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Index to Creationist Claims,  edited by Mark Isaak,    Copyright © 2005
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Claim CH120:

Archaeology supports the accuracy of the Bible. The Bible's historical account has many times been substantiated by new archaeological information.

Source:

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 1985. Life--How Did It Get Here? Brooklyn, NY, pp. 207-214.

Response:

  1. Archaeology supports at most the general background of the Bible and some relatively recent details. It does not support every biblical claim. In particular, archaeology does not support anything about creation, the Flood, or the conquest of the Holy Land.

    If a few instances of historical accuracy are so significant, then an equal claim for accuracy can be made for the Iliad and Gone with the Wind.

  2. Archaeology contradicts significant parts of the Bible:
    Many claims that archaeology supports the Bible, especially earlier ones, were based on the scientists trying to force the evidence to fit their own preconceptions.

Links:

Lazare, Daniel, 2002. False testament: archaeology refutes the Bible's claim to history. Harper's 304(1822) (Mar.): 39-47. http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1111/1822_304/83553507/p1/article.jhtml?term=bible++!2Barchaeology

References:

  1. Finkelstein, Israel and Neil A. Silberman, 2001. The Bible Unearthed, New York: Free Press.
  2. Lazare, 2002. (see above)

Further Reading:

Bimson, J. J. and D. Livingstone, 1987. Redating the Exodus. BAR 13(5): 40-53.

Finkelstein, Israel and Neil A. Silberman, 2001. The Bible Unearthed, New York: Free Press.

Miller, Laura, 2001 (7 Feb.). King David was a nebbish. Salon.com, http://dir.salon.com/books/feature/2001/02/07/solomon/index.html

Moorey, P. R. S., 1991. A Century of Biblical Archaeology. Westminster/John Knox Press.
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created 2003-5-7, modified 2004-4-8