
Today people are in a sense
ahistorical, history is not real
important to them but we need to
understand that the Bible was
given in a historical context
and so for us to understand that
context I think is critical.
You know when archaeology makes
it in popular media it's a
pretty exciting endeavor,
Indiana Jones certainly comes to
mind, Everybody knows that
that's not true but it also kind
of shapes the way that we think
of archaeology.
And one of the great things
about archaeology is it reminds
us to start thinking like the
people who received the word of
God in the Old and the New
Testament.
It helps us re-enter that world
and hear the word of God coming
to us in the culture in which it
was inicially written.
I mean when you think of books
like first and second Samuel
they primarily deal with the
leadership of Israel.
They deal with Samuel as
priests, they deal with David,
and they don't deal a lot with
the common man.
That's what archaeology can do,
it help us understand how they
built their houses, how they
made their pottery, how they did
agriculture, the setting of
these stories in the scriptures.
There's ways that reading the
Bible can kind of be like
reading a great work of
historical narrative and you can
become a little distant from the
truth that this is God really
engaging in real history.
And so when you walk through the
land visually, when you discuss
the land visually it reminds you
constantly that these events
really happened.
History is critical for us in
the sense that these things did
happen in historical time and
space.
The apostle Paul tells us if the
resurrection didn't happen in
time and space eat, drink, and
be merry for tomorrow you die.
So for us to understand how they
lived and their time and place
is critical.
