Archaeologists of the Christian Faith:
Ancient Evidence for the Bible … in
Spades
Compiled by W. R. Miller
Archaeology or archeology: n. The scientific study of historic or prehistoric peoples and their cultures by analysis of their artifacts, inscriptions, monuments, and other remains. – Webster’s College Dictionary.
The value of archaeology is that it can help to verify – or deny – the trustworthiness of ancient historical documents.
“Significantly, even liberal theologians, secular academics, and critics generally cannot deny that archaeology has confirmed the biblical record at many points,” write Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon (http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/apologetics/AP0304W3.htm).
In his
book, What Mean These Stones?, Millar Burrows
wrote,
“Archaeological work has unquestionably strengthened confidence in the
reliability of the Scriptural record.
More than one archaeologist has found his respect for the Bible
increased by the experience of excavation in
The following is a compilation of biographies of archaeologists and associated scholars, who through their research, have become convinced of the veracity of the ancient documents collectively called the Bible. Among them are former critics -- William F. Albright, Nelson Glueck, George Ernest Wright, Sir William Ramsay, A. H. Sayce, and Dr. Clifford Wilson – whose views changed as they examined, first-hand, the archaeological evidence.
See the Appendixes for further information.
William F. Albright / William Foxwell
Albright
(1891-1971). Born in
Awards: Fellowship,
Author: The Archaeology of
Palestine and the Bible, Fleming H. Revell (New
York, NY), 1932; Recent Discoveries in Bible Lands, Funk & Wagnalls (New York, NY), 1936, Biblical Colloquium (Pittsburgh,
PA), 1956; From the Stone Age to Christianity, Johns Hopkins (Baltimore,
MD), 1940; Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, Johns Hopkins
(Baltimore, MD), 1942; The Archaeology of Palestine, Penguin (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England), 1949, revised edition,
Penguin (Baltimore, MD), 1954; The Bible After Twenty Yeaars
of Archaeology, 1932-1952, Biblical Colloquium (Pittsburgh, PA), 1954; The
Biblical Period, [Pittsburgh, PA], 1955; History, Archaeology, and
Christian Humanism, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1964; The Proto-Sinaitic Inscriptions and Their Decipherment, Harvard University
Press (Cambridge, MA), 1966; Archaeology, Historical Analogy & Early
Biblical Tradition, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA),
1966; (With T.O. Lambdin) The Evidence of
Language, Cambridge University Press, 1966; New Horizons in Biblical
Research, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1966; Yahweh and the
Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths, Doubleday
(Garden City, NY), 1968; (With others) The Scrolls and Christianity:
Historical and Theological Significance, editor, introduction and
concluding chapter by Matthew Black, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
(London, England), 1969; (Introduction, translation, and notes with C.S. Mann) Matthew,
Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1971. Served as editor of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 1931-68.
Served as senior editor of the Anchor Bible series.
Contributor to The Amarna
Letters from
Realms of Faith, http://faith.propadeutic.com/ (February 28, 2004), “Christian Authors Database.”
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/ (February 28, 2004), “William F. Albright.*”
Contemporary Authors
Online, Gale, 2005.
William F. Albright. “Retrospect and Prospect in New Testament Archaeology,” in The Teacher’s Yoke, ed. By E. Jerry Vardaman (Waco, Texas: Baylor University, 1964), p. 288ff. Quoted by Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook on Christian Evidences (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1990), p. 202. “‘All radical schools in New Testament criticism which have existed in the past or which exist today are pre-archaeological, and are therefore, since they were built in Der Luft [in the air], quite antiquated today.’”
William F. Albright. Archaeology of
William F. Albright. Christian Century, November 19, 1958, p. 1329. “The narratives of the patriarchs, of Moses and the exodus, of the conquest of Canaan, of the judges, the monarchy, exile and restoration, have all been confirmed and illustrated to an extent that I should have thought impossible forty years ago.”
William F. Albright. Archaeology and the Religion of
William F. Albright. Recent Discoveries in
William F. Albright. From Stone Age to Christianity,
Baltimore: Johns
William F. Albright. The
Archaeology of Palestine, rev. edition.
Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Pelican Books, 1960,
pp.127, 128. “The
excessive scepticism shown toward the Bible by
important historical schools of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
certain phases of which still appear periodically, has been progressively
discredited. Discovery after discovery
has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has brought increased
recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history.”
