The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and The Bible

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible?, ? 1960, 1962, 1963,

1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ()

Verses marked niv are from the Holy Bible, New International Version?, NIV?. Copyright ? 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Verses marked esv are from The ESV? Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version?), copyright ? 2001 by Cross-

way, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Verses marked nkjv are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright ? 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Verses marked kjv are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Emphasis (italics) in Scripture quotations has been added by the authors. Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota Cover photos ? Helga, Martin Bache / Alamy All uncredited interior photos are ? Joseph M. Holden, 2013.

THE POPULAR HANDBOOK OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE Copyright ? 2013 by Norman Geisler and Joseph M. Holden Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The popular handbook of archaeology and the Bible / Norman Geisler and Joseph M. Holden.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-4485-4 (pbk.)

1. Bible--Evidences, authority, etc. 2. Bible--Antiquities. I. Geisler, Norman L.

BS480.P645 2013

220.9'3--dc23

2012041424

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means--electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other--except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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To my two sons, David and Ian, because of their youthful sense of adventure

and zeal for archaeology and the Bible. --Joseph Holden

To my first teacher of archaeology, who inspired me in the field, the late Dr. Charles Shaw. --Norman Geisler

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Acknowledgments

In a work like this one it is difficult to give credit to all involved, since so many contributed in their unique ways. Without them this book would never have come to fruition. It is our pleasure to acknowledge the staff and administration of our own Veritas Evangelical Seminary for their patience and encouragement throughout the writing of the book. Their support makes this work a team effort.

However, we would like to give a special word of appreciation to Andrew W. Pitts and Dr. H. Wayne House, whose research assistance has made the book better in every way.

Further, without the technical assistance of Sam Capshaw and the skill, professionalism, flexibility, and labor of Bob Hawkins Jr. and Steve Miller of Harvest House Publishers, this book would never have made it to the press. A special thanks also to Paul Gossard for his skillful editing and his attentiveness to the needs of the reader.

Most of all, we would like to thank our Lord Jesus Christ for the unadulterated privilege He has given us to share the unsearchable riches of Christ with our generation. We sincerely hope this book will glorify Him by being a small step toward casting some light on the historical reality behind His unconditional love for mankind.

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Contents

List of Key Charts and Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Foreword by Dr. Walter C. Kaiser Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Preface: Facts That Support Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Part One: The Reliability of Old Testament Manuscripts Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

1. The Masoretes and the Samaritans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Silver Scrolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 3. The Transmission of the Old Testament--Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Part Two: The Reliability of Old Testament History Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 4. Moses, the Pentateuch, and the Major Prophets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 5. Alleged Errors vs. Archaeological Discoveries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 6. The Canon of the Old Testament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Part Three: The Reliability of New Testament Manuscripts Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 7. The Transmission of the New Testament. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 8. The Manuscripts of the New Testament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 9. The Accuracy of the New Testament Manuscripts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Part Four: The Reliability of New Testament History Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 10. Historicity of the New Testament. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 11. Responding to Recent Criticisms of the Gospels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 12. Criticisms of the Resurrection Accounts and the Epistles . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 13. The Canon of the New Testament. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Part Five: Introduction to Archaeology Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 14. Archaeology and the Bible. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 15. Keys to Understanding Archaeology in Biblical Lands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

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