dr. Richard Dawkins, a professor of biology who writes books and articles praising evolution, said in his book The Blind Watchmaker, Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose. {6} Even those who desperately fear the implications of design keep running into it. Those who deny the evidence of a designer are a lot like the foolish fisherman. If he fails to catch a fish, he says, Aha! This proves there are no fish! He doesn t want to consider the possibility that it might be he is an inept fisherman. Since science cannot measure the intangible or the supernatural, there are many people who say, Aha! There is no

27 Creator. {7} Foolish fishermen deny the evidence that God exists and has left His fingerprints all over creation. The Reliability of the Bible Every religion has its own holy book, but the Bible is different from all the others. It claims to be the very Word of God, not dropped out of the sky but God-breathed, infused with God s power as He communicated His thoughts and intent through human writers. The Bible was written over a period of 1500 years, by about forty different writers, on three different continents. They addressed a wide variety of subjects, and yet the individual books of the Bible show a remarkable consistency within themselves. There is a great deal of diversity within the Bible, at the same time displaying an amazing unity. It presents an internally consistent message with one great theme: God s love for man and the great lengths to which He went to demonstrate that love. If you pick up any city newspaper, you won t find the kind of agreement and harmony in it that is the hallmark of the biblical books. A collection of documents that spans so much time and distance could not be marked by this unity unless it was superintended by one Author who was behind it all. The unity of the Bible is evidence of God s existence. One other aspect of the Bible is probably the greatest evidence that God exists and that He has spoken to us in His holy book: fulfilled prophecy. The Bible contains hundreds of details of history which were written in advance before any of them came to pass. Only a sovereign God, who knows the future and can make it happen, can write prophecy that is accurately and always eventually fulfilled. For example, God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel against the bustling seaport and trade center of Tyre. In Ezekiel 26:3-6,

28 He said He would bring nations against her: They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her soil from her, and make her a bare rock. Ezekiel has many details of this prophecy against Tyre, which would be like Billy Graham announcing that God was going to wipe New York off the map. Tyre consisted of two parts, a mainland city and an island a half- mile offshore. The first attack came from the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who laid siege to Tyre for thirteen years. Finally, his battering rams broke through the walls, and he tore down the city s towers. But the island part of the city wasn t yet destroyed, because this prophecy was fulfilled in stages. For 250 years it flourished, until Alexander the Great set his sights on Tyre. Even without a navy, he was able to conquer this island city in what some consider his greatest military exploit. He turned the ruined walls and towers of Old Tyre into rubble, which he used to build a causeway from the mainland to the island. When he ran out of material, he scraped the soil from the land to finish the land- bridge, leaving only barren rocks where the old city used to be. He fulfilled the prophecy, They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters (Ez. 26:12). Fulfilled prophecy is just one example of how God shows He is there and He is not silent. How else do we explain the existence of history written in advance? Jesus: The Ultimate Evidence The most astounding thing God has ever done to show His existence to us is when He passed through the veil between heaven and earth and came to live among us as a man. Jesus Christ was far more than just a great moral teacher. He said things that would be outrageous if they weren t true, but He backed them up with even more outrageous signs to prove

29 they were. Jesus claimed not to speak for God as a prophet, but to be God in human flesh. He said, If you ve seen Me, you ve seen the Father (John 14:9), and, The Father and I are one (John 10:30). When asked if He was the Messiah, the promised Savior, He said yes.{8} He told his contemporaries, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58). The fact that His unbelieving listeners decided then to kill Him shows that they realized He was claiming to be Yahweh, God Almighty. When Jesus told His followers that He was the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18), they would immediately be reminded of a passage in the book of Ezekiel where Yahweh God pronounced Himself shepherd over Israel (Ez. 34:1-16). Jesus equated Himself with God. But words are cheap, so Jesus backed up His words with miracles and signs to validate His truth-claims. He healed all sorts of diseases in people: the blind, the deaf, the crippled, lepers, epileptics, and even a woman with a twelveyear hemorrhage. He took authority over the demons that terrorized and possessed people. He even raised the dead. Jesus showed His authority over nature, as well. He calmed a terrible storm with just a word. He created food out of thin air, with bread and fish left over! He turned water into wine. He walked on water. He showed us what God the Father is like; Jesus was God with skin on. He was loving and sensitive, at the same time strong and determined. Children and troubled people were drawn to Him like a magnet, but the arrogant and self-sufficient were threatened by Him. He drenched people with grace and mercy while never compromising His holiness and righteousness. And after living a perfect life, He showed His love to us by dying in our place on a Roman cross, promising to come back to life. Who else but God Himself could make a promise like thatand then fulfill it? The literal, bodily resurrection of

30 Jesus Christ is the final, greatest proof that there is a God, that Jesus is God Himself, and that God has entered our world and showed us the way to heaven so we can be with Him forever. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by Me (John 14:6). God exists, and He has spoken. He made a just right universe that is stamped with clues of its Maker. He placed eternity in our hearts, as Ecclesiastes tells us, and all people have a strong moral streak because we are made in the image of a moral God. The evidence of design in our bodies, our world and the universe is a signpost pointing to a loving, intelligent Designer behind it all. The unity of the Bible and the hundreds of fulfilled prophecies in it show the mind of God behind its creation. And we ve looked at the way Jesus punched through the space-time continuum to show us what God looks like, and opened the doorway to heaven. Jesus is the clearest evidence of all that God does exist. Notes 1. Hugh Ross, Creator and the Cosmos. (Colorado Springs, CO.: Navpress, 1995), R.E.D. Clark, Creation (London: Tyndale Press, 1946), The Wonders of Gods Creation, Moody Institute of Science (Chicago, IL). 4. Gregory Koukl, Guilt and God, Stand to Reason Commentary Phillip Bishop, Evidence of God in Human Physiology Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1986), Bishop. 8. Mark 14:61-62; Matthew 26: 63-65; Luke 22:67-70 The author gratefully acknowledges the insights of Marilyn Adamson, whose article Is There a God? on

