The Bible as History
The question of whether the Holy Bible is an actual historical account of what happened since the beginning of humanity, or merely stories that man has come up with over time has long been considered. Many choose to believe the Bible literally and take everything word for word. Others believe the stories in the Bible are a way of showing
God’s love for us, but think of them as stories and lessons on how to follow the “way of
God.” Others think the stories in the Bible are false, and have no basis in truth at all.
Some people want to have a clear picture of what early Palestine was like without ever having reference to the Bible, and “this may be an equally one-sided approach as using the
Bible [as] complete factual history” (Porter 16). More and more archaeological digs are uncovering tangible evidence that some of the stories in the Bible actually do have a factual basis. Most people are still undecided, as there hasn’t been much evidence found supporting that either side of the argument has a strong lead over the other. “Previous generations of scholars often linked archaeology very directly with the Bible: they spoke of ‘Biblical Archaeology’ and saw it as a means of establishing the credibility of the
Scripture” (Porter 16). The Bible is a historical account, in some areas, because there is proof. In other aspects, however, the Bible may turn out to be just stories.
Archaeologists undergo many excavations in the Palestinian area, because this is where most of the stories in the Bible took place. Many books and inscriptions have been uncovered providing information on events and people both Israelite and Non-Israelite alike (Porter 16). Several buildings, pottery, tools, and weapons have revealed what the daily life of the Palestinians may have been like. Archaeology has also confirmed many of the sites referred to in the Bible (Porter 17). Even though there have been various excavations of possessions of the Israelites, most of these are not from the setting of early
Israel. Most civilizations have records of how they developed, and in this case, the
Hebrew Bible is the only account of the Israelite civilization (Porter 17).
In addition to the remains of ancient civilizations, the digs have earthed agricultural...
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...ble evidence is found either supporting or conflicting with it. It is hard to believe that an idea this large and developed is just an idea, but that will continue to be many’s belief until proof is found leading them to believe otherwise.
Throughout history many people have thought that either the Bible is the absolute
Truth, or that science contains all the answers. In combining the two sources, there will be more answers to questions, and there will not be so many arguments over history.
According to science, many parts of the Bible have been proven as true. There are many other parts, however, that have no indication of either being true or false. This is not to say that these events never took place, because we are not sure yet if they did or not. We will never know everything about the Bible; there will always be an unanswered question, because we will never know if future generations find evidence to contradict previous
Truths.
Works Cited
Porter, J.R. The Illustrated Guide to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press,
1995.
Sheler, Jeffrey L. “Is the Bible True?” US News and World Report. 25 Oct. ‘99: 50-9
Anson Rainey and R. Steven Notley are the authors of The Sacred Land Bridge, which is an Atlas of the biblical world and includes maps, pictures, and historical cementation as to the significance of this region. The biblical world that this atlas focuses on is defined as the eastern Mediterranean littoral, or more commonly called the Levant in modern archeological discussions. In my critique of this book I will be focusing on pages 30-34 which will define the boundaries and explain the importance of the Levant.
The Bible: The Old Testament. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall et al. Vol 1. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1999. 47-97.
Writings of historical scholars, Josephus, Aristotle, and Plato, to name a few, are taken as truth and fact, yet the writings of the Scripture are constantly disputed. Why? Perhaps because of the ethical imperatives imposed to which people do not want to adhere. Perhaps because of man’s ego and pride that disallows them to submit to a Higher Authority. Nonetheless, The Bible has been, and still remains, the most widely read and revered book of all
that, there is two sides to every idea or "assertions", a blik. That that is a
The topic we learned that was similar to this was the discovery of ancient copies of bibles. There has been over twenty four thousand copies of bibles found by the archeological digs, and these facts support our reliability for the historical accuracy of the bible. The copies of the bible were found in forms of papyrus, stone carvings, and etc. This discovery supported not only the historical reliability, but the accuracy of the bible itself. There was more than twenty four thousand copies found, but the errors found all together was under one percent. I thought this was a pretty good evidence to use in apologetics because there was many authors and scribes writing the bible, but what they wrote was all the same thing. There can`t be a coincidence where everyone made up something random, and it all turned out to be the same idea.
