The Dig Series

10/13/2016

http://www.thedigseries.com/blog-1-gospel-of-jesus-wife-not-so-much-but-it-is-a-good-lesson/

In September of 2012, Harvard Divinity School’s Karen King announced that this papyrus fragment…

08/15/2016

How about some Canaanite bling??

These silver earrings and a silver ingot in the shape of the continent of Africa were found recently in Northern Israel. Some happy owner kept them in a ceramic jar around 1400 B.C. in a city listed in 1 Samuel and both 1 and 2 Kings. Discoveries like these help us learn more about the cultures and lives of the people who experienced the things we read about in the pages of Scripture.

In their Archaeological Views, Abel Beth Maacah staff describe the excitement around the discovery of a Late Bronze Age silver hoard, one of the earliest ever found in Canaan.

08/05/2016

A Philistine cemetery dating to the time of Solomon just discovered and excavated. No, not all Philistines were giants! Neat to see more light shed on the cultures and practices of the chief rivals of King David and the ancient Israelites as recorded in the Bible.

The first and only Philistine cemetery ever discovered has been found outside the walls of ancient Ashkelon.

08/05/2016

"You can no more teach what you don't know than you can come from where you ain't been." -Adrian Rodgers quoting an old schoolteacher using slang and humor to show the importance of study and digging into Scripture to be prepared in any season to discuss it. A good quote!

08/03/2016

Why knowing the Scriptures well and also knowing history correctly is important.

'Break the Cross': Islamic State Magazine Mocks Christianity, Claims Jesus Is 'a Slave of Allah'

07/19/2016

F.F. Bruce's seminal work, The Canon of Scripture, takes a look at the books that make up the Bible. When considering the content of the Old Testament and its books specifically and which books are considered canon by both Christians and Jews, he writes, "Our Lord and his apostles might differ from the religious leaders of Israel about the meaning of the scriptures; there is no suggestion that they differed about the limits of the scriptures. 'The scriptures' on whose meaning they differed were not an amorphous collection: when they spoke of 'the scriptures' they knew which writings they had in mind and could distinguish them from other writings which were not included in the scriptures."

Later writings that are part of what we call the Apocrypha and such were known about, but not considered canon in traditional Jewish history. Though they are grouped differently, the Hebrew Bible and the Protestant Old Testament contain exactly the same content. There was no need to pick and choose by the early church when it came to the well-established canon of the Old Testament. So many of the recorded prophecies, especially of the Messiah, and descriptions of the character of God in those books find their fulfillment in Jesus and in the working of the same God in the New Testament.

07/19/2016

A great quote from Dr. Craig Blomberg on how it is good to engage our minds through critical study and scientific discovery as we consider the Biblical texts:

"Christianity is based on the concept of God acting in history. Christianity does not require a 'leap in the dark' or sacrifice of the intellect. Biblical faith is fundamentally commitment to a God who has intervened in the history of humanity in a way that exposes His activity to historical study." -The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, Traditional Approaches p. 36

It's exciting to see the Bible corroborated through archaeological discovery and the uncovering of ancient texts like the Dead Sea Scrolls among many others. God doesn't seem to mind letting us know He's at work both throughout history and even today.

07/19/2016

"The Bible seems to have a sense of humor as it always rises up to outlive its pallbearers." -Ravi Zacharias

07/19/2016

Looking for a great commentary on the Biblical book of Joshua? Grab this widely regarded and referenced commentary by Richard Hess. His scholarship and influence on Biblical studies has had great impact both in America and worldwide, and he has a way of putting you right in the story, considering every aspect of this incredible Biblical account. Dr. Richard Hess is the Earl S. Walland Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Denver Seminary and is featured in Dig Series One: The Bible - coming soon!

07/19/2016

Curious about how World War I affected archaeology and the preservation of ancient discoveries on the island of Cyprus? I knew you were. Read this brief article by lifelong archaeologist Tom Davis in Ancient Near East Today magazine. Dr Tom Davis is Professor of Archaeology and Biblical Backgrounds and Chair of the Archaeology Department at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth TX and is featured in Dig Series One: The Bible - coming soon!

By: Thomas Davis, Professor of Archaeology, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary “Here’s another little baby Queen Victoria has got, Another little Colony, although she has got a lot. Another little Island, very wet and very hot, Whatever will she do with little Cyprus?” “What shall we do with…

07/19/2016

Check out these articles about the discovery of a seal from King Hezekiah who ruled Jerusalem and Judea in the days of Isaiah the prophet in the late 700s and early 600s B.C.! Archaeological finds like this help establish scientific dates for events recorded in the Bible and corroborate Biblical accounts with the dates in which they claim to have been written. It's very exciting to see discoveries like this one coming to light over and over again that give us great confidence in the reliability of God's Word to us and His work in human history.

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/king-hezekiahs-seal-discovered-in-jerusalem/2015/12/02/

http://www.christianpost.com/news/king-hezekiahs-seal-jerusalem-confirms-bible-gods-word-says-creationist-ken-ham-154860/

This external evidence further establishes the veracity of the biblical account of the nation of Israel’s empires going back some 3,000 years.

07/19/2016

An interesting post by Dr. George Guthrie, Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible at Union Theological Seminary in Jackson, TN on the importance of really understanding the words and meaning of Biblical texts. Might require a little extra effort, but reading the Bible well means understanding it well. Word study is key! Dr Guthrie is featured in Dig Series One: The Bible - coming soon!
http://georgehguthrie.com/new-blog/4reasonseverybiblereadershoulddowordstudies