31 LeaderU.com formed the basis for much of this essay Probe Ministries. I am a Christ-Believing Hindu I am a Hindu by birth. A Christ-believing Hindu (we will get to that a little later). I was just reading your write up on Do Hindus believe in Jesus. And I am writing to thank you! Thank you for not calling Hinduism a religion creating by Satan as some do, for not outrightly dismissing our faith as pagan or evil. Thank you for the open mind with which you view Hinduism. And thank you for not considering Jesus a western God. But the article talks about the Jesus of the Bible and the Jesus that the Hindu man believes in. Being a Jesus lover myself (don t get me wrong, I mean I love Jesus absolutely, unconditionally, and like crazy, talk to Jesus 24/7 and try to listen to what He tells me), I can tell you that Jesus is God according to Hinduism as He could be according to Christianity. This is because Hinduism lets you choose your path to salvation. It lets you believe in any Ista of God or all of it. And I have chosen Jesus and His path to salvation. And yes, my Jesus is the Jesus of the Bible. I read the Bible as often as I can. I was introduced to Jesus by the Bible and I know no other Jesus. There is nothing just nothing in the Bible that does not fit into the Hindu scheme of things. Yes, John 4:16 says Jesus only! But so does every scripture of Isha. Scriptures will tell man that following

32 God/Jesus/Allah/Krishna is the only way of attaining God! This is because there is just One God. So there can be only one way. And that is to follow God. It is important that people of God (I will happily claim that I belong to the group) accept that there is just one God. Different people choose different ways to reach God. But so be it. As it is stated in Romans 14:4, who are we to judge another, it is before our master, that we stand or fall. Our Master is one. He is the same to a Muslim who believes in Allah, to a Christian who believes that Jesus is the only way to heaven, to an atheist and to a Christ believing Hindu who believes that loving Jesus is the awesomest thing ever. Good day Bless the Lord First of all, let me thank you for contacting Probe Ministries with your thoughts on Jesus. We must confess that your letter was thought-provoking and deserves a reasonable response. Hence, let me point out few things to shed some light on few things mentioned in your letter. I agree with you that we have no choice when it comes to our birth. However, we all have the privilege of making a choice on what to believe and what to reject. Regarding your comment on Jesus, we agree that Jesus is not a western God. In fact, Jesus, in his incarnation, was born in the Middle East. So, when it comes to region, He was more eastern than western. However, we must clarify that God, the Creator of the whole universe, is not limited to a region. He is not a foreigner or alien to any country or culture. We are pleased to know that you have a loving relationship with Jesus. That is wonderful. We hope that this relationship will help you to listen to Him better and understand Him better and to follow Him better. In fact, Jesus said that If you love me, you will obey my commands (John 14:15).

33 While we respect your freedom to believe in Jesus or not to believe in Jesus, we want to point out a couple of things that Jesus taught. The first thing to keep in mind is that the information about Jesus as God is available only in the writings of the disciples of Christ. Hindu literature does not speak about Jesus. In the writings of the disciples of Jesus, it is made very clear that Jesus made some exclusive claims. For example, Jesus claimed I am the way, the truth and the life. The definite articles in these claims make it clear that they are exclusive claims. He also claimed that No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). The Bible is unambiguous in making exclusive claims. Exclusive claims of truth are logical. Truth by definition is exclusive truth excludes what is false. It is from this kind of a worldview that the followers of Jesus, who loved him, believed His claim that He is the only way to the Father and therefore the only Savior of the world (Acts 4:12). We agree with you that there is only one God. On the other hand, if there is only one God, it is reasonable for us to leave it to God to decide how many ways are there to reach Him. In fact, you might have heard of a religion known as Satanism. It will be injustice to the followers of Satan if we claim that their religion will lead to God. Don t they have a right to pick their destination? Won t it be cruel to them if we or God refuse them their right to follow someone other than God? If God has given that freedom to men, let us respect that freedom. We agree with you that we do not have to judge others. And we do not. Jesus will be the judge during the final judgment. We just believe Jesus claim that He is the only way to the Father, and teach that belief, as an expression of our faith in Christ and as a response to His love shown to us on the cross. In fact, if there were another way for mankind to be saved, the death of Christ was futile or meaningless. We hope that you will find meaning in the death of Christ on the cross

34 for you and me and will show your love to Jesus by believing in His claims. For a factual belief in Jesus, read the writings about Him and His teachings recorded by His direct disciples who saw His death and witnessed His resurrection and ascension. If you really love Jesus, you will believe His claims and obey them. I am sure that you do not want to love someone who taught wrong things, right? Jesus was either right in making those claims, or he was a liar or lunatic (to die for those claims). You must make a choice! Rajesh Sebastian Grace and peace of God be with one and all. Thank you for considering my mail and send such a beautiful reply. Just two things. One, Lord Jesus Christ has been mentioned in the Hindu scriptures. So has Noah, Adam and Eve. Besides I see no reason why the holy Bible would not qualify as a Hindu scripture. And second, Mr. Rajesh spoke about the option to choose your destination. If there can be two destinations, can t there be two paths to a destination?? Why did the holy Bible give us the laws but later God blessed us with the Grace through Lord Jesus Christ? That s two paths, right? And accepting that Jesus Christ is the path does not mean that we deny the laws. Lastly, the very thought of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ going meaningless sends a chill down my spine. For He has done so much for me and to save me. But trust me, as long as all the sheep get home safely, my Shepherd will be glad. That s all that matters to my Savior. May the Grace of Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Happy Sabbath.

