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An Introduction to Archaeology and History
Archeological evidence as it relates to the historical reliability of the Biblical text (both OT and NT)—presumably especially the NT reliablity regarding its report(s) of Jesus' life and his teaching would be of foremost importance. It might be understood as a necessary, but not sufficient condition for the trustworthiness of the Bible with respect to the historical claims it explicitly or implicitly makes. So, a good question to ask is what sort of archeological and historical evidence is available to get a sense of the historical reliability of the texts?
It should also be pointed out that a completely literalist understanding of what the Bible is saying historically is neither a necessary or sufficient condition for the truth of the actual historical claims the Bible seems to make. That’s because to one degree or another, it can be claimed the Bible or parts of the Bible are not to be understood in literalist terms. You have to look at the claims and evidence on a case by case approach.
In contemporary times (the last thirty years or so), there are two main labels that are used to describe the views of archeologists who have done field work and they are “maximalists” and “minimalists.” Rather than thinking there are only two disparate camps, there are other schools of thought that can be undersood in terms of degrees in a continuum between the two. The maximilists conclude that field work (and perhaps their worldview) leads them to think the archeology so far provides a suffcient basis to consider Biblical history in the text as generally reliable and should be given the benefit of the doubt regarding historical claims that cannot be confirmed. Archeology didn’t have to confirm its reliability, but in fact it did. An example of that—or close to that—would be Nelson Glueck who said in the 1950s,
“Proving or disproving the Bible, Glueck said, was a fool’s errand. “Those people are essentially of little faith who seek through archaeological corroboration of historical source materials in the Bible to validate its religious teachings and spiritual insights,” he wrote in Rivers in the Desert, and he probably should have left it there. Instead, he continued: “As a matter of fact, however, it may be categorically stated that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference.”
On the other side the debate are the minimalists (or Copenhagen school) who think archeology (and perhaps their worldview) shows that the history and geography contained in the Bible does not provide a sufficient basis for providing reliable information for what happened in ancient Israel; and, that the Bible should not be given the benefit of the doubt regarding historical claims that cannot be confirmed. This view has been fueled in part because there have been numerous forgeries (sometimes pious forgeries) and false claims. Let's look at some of the details:
On-line articles
Introductory
• Bible Archeology Report (5 Podcasts about Biblical Archeology)
• The Institute for Biblical Archaeology
• The Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS)
• Archeological Views: The Necessary Partnership of the Bible & Archeology (Scoville, BAS)
• The Book and the Spade (Gordon Govier)
• Alleged Historical Errors in the Gospels (Dr. Tim McGrew, Apologetics315)
• An Archeological Dig That Reignites the Debate Over the Historical Accuracy of the OT (Smithsonian)
• Artifax
• Questioning the Timeline for the Ancient World (PatternsofEvidence)
Christianity Today’s recent “Top Ten Discoveries for Biblical Archeology”
• For 2023
• For 2022
• For 2021
• For 2020
• For 2019
• For 2018
• For 2017
• For 2016
• For 2015
• For 2014
• For 2013
Additional
• Ten Crucial Archaeology Discoveries Related to the Bible (Crossways)
• Ten Most Significant Discoveries Found in the Field of Biblical Archaeology (Blogger: Tim Challes)
• Sensation Before Scholarship: Gospel Fragment Tantilizes Experts (Previous forgeries make annoucements of new archeological discoveries difficult to believe) CT: Gordon Govier
• Finding God in a Box (Have archaeological discoveries like James ossuary served or obscured the quest to verify the Bible?) CT: Steven Gertz
• Scholars Aim to Bust Archaeological Fantasies (Peer review can take years—but academic society says that some claims can be dismissed in a few blogs.)
• Archaeology Points to Jesus (Gordon Govier)
• Biblical Archaeology (Wikipedia)
• The Search for Biblical History (What do we do if archaeology contradicts the Bible?) CT
• Questioning The Timeline of the Ancient World (PatternsofEvidence)
Some Video
• Top Ten Biblical Archaeology of 2022 (Bible and Archaeology)
• Unearthed: The Archaeology of the Bible Explained (Expedition Bible)
• External Evidence for the Truth of the Gospels and Acts (Tim McGrew, Apologetics315)
• Authenticity of the Apostolic Witness (Bauckman, Laidlaw College)
• The Reliability of the Books of Acts (McGrew, Ratio Christi)
• Archeological Evidence for Samuel (Dr. Timothy Kennedy, Calvary Wallingford)
• Unearthing Herod’s Tomb (Oddessy)
• Mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Parable)
• 11 Archeology Finds for the Gospel (Dr. Titus Kennedy, Dr. Sean McDowell)
• The Archeology Evidence for Jesus (Dr. Titus Kennedy, Dr. Sean McDowell)
• Lost City of Sodom (Dr. Steven Collins, Dr. Sean McDowell)
• Excavating Sodom & Gemorrah (Joel Kramer, Dr. Sean McDowell)
• Discovery of Sodom & Gemorrah (Dr. John Bergsma)
• Discovery the City of Sodom (Socrates in the City)