Ancient Israel - Essay Example

College: Ancient Israel Although majority of the incidents in the Bible have not been scientifically explained, there aremany incidents that proof the credibility of the Bible as a historical account of Judah and Israel. According to P. R. Davies, one cannot rely on the historical account of pre-exilic Judah and Israel as document by the Bible. Davies argues that, if the history of the two kingdoms was to be reconstructed, one has to rely on archaeology without following the Bible. Davies feels that the Bible should be more investigated in terms of its creators and authors. He divides Israel into three groups which include, the biblical Israel; Historical Israel which talks about the people living in northern Palestinian highlands during the iron age, and lastly, ancient Israel. This last one is seen as what the scholars have come up with out of joining the two other mentioned. Davies suggest that combining of the social-scientific and literary criticism approaches of the Bible has brought in the last decades a very interesting results in modern days studies. We have been able to agree to the idea that any event or character in the mentioned in the Bible is in the first instance a fictional event or character, aware that nothing in a literary text is real outside the text; this is the literary criticism. On the other side, the reader can take to assume the identity of an historian, then it is important to know that history is narrative. This is to say that, whenever we tell about history, we are involved in telling a story, “no story, and that includes the stories our memories generate, is ever an innocent or objective representation of the outside word. All story is fiction, and that must include historiography”,(p. 13). By the use of the social sciences, we can say that it is possible to not only look at the social reality and literature of Israel but we should also look at the forces behind the production of the Biblical literature. In this case, one should be able to see that difference between the society that is behind the text and that which writes the text. In summary, Davies argues that the sociological and literally approaches have tested the logic of transcendental reality, which has been associated with most Biblical research. The biblical literature is a creation of human authors and this is the root of what is called the paradigm shift by P. R. Davies, in that “We are enjoying a climate in which a non-theological paradigm is beginning to claim a place alongside the long-dominant theological one” (p. 15). Despite of these believes by Davies, there have been very many things that might make one not to truly follow his arguments. This is following the many things that prove the bible to be true. In the recent days, the bible has been undergoing through a lot of scrutiny. Yet as it is placed under the scope of the new and changing technology, it is finding confirmation of its truth. Despite the scientific and archaeological evidence coming up everyday the truth of the bible continues to grow. Many people have tried to study the bible and tried to prove its incorrectness, at the same time, there has been several discoveries which have been discovered to show its correctness. Many things mentioned in the bible have been found to exist or to have existed in the past. There are many incidents when things found in excavation have acted as prove of the truthfulness of the bible. An example is the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls which is a collection of ancient manuscripts. These were discovered in the year 1947 in caves in the Dead Sea desert region. This can be said to be an important discovery in that it is an archaeological proof of the antiquity of the scriptures in the Old Testament. The scrolls show that the content of the Bible is true. Another incident which contributes to the truth of the Bible is “The Jesus Boat” which was a boat discovered by two brothers on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in the year 1986. In the event of the discovery, it is said that a double rainbow appeared in the sky as sign that the boat ha been given t them. The boat dated to the first century A.D. which is the time of Jesus. This is also another show that the Bible story about Jesus, his disciples and the fishing boat is true. Although many scientists may not believe in the bible, science itself is a proof of the truth found in the Bible in that the Bible is scientifically accurate. An example is the mention of dinosaurs severally including in the book of Job where two dinosaurs are described. The Bible also talks about the many stars in heavens, ”blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies” (Genesis 22:17). Up to today, no scientist has admitted knowing the number of stars found on the sky. The strongest argument about the accuracy of the Bible is its accuracy in foreseeing the future, this is 100% accurate. The things that were predicted in the Old Testament to occur have taken place just as they were predicted. Another proof of the accuracy of the Bible is the Textual evidence supporting the new and old testaments. Most importantly is the fact that scrolls or manuscripts discovered from different locations agree on the same thing. The only differences that are found are on matters of spelling, difference in names or some events missing. Looking at the case of Miller and Hayes, they maintain a moderate position about the whole issue. The writers are not really supporting any side but are giving out found facts on both side of the argument. Their book discusses both issues, whish are the issue of Biblical evidence and the issue on Archaeological evidence. The two are not able to come up with a support to one side of the issue. This means that the proposal that has been forward by Davies that one cannot rely on Biblical evidence is not true as Miller and Hayes do not reach this conclusion. In conclusion it can only be said that the allegations by Davies about the Bible are not true and are biased in that there are many incidents that show the accuracy of the Bible but he chooses to ignore them. Most of the things written in the Bible have been found to be true. At many times, people come up with such conclusions when they are unable to explain phenomenon. Some of the things in the Bible cannot be easily understood and thus people choose not to believe in them. Science does not recognize spiritual powers and this brings in a problem which makes science not to agree with matters about the Bible. There is the incidence of the True cross which was used to crucify Jesus. In this case, the three crosses which were used to crucify Jesus and the two thieves were found and since they were three, there was a miracle which helped in identification of the true cross. Because such an incident cannot be explained scientifically, it doesn’t mean that it is not true. This is where science differs with beliefs. Works Cited J. Maxwell Miller and John H. Hayes. A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (2nd ed.; Louisville/London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006).  Pp. xxii + 562.  Paper, US$39.95.  ISBN 0-664-22358-3. Michael Carasik. Review of Miller and Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (2nd ed.) 2007 Review of Miller and Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (2nd ed.) (2007) Transcending the Boundary of Death: Ecclesiastes through a Nabokovian Lens, Biblical Interpretation (2006) Read More