35 Greetings in the name of the Saviour. You brought up some interesting topics for discussion. Let me quickly respond to a couple of them that might be beneficial to you. You mentioned that Lord Jesus Christ has been mentioned in the Hindu scriptures. So has Noah, Adam and Eve. You are right. It is true that Bhavishyapurana mentions the names you have mentioned above. However, there is nothing to wonder about that. It also mentioned the names of Muhammad, Sankaracharya, Babar, Akbar, East India Company, Queen Victoria etc. Guess the date of its composition! As mentioned to you earlier, let me repeat that the only source of reliable information for the teachings of Jesus Christ are from the writings of the disciples who gave their life for following those teachings. Almost all of them were killed for their faith in Christ by followers of various religion. St. Thomas was killed in India. You also stated that Besides I see no reason why the holy Bible would not qualify as a Hindu scripture. On the other hand, will you have a problem if Hindu Scriptures are considered as Islamic or Christian or Jewish? Each religion and their texts present different and competing worldviews to people. They are mutually exclusive. While Christianity believes in One personal God, Hinduism offers One non-personal Brahman (Nirguna Brahman) as the ultimate reality. Both views can not be right at the same time in the same sense. Regarding your question Can t there be two paths to a destination? We would prefer to say that it is for God to decide how many ways are there to reach Him. We also believe

36 that, if there were another way, the death of Christ would have been unnecessary. Moreover, what God has revealed to us in the Bible is that there is only one way to Christ. Jesus and the writers of Bible are unambiguous about it. Regarding your comment on law and grace, let me clarify that Bible clearly teaches that the giving of the law and the sending of Christ were both actions of grace. While the law was helpful in preventing sin, it was not enough to save sinners. So, as planned in advance and promised in advance, Christ came to make the sufficient incarnation and sacrifice once and for all so that whole mankind can be forgiven through his sacrifice. Law is never presented as a path of salvation in the Bible. As you wrote, we hope that you will find your trust in the True Shepherd and Savior. He is the way, the Truth and the Life. Rajesh Sebastian Posted March Probe Ministries I Think Some of the Indian Gods Are Aliens From Ancient Visits to Earth I think we re not alone in the universe because of lots of old evidence of aliens found on Earth. I m an Indian, there are (traditionally 330 million!) gods and goddesses in Hindu culture. I m always confused about whom to pray. In Indian

37 culture I heard about the flying machine that our gods used at that time and also heard that our ancestors found all the planets in our solar system thousand years ago that scientists came to know with the help of modern technology. I think thousand of years ago aliens visited India, and it may be some of the Indian gods are aliens. So there is a possibility that they exist in the universe. You brought up an interesting and relevant issue worth discussing. People talk a lot about alien beings these days. The Bible also speaks about aliens. In the Biblical language, they are called angels, spirits, cherubim, etc. The Bible also speaks about their interactions with human beings at different times in the history of mankind. All through the history, without geographical and cultural limits, mankind has been making scientific discoveries based on research methods available to us. Such scientific advantages have been made by people of different cultures and nationalities in different part of the world. India is one of them. However, to assume that they were revelations will be making a giant leap. This will undermine the foundational principles of science, which is observation and research. The Bible teaches about seeking and finding. Those who seek find solutions in spite of what their culture and nationality is. Fictions will always predict possibilities. There is no wonder when a fiction speaks about flying objects or beings. There are other examples in history where people wrote about flying objects before man actually made airplanes. The Bible teaches that there is only One God who deserves worship and prayer. This one God created everything else in the world. Therefore, God is not an alien to any culture of country. He is the Master and Creator of the whole universe. In fact belief in many gods will fall on its own feet when you ask a couple of questions who created god D, who created god C, who created god B, and you will end up in an absolute One. That is the One we call God and who deserves your worship

38 and prayer. Rajesh Sebastian Posted March Probe Ministries Why Does God Allow Natural Evils Such as Tsunamis, Hurricanes and Earthquakes? My question is about natural evils such as tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes etc. I feel like the problem of moral evil such as murder and stealing is solved by the free will defense but I haven t heard a good refution of why God allows tsunamis and other natural events to take out huge villages and kill children. The so called natural evils such as natural disasters are only evil from a human perspective. Tsunamis and earthquakes are normal and necessary occurrences in nature. We could not live on planet earth without them. They shape the environment and contribute to an inhabitable planet. They are part of a normal cycle of nature, along with every other occurrence in nature such as volcanoes, floods and even disease and plague, which is God s way of maintaining balance in the ecology, necessary for human survival. These natural occurrences only become evil when humanity gets in their way. This sometimes has to do with human choices and moral evil. For example building huge population centers on known fault lines and danger zones and not taking proper precautions in construction or having an efficient evacuation plan and warning system in

