Beneath The Surface: Megiddo, The Arch Of Titus And The Seven Churches Of Revelation -- By: Bryant G. Wood

Journal: Bible and Spade (Second Run)
Volume: BSPADE 23:2 (Spring 2010)
Article: Beneath The Surface: Megiddo, The Arch Of Titus And The Seven Churches Of Revelation
Author: Bryant G. Wood


Beneath The Surface: Megiddo, The Arch Of Titus And The Seven Churches Of Revelation

Bryant G. Wood

In today’s media and scholarly writing we are exposed to much negativity concerning the truth of Scripture. For example, in a recent conference on the early history of Israel, well-known Israeli archaeologist Amihai Mazar expressed grave doubts about the Bible’s depiction of the United Monarchy. He stated,

There is no doubt that many aspects, and even entire stories in the Biblical narrative relating to the United Monarchy are literary constructs created by authors who lived centuries later than the supposed time of the events, who were inspired by their own theology and ideology (2008: 109).

This is the same scholar who wrote concerning the location of Joshua’s Ai:

East of Beitin [thought by Mazar to be biblical Bethel] only one site can possibly be identified with Ai, and that is the large site of et-Tell, near Deir Dibwan.. .There is no evidence of a second-millennium Canaanite city at this spot or at any other site in the region. This constitutes unequivocal archaeological evidence for the lack of correlation between the story in Joshua 8, with all its topographic and tactical details, and a historical reality corresponding to the period of the conquest (1992: 283, emphasis added).

And Mazar is rather moderate in his views! ABR, of course, would not agree with Mazar’s assessment, as our in-depth research has shown (Wood 2008; 2009).

It is refreshing, then, to pick up a copy of Bible and Spade and find material that is edifying in nature and actually supports the truth of Scripture. In this issue we offer three articles that exhibit three different ways in which archaeological discoveries illuminate the biblical text, and demonstrate its historical accuracy and trustworthiness. In “Megiddo: The Place of Battles,” former ABR Board of Directors President David Hansen gives us an overview of one particular biblical site, Megiddo. He first gives us the reason the site was so important throughout biblical history—its geographic location. Hanson then outlines the very significant archaeological history of the site. Finally, he deftly correlates the archeological findings with the biblical references to Megiddo. And what does he find? That the Bible’s references to specific places and historical events are mythical and void of historical reality, as critics so often claim? Certainly not! As is always the case when the evidence is properly interpreted, the biblical record and the archaeological discoveries line up perfectly, each complementing the other.

Staff member Gordon Franz then treats us to an in-depth look at one specific historical object—the Arch of Titus in Rome. Altho...

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