The Misunderstanding
One of the more unfortunate situations when it comes to archaeology and the bible is that too many people enter this research field with the wrong understanding of archaeology.
Over the years, we have read far too many stories about Christians who have entered this research field to prove the Bible true. This is a mistaken purpose to take up archaeology as a profession or even a hobby.
Far too many professional archaeologists and students who entered archaeology with this purpose have ended up either losing their faith or having their faith negatively impacted.
Archaeology is very good at digging up the past and seeing how the ancients may have lived. However, archaeology is a very limited research field, one that is filled with disturbances that only allow it to excavate a very narrow image of the past.
Plus, every discovery is vulnerable to the beliefs or lack of them of the archaeologists making the discoveries. There is a lot of subjective opinion in this research field that hides the truth about the bible and biblical events and people.
If you do not have this fact in mind when entering the field, you may end up with disastrous results for your faith as well.
What limits archaeology
One of the first aspects of this research field that needs to be learned is that archaeologists and archaeology are not the ultimate authority on the past. There is a very good reason for this.
That reason, as Kenneth Kitchen has written, is that archaeologists only excavate between 2 and 5 percent of any given historical site. The theories and conclusions of any archaeologist are based on this little information.
They are not based on the 100% of the site as between 95 to 98% still lies there unexcavated. What this means is that no one is getting a complete picture of what took place thousands, even hundreds, of years ago.
The gaps in knowledge are not filled in with real evidence but with the hypothetical thinking of the archaeologist. At best, they are making educated guesses that often contradict the Bible.
Another important aspect a believer should know about archaeology and archaeologists is that neither are inspired. The results they present to the world are human-written, not divinely written.
Errors in judgment, etc., are common in archaeology. These are two major reasons why anyone should not go into this field of research with the hope of proving the Bible true.
Archaeology supports the Bible
Generally, when archaeologists or scientists claim their fields of research have refuted the Bible and proven it untrue, that is not the true story. What is said to disprove the bible are merely the assumptions, leaps to conclusions, conjectures, and theories used and held by the archaeologists and scientists.
They draw these theories and conclusions from partial evidence which is vulnerable to whatever the archaeologist believes or does not believe. They do not extract the information from the artifacts themselves.
Nelson Glueck once said that archaeology has yet to make a discovery that proves the Bible untrue. Since the time he made that proclamation, there has still not been a discovery that proves the bible false.
Every archaeological discovery has been found in some way to support the biblical record. This trend ranges from the patriarchs’ and location names being used in the right era to the Hittite discovery and more.
Archaeology may not provide a complete picture of the past but what limited images of it have always supported the biblical content. We even have physical evidence of a crucifixion around the time of the first century, approx.
Archaeology does uncover physical evidence that supports what the bible says. Unfortunately, archaeology cannot uncover physical evidence for everything the Bible says. But we have a lot of evidence supporting the Bible and none that refutes it.
It is important for Christians to be involved in archaeology
There are good reasons for making this statement.
#1. Studying archaeology helps build a believer’s faith
When one does archaeology the right way, one can find indirect and often direct evidence that the biblical record is true. One example would be the walls of Jericho, found exactly as the bible describes how they fell.
#2. It makes the Bible come alive
A believer can see that the Bible records not only true history but also that the people in the bible were real people. A believer is not reading some fictional creation meant to control them but a work that is living, true, and very real.
#3. The knowledge helps apologetics
Knowing what one is talking about is essential to evangelism. It is embarrassing to be caught saying something that is not correct. That situation can turn off unbelievers to the gospel.
Knowing what one is talking about and grounding their words in actual history has more impact on the unbeliever and lets God plant, water or harvest seeds
#4. The knowledge keeps unbelievers honest
Many unbelievers study history, archaeology, and other similar topics. It is easy for them to confound or confuse believers who do not know those topics. Unbelievers will and do lie about the past, even professional archaeologists.
Kathleen Kenyon and the conquest of Jericho is a prime example. Knowing the truth found in archaeology and history not only keeps the unbeliever honest about the past, but it also protects the believer from damaging or losing their faith.
What complicates archaeology for believers
Sadly, there are many archaeologists out there who claim to be Christian, yet do not follow God’s instructions in their work. Nor do they do honest research, scholarship or processing of the information they have come across.
Their misidentification of different biblical sites and their misinformation of the past make a believer’s work that much more difficult. Plus, it is harder to get to the truth when this happens.
Getting to the truth is a biblical pursuit and archaeology does help a believer get to some of the truth related to the Bible. Once the believer finds it, they must deal with it honestly and in accordance with scriptural instructions.
Archaeology is a great help to believers. It just has to be kept in perspective to ensure you are getting to the truth about the past.
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