39 place. Humanity cannot do away with the normal cycles of nature because we need a healthy natural environment to live. But we can adjust ourselves to nature in order to mitigate some of its more deadly effects on civilization. New Orleans is the perfect example of human arrogance, neglect and apathy in the face of known dangers from hurricanes. This city did not take the proper precautions in building a technological defense against hurricanes when it was known for decades that it was in danger of a disaster. The Netherlands is an example of a country that did take the proper precautions in protecting itself from flooding and goes on to survive without incident. So should we blame God for the apathy of New Orleans? This means there is not a strict separation between natural and moral evil and that they are more interwoven than we realize or care to admit. Now, many times natural disasters are not the result of human choices. We have two options. First, it is a judgment of God. Second, we don t know why, other than saying God has a purpose in this disaster that we don t understand, which is certainly an acceptable choice; that is how the problem of evil is explained in the book of Job. I am not averse to saying natural disasters are a judgment from God. The Bible has no problem calling natural disasters judgments floods and earthquakes are perfect examples. This does not mean that every natural disaster is a judgment. I am only saying judgment is a possibility. So there are three possible answers to your question. Natural disasters happen as a result of human choices. They are a judgment of God or they happen for a reason we do not understand. Feel free to follow up on any of these issues with me if you like. Lawrence Terlizzese, Ph.D.

40 Posted Feb. 26, Probe Ministries The Old Testament and Other Ancient Religious Literature The Challenge In the 1870s a scholar named George Smith revealed the discovery of both creation and flood stories in ancient Babylonian literature.{1} Bible scholars were soon claiming that the writer of Genesis was merely borrowing from Babylonian mythology. Although competent scholars have since shown that the similarities between these accounts are largely superficial, the idea remains today in certain areas of academia and pop culture that the Bible is just another work of ancient mythology. Although there are good reasons to see the Bible as very different from other religious literature, the problem for conservative Christians is in how similar it is to other ancient literature; it s because there are significant affinities that scholars made that leap in the first place. On the one hand, liberal scholars and a lot of ordinary lay people take the similarities to indicate that the Old Testament isn t any more divine than other ancient literature. On the other hand, conservatives, fearful of seeing the Bible lose its status, tend to shy away from the similarities. Most

41 of us wouldn t say it, but we don t like to think there s much overlap between the worldview of the ancient Israelites and that of their neighbors. Where we run into problems is when we assume that God revealed Himself in ways that are always satisfactory to modern people, especially with regard to scientific and historical accuracy. Neither the giving-awaythe-store approach nor the approach of turning a blind eye to genuine similarities will do. We must let the Bible be what it is and determine for us how we should understand and use it. For all the similarities, there are fundamental differences that set the Bible apart. In this article I will spend more time on the differences. Before turning to those, however, it would be good to mention a few similarities. For one thing, there is similarity in the form that religious practice took. Temples, priests, prophets, and sacrifices were a part of the practices of other religions as they were of the Israelites. Old Testament scholar John Oswalt notes, for example, that the layout of the tabernacle and of the temple following it is essentially the same as the layout of contemporary Canaanite sanctuaries. Furthermore, the decoration of the temple seems to have been similar to that of Canaanite sanctuaries. {2} There were similarities in law as well. For example, the eye for an eye injunctions in Exodus 21:23-25 are similar to some found in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. Both include punishments for striking a pregnant woman and causing her to miscarry.{3} Even here, though, there are differences, specifically in the purposes of these two. Old Testament scholar John Walton points out that the ancient codes, or treatises as he calls them, were not rules legislated by authorities. Rather, they were collections of principles, learned over time, assembled to show the worthiness and wisdom of the king in his role of maintaining order in society.{4} This, Walton writes, was

42 the most fundamental expectation of the gods. {5} By contrast, the Old Testament law was an important part of the covenant between God and His people; the laws were, as Walton says, the stipulations of the covenant. {6} More could be said about similarities, but we ll turn now to the differences between the Old Testament and other literature of the ancient Near East. The One True God Two fundamental differences between the Old Testament and ancient myths are the biblical claims that there is only one true God and that this God is not to be worshipped by means of idols.{7} Israel s neighbors were polytheists or henotheists, meaning they believed there were multiple gods but they worshipped only one, or one primarily. This is why the steward of Joseph s house could speak to Joseph s brothers of your God and the God of your father (Gen. 43:23) and why Pharaoh could say to Moses and Aaron, Go, sacrifice to your God within the land (Ex. 8:25). The Egyptians had their gods, the Hebrews had theirs. The cultural atmosphere of belief in many gods was as normal in that day as the modern secular mentality is in ours. By contrast, Yahweh declared that there was only one God and it was Him. I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no God, Yahweh said. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it (Isa. 44:6b-7a; see also 45:5,6). Further, the true God was not to be worshipped through idols. That was a new idea. Idols were very important to the ancients. They were the actualized presence of deities. The idol received worship on behalf of the god. An example of that worship was providing food for the god by presenting it to the

43 idol. John Walton says that through such expressions, in this way the image mediated the worship from the people to the deity. {8} This entire understanding was declared false by Yahweh. Through Isaiah and Jeremiah God declared that idols were wood or stone, silver or gold, and nothing more (Isa. 44; Jer. 10). Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, God said through Jeremiah, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of delusion (Jer. 10:14-15a). Through the Psalmist, God asked rhetorically, Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? (Ps. 50:12-13). Transcendence vs. Continuity One of the ways we distinguish the Old Testament from other literature of the ancient Near East is to note the difference between actual history and myth. The stories of the gods in other literature we call mythological. The word myth is often used today to mean false, but it has a much richer meaning than that. In his book The Bible Among the Myths, John Oswalt gives several definitions of myth which have to do with such things as the definition of the word and sociological and theological factors and more.{9} A central feature of all of them is what Oswalt calls continuity. By continuity he means an actual metaphysical connection between all things. A simple illustration of this principle is the claim, I am one with the tree, not merely symbolically or spiritually, but actually. The tree is me; I am the tree. {10} In the ancient world, this continuity included the gods. The differences between nature and the gods were more of degree than of kind. This connection is more than a matter of mere resemblance. Because the pagan gods were understood to be continuous with

