A Perspective on how Archaeology can help us understand the Bible

The purpose of these brief notes is to put into perspective how archaeology can help us understand the Bible and how it can verify many of the Bible’s statements. To assert, however, that ‘archaeology proves the Bible true’ is an overstatement of the case. It is not within the scope of archaeology to affirm or deny the Bible’s own claim to inspiration. The following comments constitute an explanation of the limitations of archaeological evidence and an outline of the value of archaeology to Bible students.

Archaeology received its impetus from the desire of many enthusiastic Bible students of the 19th Century to find evidence that would increase understanding of the Bible and support its historical statements. We owe much to these early intrepid archaeological adventurers (as many were) for their pioneering work and to subsequent archaeologists who gradually abandoned the earlier destructive and slipshod methods of excavation, recording and analysis and turned archaeology into an important discipline.

The Limitations Of Archaeology:

1. Because archaeologists are constantly making new discoveries and studying more and more information, earlier conclusions reached by archaeologists sometimes have to be revised or even changed (e.g. Garstang’s interpretation of the archaeological evidence he found at Jericho has been overthrown in the light of further work carried out by Kathleen Kenyon and others). Therefore, we must read the latest books on archaeology or older books that have at least been revised.
2. In connection with this first point we should be aware of the fact that so keen were many of the earlier archaeologists and scholars to find evidence in support of the Bible that sometimes the wish became the father of the thought and the thought gave birth to written conclusions that were based on insufficient evidence or a faulty interpretation of the evidence.
3. What archaeology does and does not prove must be kept in perspective. Although archaeologists have found information that illuminates our understanding of the times of Abraham in a remarkable way, that does not prove that Abraham existed. The fact that Sennacherib’s cylinder talks about trapping Hezekiah in Jerusalem and fails to go any further, does not prove that the angel of Yahweh smote 185,000 Assyrians in one night. If Shalmaneser’s annals mention Ahab’s chariot force at the Battle of Qamar they do not prove that the whole story of Ahab is true. These and many other discoveries illustrate aspects of the Bible, they help to complete the picture and in certain instances confirm the historicity of the Bible but they do not prove the miraculous stories of the Bible or the message of the Bible true. The discovery of Babylonian cuneiform tablets describing Nebuchadnezzar’s reign or the discovery of clay tablets bearing Belshazzar’s name or the excavation of ancient Babylon, do not prove that Daniel existed or that he miraculously escaped the mouths of lions and so forth.
4. Quite often archaeological discoveries pose problems for the Bible record. Perhaps it is not unreasonable to argue that further discovery information would solve these problems. But if we are quick to question these discoveries we should be correspondingly slow to accept without question new discoveries that appear to support the Bible record simply because we want them to. This principle goes beyond archaeology. It should apply to anything that appears to support, or claims to support, the Bible record. ‘Proofs’ that are not proofs can be accepted without questions simply because they bolster some aspect of our belief.

The Value Of Archaeology

1. Archaeology has the capacity to bring to life the peoples of past ages, their laws, customs, personal habits, religious and philosophical beliefs, virtues and failings, actions and attitudes, architecture and art, warfare methods, diseases, medicine, foods and farming methods, trade and business practices, forms of government, methods of administration, technology, education, literature and so forth. This knowledge is important if we are to fully understand the significance of the Bible’s narrative.
2. Archaeology, in combination with other sources, can provide a mosaic of the elements of a particular historical event. By combining various Biblical comments, the words of ancient historians and archaeological evidence comprising artefacts, written and pictograph records, a more complete picture of the period can be developed. From our vantage point, parts of the jig-saw puzzle often are missing or sometimes it is difficult to fit all of the pieces, but the important point is that the essential historicity of the Bible is established.
3. Bible historians, like most ancient historians, wrote their histories for a purpose. They were not simply writing history for the sake of writing history. If the authors of Kings and Chronicles were writing history for history’s sake they were wasting their time because that history had already been written as part of the annals of the kings of Israel and Judah and other writings of the prophets. (I Kings 14:29; 15:7, 23; 14:19; 15:31; 11:41; II Chronicles 16:11; 27:7; 12:15; 13:22 etc.) These records have long since vanished. The authors of Kings and Chronicles have selected parts of these ancient annals of the kings and written histories that are designed to explain why Israel, God’s chosen people, were destroyed and taken into captivity and why they were going back into the land after seventy years. The problem for us is that they do not tell the whole story. There are gaps that archaeology can help us fill. Archaeological information about the activities of the nations can tell us about events that the Bible does not even hint at and they help to explain why certain kings and others acted as they did.
4. Another important aspect of archaeology is that it has often solved difficult historical and chronological questions, confirmed Bible statements that have been questioned by scholars and made sense of obscure passages.

We are indebted therefore, to the many men and women who have performed and are still performing the laborious task of producing archaeological material and making available to us their findings so that we can have an invaluable aid to Bible study. But we are even more indebted to the God of Israel in whom all “live and move and have their very being”. Acts 17:28.