Light from the Past

In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , Dr. Jones reminds his students that archaeology is neither a treasure hunt nor a grand adventure. Archaeology begins with countless hours of careful research before the archaeologist ever sets foot on the excavation site. Of course, this is quite out of keeping with the escapades of Professor Jones in the movies, which include car chases, running gun battles with Nazi soldiers, close calls with ancient booby-traps, and golden treasures galore.

Archaeology does not have to involve high adventure to be interesting. It is not about quirky bookworms who dig up ancient tablets no one else can read or who study ancient cultures and their kings whose names no one else can pronounce. Archaeology is away of getting in touch with our past. For believers, archaeology personalizes ancient history. It shows us where we fit in the history of the people of God. It deepens our appreciation for not only the Bible, but our place in Christ’s church as well.

Ancient history is not just a meaningless academic discipline with little importance to the average Christian in the pew. It is an exciting field of study that is continually turning up new pieces of evidence that give us a more complete picture of the Bible. For instance, only a few months ago archaeologists discovered the original Pool of Siloam. Another group of archaeologists uncovered one of the earliest churches. Searching through the debris from Islamic renovations of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem may yet reveal important information about Solomon’s temple.

Study of the ancient past does several things for us. First of all, it can clarify the Bible. For those of us living so far removed by space and time from biblical history, there is the tendency to read into the Bible our own experiences. This can be seen in Medieval art, which often depicts the world of the Bible through a European cultural lens in terms of architecture, geography, and costume. For instance, one might find a painting of David or Gideon in Medieval armor or Abraham in a fur coat. We do the same, reading the Bible through the lens of our culture. Archaeology helps us get into the context so we can see things as they were.

Second, archaeology can correct misunderstandings. Some Christian archaeologists in times past liked to think of archaeology as “proving the Bible” to be the Word of God, but it is better to think of it as correcting erroneous theories about the Bible. Archaeology has refuted a number of theories proposed by biblical critics, such as the old idea that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch because writing didn’t exist in his day or that the Hittites were a “made-up” people.

Third, archaeology confirms the Bible. Some, biblical scholars today contend that David and Solomon never existed. Even if they did, they were nothing more than petty chieftains. Thanks to archaeology, we now possess the Tel Dan Stele (9th century BC) and the Moabite Stone (ca. 850 BC), both of which mention the “House of David.” Both of these monuments clearly speak of the “House of David“ as a political entity. Though Solomon’s name has yet to be found, we do have some interesting discovered. 2 Chronicles 12:9 says that Shishak carried off the treasures of the temple and the royal palace of Rehoboam. Shishak died only about a year later, but his son Osorkon II donated well over 300 tons of gold and silver to the Egyptian temples—a massive amount by any standard. All things considered, it seems that Solomon’s gold found its way into the Egyptian temples. Not only that, but Solomon must have been a person of considerable wealth. After all, how much gold would a “petty chieftain” keep on hand, anyway?

There are different attitudes toward archaeology and the Bible. Some Christians believe that great finds can either “prove” the Bible or offer indisputable evidence for the reliability of God’s Word. On the other hand, there are many believers whose faith is based on simple belief rather than artifacts or ancient inscriptions. But there is another option available.

The Bible encourages believers to be thoughtful and informed. Far from having a “blind faith” Christians are to evaluate the evidence that is available. The Bible tells us to “make a right judgment” (John 7:24), “test everything [and] hold onto the good” (1 Thess. 5:21), and “be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). This language clearly shows the importance of not only examining and making a proper evaluation of the evidence that is available, but being able to share it with others for the sake of Christ.

Archaeology cannot discover everything that can possibly be known about the ancient world, mainly because the evidence we have is so fragmentary. Most sites in the ancient Near East have never been excavated, either because there is not adequate funding or because modern cities are built on top of the ancient ones. For the sites that have been excavated, only a portion has been excavated. To make matters worse, not everything that is found will ever be published. While this means that our knowledge will always be imperfect, it also means that arguments from silence criticizing the Bible are especially weak. It might be only a turn of the spade that reveals a discovery that shatters critical theories.

There will be some issues that Christians may expect nothing but silence from the archaeological record. There will almost certainly never be found any evidence in Egyptian records for the Exodus, but this is not surprising. The pharaohs were often quite arrogant (believing oneself to be a god tends to do that), so they never recorded military defeats. The triumph of the God of some Hebrew slaves over the mighty Egyptian gods and goddesses would never have made the Egyptian press. Actually, the name “Israel” occurs on the Merneptah Stele (ca. 1208 BC), clearly showing that Israel was a known people as early as the thirteenth century.

The Christian should have no fear of archaeology. The Bible has proven over and over again that it is logical, consistent, and reliable. It would be fair to expect that the more evidence archaeology uncovers, the more the Bible will be vindicated by hard facts. But even more importantly, because of archaeology Christians will be able to better under- stand God’s Word. True Believers benefit when the Bible is illuminated by light from the past.