44 nature, what happened in nature was thought to be a direct result of the activities of the gods. If the crops didn t grow or the animals didn t reproduce, it must have had something to do with the gods. Moving in the other direction, people hoped to manipulate the gods by engaging in some ritualistic act on the level of nature. So, by retelling and acting out the mythical stories of the divine, ideal world, a connection was made between humanity and the gods. It was hoped that the outcomes of the mythical accounts would apply to the natural world.{11} This direct continuity between earth and heaven sheds light on such things as temple prostitution and fertility rituals. Through re-enactments of the mythological origins of the world, which involved the sexual activities of the gods, people hoped they could inspire the gods to make their crops grow and their animals fertile. By contrast, the God of the Old Testament is not continuous with the created world. Yahweh is transcendent, above and separated in His very nature from the created order. This distinction marks a fundamental difference between the teachings of the Old Testament and those of the ancient myths. This has several very important implications. I ll run through a few. Being transcendent meant God could not be manipulated through rituals the way pagan gods could. Fertility rituals, for example, were meaningless because they had no relation whatsoever to how God created or governed the world. The Israelites engaged in certain ritualistic acts, but they were not for the purpose of making God do what they wanted. In fact, when they became substitutes for godly living, God told them to stop doing them. We read in Isaiah chapter 1 about how abhorrent the sacrifices and the rituals of the Israelites had become to God. What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the

45 LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood (Isa. 1:11-17). The pagan gods demanded the appeasement of sacrifices. Yahweh looked for a change of heart and behavior. Here s another difference. Because the various acts of the pagan deities recounted in myths were thought to be eternally recurring, time and space lost their significance. The acts of the gods were timeless. They couldn t be connected to particular moments in history.{12} Thus, the mythological view reduced the significance of the historical. By contrast, in Scripture we see the transcendent God acting in history through specific events and persons. The people of Israel were called not to re-enact but to remember particular events in history, for it was in these things that the transcendent God of the Bible revealed Himself. The transcendence/continuity distinction helps explain why idol worship was so strongly condemned in Scripture. It was more than just a matter of worshipping the wrong God. It showed a basic misunderstanding of the nature of God. To engage in idol worship was to give in to the idea of continuity between nature and the divine. This mentality was likely behind the creation of the golden calf by Aaron when Moses was on the mountain. The people had lived in a world

46 where gods could be seen through physical idols. It was natural for them, when wondering where Moses and Yahweh were, to find reassurance in a physical representation of deity. But it was condemned by God. A Few More Differences Here are three more differences between the worldview and religion prescribed in the Old Testament and that seen in other ancient Near Eastern literature. First, the biblical worldview regards humanity highly. In the Old Testament, we read that man and woman were created in God s image. They were the pinnacle of God s creative work. In the pagan myths, mankind was created merely to serve the needs of the lazy and conceited gods. Humans were only good for food and adulation, as John Oswalt says.{13} Second, Yahweh was concerned with people s moral lives. Among other ancient Near Eastern peoples, Oswalt writes, religion was about sacrifice, ritual, ritual purity, prayer, offerings, and the like. Things like this were part of the covenant between Israel and Yahweh, but not the only things, and not even the most important, as we saw in the Isaiah 1 passage quoted earlier. Ethical obedience was and is an important part of our response to God. His people are to tell the truth, to respect other people and their possessions, to keep the marriage bed pure, etc. Similar laws can be found in some other religious codes, but for Israel they weren t just the laws of the land; they were aspects of a relationship with God that were grounded in the character of God.{14} Third, the people of Israel could know if they were pleasing or displeasing Yahweh and why. They knew what they were required to do and not do, and they got feedback, typically through the prophets. By contrast, other gods didn t seem so concerned to

47 communicate their thoughts or motives to people. When hardships came for no apparent reason, people thought they must have offended the gods, but they couldn t know for sure what they had done or not done. Walton writes that the minds of the gods were not easily penetrated. {15} By contrast, he says, nothing in the ancient Near East compares to the extent of revelation that Yahweh gives to his people and the depth of relationship that he desires with them. {16} By countering the idea that the Bible is just another example of ancient literature, I have not proved that the Bible s message is true. The point is to clear away an objection that gets in the way of understanding. It provides a space for people to give more thought to the teachings of the Bible. The Bible is then able to speak for itself. Notes 1. Gerhard F. Hasel, The Polemic Nature of the Genesis Cosmology, Evangelical Quarterly, 46 (1974) ; accessed online at 2. John Oswalt, The Bible Among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature? (Grand Rapid: Zondervan, 2009), Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Mich.: Baker Academic, 2005), John Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), Ibid., Ibid., Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation,

48 8. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought, Oswalt, The Bible Among the Myths, chaps. 3 and Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought, Ibid., Probe Ministries See Also: The World of Animism by Patrick Zukeran Help Me Understand Biblical Inerrancy? A friend of mine with teenage daughters asked me recently if I understood the concept of Biblical inerrancy well enough to explain/justify it for her children. Seems a pastor in their local church was attempting to explain the errors in the Bible to a group and they were a bit concerned that this leader would indicate the Bible had errors. I was unable to

