Atlas Shrugged Movie At Last?
December 6, 2010The Dreadful Mumpsimus
December 20, 2010An interesting report on technological progress in Biblical archaeology in Sciencemagazine, on the American Schools Of Oriental Research Annual Meeting:
At the meeting, a series of biblical archaeologists came to the podium for 2 hours of data-rich presentations—and put their colleagues on notice that their field is in the midst of a scientific revolution. Biblical archaeology has often been heavy on textual analysis and slow to adopt scientific methods such as radiocarbon dating. Attempts to prove the accuracy of biblical accounts or to legitimize Jewish claims to the region have dogged the field. Now researchers are revolutionizing the region’s archaeology by applying a host of new technologies. The goal of their 5-year, $4 million effort, funded by the European Research Council, is to overcome the “strong ideological agenda” pervading the field.
Who’d have thought Biblical archaeology was fraught with more agenda-serving prejudice and shoehorning of data, than good solid facts? It will be interesting to see the results of improved scientific archaeology relating to the Bible. Shall we take bets that it will confirm that there’s but a thread of historical truth running through the Biblical narratives?
Of course modern theologians and sophisticated apologists are adept at explaining away anything. But it doesn’t really help. Once you start cherry-picking fact from fiction in the Bible, you’ve given the game away: the Bible is no longer the infallible word of God, but the fallible words of men that allegedly contain the words of God. And how can we tell the difference? Once we allow the application of observable reality and reason to the words of the Bible, it loses its authority and becomes, like everything else and as it should be, subject to judgement on its truth or error on the basis of external criteria.
That is a battle religion can’t win.
Click here for the full story (note: you need to be member of the AAAS or pay to access it).