Harris, Stephen. Understanding The Bible. 6 ed. New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2002. Print.
Walvoord, John F., Roy B. Zuck, and Norman L. Geisler. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1983. Print.
.... For argument is not about who is right, but what is learned as a
For centuries now Christians have claimed to possess the special revelation of an omnipotent, loving Deity who is sovereign over all of His creation. This special revelation is in written form and is what has come to be known as The Bible which consists of two books. The first book is the Hebrew Scriptures, written by prophets in a time that was before Christ, and the second book is the New Testament, which was written by Apostles and disciples of the risen Lord after His ascension. It is well documented that Christians in the context of the early first century were used to viewing a set of writings as being not only authoritative, but divinely inspired. The fact that there were certain books out in the public that were written by followers of Jesus and recognized as being just as authoritative as the Hebrew Scriptures was never under debate. The disagreement between some groups of Christians and Gnostics centered on which exact group of books were divinely inspired and which were not. The debate also took place over the way we can know for sure what God would have us include in a book of divinely inspired writings. This ultimately led to the formation of the Biblical canon in the next centuries. Some may ask, “Isn’t Jesus really the only thing that we can and should call God’s Word?” and “Isn’t the Bible just a man made collection of writings all centered on the same thing, Jesus Christ?” This paper summarizes some of the evidences for the Old and New Testament canon’s accuracy in choosing God breathed, authoritative writings and then reflects on the wide ranging
Sheler, Jeffrey L. "Mysteries of the Bible." U.S. News & World Report 17 Apr. 1995: 8. SIRS Researcher (2001).
The Hebrew Bible, better known as the Old Testament, is a collection of tomes that form part of the Biblical canon. Many scholars around the world do not think that a single author wrote the books contained in the Hebrew Bible, but rather that it represents centuries of stories frequently compiled after the events they describe . The stories were created with visions for the future, in order to allow audiences insight into communities and beliefs that were common thought during their era. The stories responded to the issues and problems of their time, but also addressed contemporary climates. While the stories themselves may not be true, they convey truth without needing literal readings. For example, the creation stories in Genesis, portray God as creating the universe, and while this is considered as not ‘literally true’; the stories communicate theological truths about mankind’s relationship with God through the eyes of Hebrew writers .
According to The Society for American Archaeology, the definition of Archaeology is, “to obtain a chronology of the past, a sequence of events and dates that, in a sense, is a backward extension of history.” The study of ancient civilizations and archaeology is rather ambiguous due to the primitive nature of the time period. With little imagery and even less textual evidence, professionals in the field must work diligently when studying their subjects. Naturally, archaeologists cannot see or communicate with those whom they are studying, so they must be extraordinarily meticulous when analyzing past cultures. This relates to all aspects of the ancient world including; foods, raw materials, artifacts, agriculture, art work and pottery. All of these elements can collectively provide new and innovative information to curious archaeologists who may wish to gain a better understanding of those who came before us. This information is equally beneficial for both historians and archaeologists who plan to compare the histories of societies from all around the world. In the world of archaeology, archaeologists strive to better explain human behavior by analyzing our past. Therefore, the study of archaeology is a key element in understanding a time before our own.
This shepherd boy had been clambering around the clefts and gullies of a rock face on Wadi Qumran, north of the Dead Sea hoping to find one of his lost lambs. Thinking that it could have taken refuge in a cave he threw stones at the opening. He heard a jar break, became fearful and ran to fetch his fellow tribesmen. What they discovered were written scrolls of ancient papyrus, stuffed in jars and wrapped in linen. The Bedouins thought that they could make money on the black market in Bethlehem so sold them for a few shekels. A bundle of four of these scrolls was purchased by “the Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem, Yeshue Samuel who then stored them in St. Marks Monastery”. (Albright, 1954, 403)
Mears, Henrietta C.. What the Bible Is All About. Rev. and updated. ed. Ventura, Calif., U.S.A.: Regal Books, 1983. Print.
Thiselton, A.C. (2005). Can the Bible mean whatever we want it to mean? Chester, U.K.: Chester Acadamic Press, 10-11.