49 find much on the Probe Web site regarding the inerrancy of the Bible and wondered if you had a document or publication that would cover the topic rather completely yet simply enough for me to understand and to present to these kids. Also, how does the concept of the inspiration of Bible and the inerrancy of the Bibly interplay? It seems to me that if we truly believe the Bible was inspired by God and given to men by the Holy Spirit, it would follow that the Bible in its original autographs would be inerrant. An excellent resource for a variety of biblical and theological questions is After reading your letter, I visited their website, typed inerrancy in the search engine, and the following resources came up (see bible.org/search/apachesolr_search/inerrancy). The above link will give you a lot of help with the question of biblical inspiration and inerrancy. Another good resource is When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties by Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe (Baker Books, 1992). You are absolutely correct in observing that the inspiration of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16; etc.) logically entails biblical inerrancy in the original writings. Although inerrancy cannot be extended to the copies, the science and art of textual criticism has been quite successful in restoring the original text from the thousands of manuscripts available for scholarly study. Shalom, Michael Gleghorn Probe Ministries See Also Probe Answers Our Why Do the Gospel Accounts Contradict Each Other? Why Do You Believe the Bible is Inspired and the Qu ran is Not?

50 Updated July Probe Ministries Boy Scouts and the ACLU: A War of Worldviews Byron Barlowe, an Eagle Scout and Assistant Scoutmaster, assesses the battle with the values of the ACLU from an insider s perspective. Traditional Mainstay As Good Cultural Influence vs. Liberal Legal Activists with Social Engineering Agenda In a gang-ridden section of Dallas, 13-year-old Jose saw a Boy Scouts recruiting poster. That started Jose s improbable climb to Scouting s highest rank of Eagle and a life of beating the odds. He said this about Scoutmaster Mike Ross: He was a father figure watching over me, the first time I felt it from someone other than my [single] mom. {1} In February 2010, the Boy Scouts of America, or BSA, celebrated a century of building traditional values into nearly 100 million youths like Jose through adults like Mr. Ross. The original Boy Scouts began in England in The Prime Minister said the new movement was potentially the greatest moral force the world has ever known. Yet surprisingly, there are those who would gut the movement of its culture-shaping distinctives.

51 In this article we take a look at the warring worldviews of The BSA and its arch-enemy, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In his book On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For, Texas governor and Eagle Scout Rick Perry writes, The institutions we saw as bulwarks of stability such as the Scouts are under steady attack by groups that seem intent upon remaking (if not replacing) them in pursuit of a very different [worldview]. {2} In a crusade to elevate the minority viewpoints of girls who want entry, as well as atheists and gay activists, the ACLU s unending efforts to ensure inclusiveness undermine the very Scout laws and oath that make it strong commitment to virtues like kindness, helpfulness and trustworthiness. This is no less than a war of worldviews. I ran through all the ranks from Cub Scouts to Eagle Scout, worked professionally with the BSA, and now serve as Asst. Scoutmaster. I have first-hand, lifelong knowledge of Scouting s benefits to boys, their families, and society. Nowhere else can young men-in-the-making be exposed to dozens of new interests (which often inspire lasting careers) and gain confidence in everything from leadership to lifesaving to family life. Scouting is good life skills insurance! The pitched battle between the BSA and the ACLU embodies what many call the Culture Wars battles that in this case reveal contrasting values like humanism vs. religious faith, politically correct tolerance vs. more traditional, absolutist views and radical individual rights vs. group centered freedoms of speech and association. The contrast is stark. Conservatives relate most to Scouting. Of course, the Boy Scout Handbook is rarely regarded as being a conservative book. That probably accounts for why the Handbook has managed to continuously stay in print since If it were widely known how masterly the book inculcates conservative values, it would, like Socrates, be charged with corrupting the nation s

52 youth. {3} Scouting is also good for culture. Harris pollsters found that former Scouts agreed in larger numbers than non-scouts that the following behaviors are wrong under all circumstances : to exaggerate one s education on a resume, lie to the IRS, and steal office supplies for home use. Scouts pull well ahead of non Scouts on college graduation rates. The stick-to-it mentality that Scouting demands comes into play here and in other findings. Scouting positively affects things like treating co workers with respect, showing understanding to those less fortunate than you and being successful in a career. This conclusion is hard to escape: Scouting engenders respect for others, honesty, cooperation, self confidence and other desirable traits. {4} It also promotes the freedom to exercise a Christian worldview within its program, which provides a venue for transmitting a Christian worldview within the context of the outdoors and community service. The absolutist morality of Scouting stands in stark relief to the moral relativism of our day and to the ACLU s worldview. Wouldn t you prefer to hire someone with Scouting s values of trustworthiness and honesty? The Battles, Including Girls Joining the BSA The Boy Scouts of America celebrates its centennial this year, but its long-time nemesis the ACLU isn t celebrating. In fact, they and other litigants have maintained a siege against the BSA in court in order to transform key characteristics including Scouting s duty to God, the exclusion of openly gay leaders, and Scouting s access to government forums like schools. In all, the Boy Scouts have been involved in thirty lawsuits since the filing of the [original] case, many brought by the ACLU.{5}

53 The opening salvo was a string of lawsuits on behalf of girls who wanted membership, many brought by the ACLU. The primary legal issue regarding these kinds of cases is public accommodation. The BSA s position is that refusing membership to certain individuals like girls and open gays is its right as a private organization. Freedoms of speech and association are at stake for the BSA. Indeed, the definition of freedom of association is the right guaranteed especially by the First Amendment... to join with others... as part of a group usually having a common viewpoint or purpose and often exercising the right to assemble and to free speech. {6} In the case of Mankes vs. the BSA, the plaintiff claimed that restricting membership to boys amounted to sex discrimination. Yet the court decided against the claim on the basis that the Boy Scouts did not, in creating its organization to help develop the moral character of young boys, intentionally set out to discriminate against girls. {7} Even the U.S. Congress chartered separate Scouting organizations, one for girls and one for boys, not one unisex organization. C.S. Lewis puts it this way in discussing the crisis of post- Christian humanist education: We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. {8} I believe that even the most committed feminist would inwardly hope for brave, virtuous men of integrity. That s what Boy Scouts is all about: engendering young men with chests. Underneath these battles lies an aversion to any kind of discrimination of supposed victims. The ACLU s goals raise ethical concerns: when one individual or a minority seeks rights that are not in the best interest of the community at large, it leads to unintended consequences, like possibly shutting down good institutions like the Scouts. It s understandable why some girls would want to participate. However, given gender differences and the right to freedom of

54 association, it seems best to restrict the Boys Scouts to boys. The Battles over Gay Leaders (the Scouts Doctrine of Morally Straight ) A very contentious battle between the Boy Scouts of America and equal rights advocates revolves around disallowing openly gay leaders from joining the organization. The BSA s position is that a homosexual who makes his sex life a public matter is not an appropriate role model of the Scout Oath and Law for adolescent boys. {9} Or as Rick Perry puts it, Tolerance is a two-way street. The Boy Scouts is not the proper intersection for a debate over sexual preference. He continues, A number of active homosexuals, with the assistance of the ACLU and various gay activist organizations have challenged the BSA s long-standing policy. {10} The landmark Dale case featured a lifelong Scouter who discovered his gay identity only then to realize the Scouts policy against openly gay leaders. Eventually landing in the U.S. Supreme Court, BSA vs. Dale marked the end of cases in this category. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that state laws may not prohibit the BSA s moral point of view and the right to expressing its own internal leadership.{11} Ultimately, gay people could launch their own organization and any good Scout would recognize the right for them to do this. Even the courts have implied this view, again and again upholding the Scout s rights to operate the way they see fit. Why would it be improper for a private organization like the BSA to restrict leadership to those who share its values? BSA units do not routinely ask a prospective adult leader about his (or her) sex life, writes Perry.{12} This approach falls in line with the controversial Don t ask, don t tell doctrine of the U.S. military that s currently being

55 challenged in court. Where members of the military may be concerned about the affect of another squad member s sexuality on its rank-and-file members, Scout units are concerned with the even greater influence of adults on the minds and morals of the children they lead. A biblical worldview recognizes that belief that gay rights supersede traditional moral teachings springs from the fleshly, fallen state of man s soul. Romans 1 says humans suppress the truth, and speaks out against unnatural acts in a clear allusion to homosexual unions. People sometimes believers fight morality as revealed by God through our conscience and stated moral law. The virtue ethics of the Scouts at least makes room for this morality. Despite all the cases, evidence of a planned, strategic legal assault on the Scouts didn t arise until the ACLU became involved, with cases that focused Scouts duty to God. {13} The Battle over Duty to God Boy Scouts and Scout leaders are really into patches for our uniforms. One of the most beautiful I ve ever owned is my Duty to God patch earned at the legendary Rocky Mountain Scout adventure ranch known as Philmont. The requirements were minimal: take part in several devotions and lead blessings over the food. Nothing dictated which god to pray to, just a built-in acknowledgement of the Creator. This non-sectarian, undirected acknowledgement of God is classic Scout stuff. The program has long featured specific special awards for all major world religions, including Christianity. Scouting s Creator-consciousness can seem vague or even smack of animistic Native American religion, but troops chartered by Christian organizations like ours simply turn it into a chance to honor the God of the Bible. This hallmark of Scouting is vilified by atheists and

56 agnostics who would participate in Scouting only minus the nod to God. The ACLU has carried out a culture-wide campaign to cut out all mention of God from the public square, motivated by a warped value of self-determination.{14} Seeking protections from all things religious, the ACLU s activist lawyers have raised human autonomy up as the ultimate good. And the Boy Scouts are a tempting target to further this cause célèbre. From where do the ACLU s motivations spring? Apparently, from the ideology known as humanism, a philosophical commitment to man as the measure of all things coupled with an atheist anti-supernatural bias. But not even Rousseau, whose political theory emphasized individual freedoms, would likely have gone so far. In his view, the individual was subordinate to the general will of the people and most people in American society agree that the BSA s values and impact outweighs any individual right not to hear anything at all of religion.{15} When the BSA lays out its broad yet very absolute requirements, the most prominent and controversial are a duty to God {16} and a Scout s pledge to be reverent.{17} This in no way dictates which or even what kind of deity one s faith is ascribed to, but it sharply clashes with the ACLU s ideals of secularism and humanism. In effect, the BSA directly challenges the sacred-secular split so prevalent today, where faith is to be kept totally private and godless science serves as the only source of real knowledge. As a result of this worldview mistake, religious commitments and the supernatural are relegated to the personal, subjective, and ultimately meaningless level. One blogger opines about a duty to God passage in the original 1910 Scout handbook: A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties. He respects the beliefs of others. Such an earnest and irony-free worldview is naturally antithetical to the South Park-style mock-the-world moronity that pervades

57 the culture. In a society that combines libertarian Me-ism with a liberal nanny state that suckles men without chests, it is not surprising that the ranks of Boy Scouts are dwindling (Scouting is down 11 percent over the last decade). But we should be cheerful that an institution where selfsacrifice and manly virtues are encouraged manages to survive at all.{18} The ACLU was not involved in the first duty to God case against the Scouts. Yet by 2007, its involvement in fourteen cases against the Boy Scouts had covered, cumulatively, more than 100 years of litigation. {19} The ACLU s view, according to Governor Perry, is that if one citizen believes there is no God, they must be protected from public references to or acknowledgement of an Almighty Creator.... When they get their way, the ACLU enforces upon us the tyranny of the minority. {20} Thank God the courts have not yet allowed this to happen. Pluralism Done Right A fellow in my Sunday school sounded alarmed when I asked the class to pray for a Scouting trip: Isn t The Boy Scouts a Mormon outfit? Since Mormons use Scouts as their official youth program for boys, his experience was skewed. Yet, the BSA is a non-sectarian association that simply requires chartering groups to promote belief in God and requires boys to reflect on reverence according to their family s chosen religion. The Boy Scout Handbook, (11 th ed.) explains a Scout s duty to God like this: Your family and religious leaders teach you about God and the ways you can serve. You do your duty to God by following the wisdom of those teachings every day and by respecting and defending the rights of others to practice their own beliefs. Note the genuine tolerance toward other religions. Even a pack or troop member cannot be forced

58 by that unit to engage in religious observances with which they disagree.{21} This policy is the best way to handle a wide-open boys training program in a very pluralistic culture. Many Christians talk as if any kind of pluralism is anathema, especially the religious kind, as if we should live in a thoroughly Christianized society that, for all intents and purposes, is like church. However, this is unrealistic. America s Founding Fathers guarded against state-sanctioned religion. God Himself tacitly acknowledged, even in the theocracy of the Old Testament period that living around His people were those of other religions. Jehovah didn t force people to believe in Him. God was pluralistic in the sense of allowing man s free will. The Boy Scouts reflects this larger reality and it serves the organization well. It is not seeking to be a church or synagogue or temple. The BSA s Scoutcraft skills and coaching, its citizenship and moral training, remains open to people of all religions. The BSA s vagueness regarding duty to God is actually a plus for Christians interested in promoting their own understanding of God and His world. Talk about a platform to pass along a biblical worldview! Think of it: Scouting s genius is that it combines outdoor exploits like regular camping trips and high-adventure activities with moral and religious instruction in the context of boy-run leadership training. Regular and intensive meetings with dedicated adults to review skills and Scouting s ideals provide ample time for what amounts to discipleship. Some of the richest ministry opportunities in my quarter-century as a full-time minister have been during Scoutmaster-to-Scout conferences in the great outdoors. If you re committed to seeing the next generation of boys walk into adulthood not only as capable young men but with their

59 faith intact, Scouting is one of the best venues out there. Hopefully, the ACLU won t be able to quash that. Notes 1. Readers Digest, May, 2010, Rick Perry, On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For (Macon, GA: Stroud & Hall Publishers, 2008). 3. Carter, Joe, The Most Influential Conservative Book Ever Produced in America, First Thoughts (the official blog of the journal First Things), posted February 8, 2010: 4. Perry, On My Honor, Ibid., Dictionary.com. Merriam-Webster s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster, Inc. of association (accessed: April 21, 2010). 7. Perry, On My Honor, Lewis, C.S., The Abolition of Man (Macmillan Publishing: New York, NY) 1947, p. 34; as quoted by R. J. Snell, Making Men without Chests: The Intellectual Life and Moral Imagination, First Principles: ISI Web Journal, posted Feb. 25, 2010: 9. Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., For a brief list of individual cases, some of which are being brought by the ACLU, see: Evans, C. Stephen, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion: 300 Terms & Thinkers Clearly & Concisely Defined (Intervarsity Press: Downer s Grove, Ill.), 2002, p. 103.

60 15. The Scout Oath, quoted in reprint of 1910 original Boy Scouts of America: The Official Handbook for Boys, Seventeenth Edition p. 32, accessed (Note, the table of contents links to page 22, but page 32 is the actual location in this format.) 16. The Scout Law, Carter, The Most Influential Conservative Book Ever Produced in America. 18. Perry, On My Honor, 64 and Ibid, Bylaws of Boy Scouts of America, art. IX, 1, cls. 2-4, as quoted on the BSA legal Web site: Probe Ministries Satan What does the Bible say about Satan, and what do Christians believe about him? Not only is this an important biblical doctrine, but it has also been used to determine if someone has a biblical worldview. The Barna Group has found that a very small percentage of born again Christians have a biblical

61 worldview. They define a biblical worldview as having the following six elements: The Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. {1} Various surveys (including the Barna surveys) show that many Christians think that belief in Satan is optional. After all, they argue, if I believe in Jesus that is enough. But if you believe that Jesus was God then you have to believe that Satan exists. Satan is mentioned in the Gospels twenty-nine times. And in twenty-five of those references, Jesus is the one talking about Satan. It is also worth noting that Satan is mentioned many other times in the Bible. Satan is referred to in seven Old Testament books and every New Testament writer talks about Satan. Belief in Satan is not optional. When Satan is discussed in the New Testament, he is identified by three titles. These three titles describe his power on earth and his influence in the world: 1. Ruler of the world Jesus refers to Satan as the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). This means that he can use the elements of society, culture, and government to achieve his evil ends in this world. That doesn t mean that every aspect of society or culture is evil. And it doesn t mean that Satan has complete control of every politician or governmental bureaucrat. But it does mean that Satan can use and manipulate the world s system.