William F. Albright, The
Archaeology of
E. M. Blaiklock / Edward Musgrave Blaiklock
(1903 – 1983). University
of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, lecturer, 1927-37, senior lecturer in
classics, 1937-47, professor of classics, 1947-68, professor emeritus, 1968--. Public orator, University of Auckland, 1958-69. President, Baptist Union of
“Blaiklock produced a long series
of Bible-reading notes for the Scripture Union together with a number of books
on his favourite biblical theme, the historical
background of the New Testament; popularising but
never shallow and always based on sound scholarship, these gave him an
international reputation as a biblical scholar. In
--Dictionary of New Zealand biography, http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=5B28
Memberships: P.E.N. Baptist.
Awards: Litt.D.,
Author: The Christian
in Pagan Society, Tyndale, 1951. The
The Archaeology of the
New Testament, Zondervan, 1970, revised edition,
1975, revised and updated edition, Nelson, 1984. The Psalms of the Great Rebellion: An Imaginative Exposition of Psalms
3 to 6 and 23,
Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2005.
E. M. Blaiklock, “Editor’s Preface,” The New International Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology (Grand Rapids, MI: Regency Reference Library/Zondervan, 1983), pp. vii-viii, emphasis added.
“Near Eastern archaeology has demonstrated the historical
and geographical reliability of the Bible in many important areas. By
clarifying the objectivity and factual accuracy of biblical authors,
archaeology also helps correct the view that the Bible is avowedly partisan and
subjective. It is now known, for instance, that, along with the Hittites,
Hebrew scribes were the best historians in the entire ancient Near East,
despite contrary propaganda that emerged from Assyria, Egypt, and elsewhere.”
E. M. Blaiklock, Christianity Today, September 28, 1973, p. 13.
“Recent archaeology has destroyed much nonsense and will
destroy more. And I use the word nonsense deliberately, for theories and
speculations find currency in biblical scholarship that would not be tolerated
for a moment in any other branch of literary or historical criticism.”
Daniel C. Browning
(1956- ). American scholar. Archaeologist; Biblical
Backgrounds; Research: Biblical backgrounds; culture of New Testament times;
archaeological field work; Career history: Instructor, Texas Christian University, 87-89; Teaching
Fellow, 85-87, Adjunct Instr, 87-89, Southwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary; Instructor, 88-90, Tarrant County Jr. College;
Asst Professor, 90-93, Assoc Professor, 93-, William Carey College. Education:
University
Awards: Endowment for Biblical Research/American
Schools of Oriental Research Travel Grant, 84; Research Fellow, Albright Institute
of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, 88; Outstanding Faculty Member 95/96,
William Carey College (Student Government Assoc Award), 96; Teaching Excellence
Grants William Carey College, 93-97.
Member:
Author: Land
of Goshen, Biblical Illustrator 19, 93; The
Other Side of the Sea of Galilee, Biblical Illustrator, 20, 94; Standards of
Greatness in the First Century, Biblical Illustrator 21, 95; Coauthor,
Of Seals and Scrolls, Biblical
Illustrator 22, 96; Author, The Strange
Search for the Ashes of the Red Hefer, Biblical Archaeologist, 96; The Hill Country is Not Enough for Us:
Recent Archaeology and the Book of Joshua, Southwestern Journal of
Theology, 98; Jesus as Carpenter,
Biblical Illustrator, 98; Iron Age Loom
Weights from Timnah, Tell Batash (Timnah)
II: The Finds from the Iron Age II, forthcoming.
F. F. Bruce /
Frederick Fyvie Bruce
(1910-1990). Scottish scholar. University of
Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, lecturer in Greek, 1934-38; University of
Leeds, Leeds, England, lecturer in Greek, 1938-47; University of Sheffield,
Sheffield, England, professor of Biblical history and literature, 1947-59;
University of Manchester, Manchester, England, Rylands
Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis, 1959-78, professor emeritus,
1978-90. Education:
Member: Society for Old Testament Study (president, 1965), Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (president, 1975), Victoria Institute (president,
1958- 65),
Awards: D.D.,
Author: The Books and
the Parchments, Pickering & Inglis,
1950. Second Thoughts on the
Contemporary
Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2000.
F.F. Bruce. “Archaeological Confirmation of the New Testament,” Revelation and the Bible. Edited by Carl Henry.
F.F. Bruce. The New Testament Documents: Are They
Reliable?
“And it
was not only friendly eyewitnesses that the early preachers had to reckon with;
there were others less well disposed who were also conversant with the main
facts of the ministry and death of Jesus.
The disciples could not afford to risk inaccuracies (not to speak of willful
manipulation of the facts), which would at once be exposed by those who would
be only too glad to do so. On the
contrary, one of the strong points in the original apostolic preaching is the
confident appeal to the knowledge of the
hearers; they not only said, ‘We are witnesses of these things,’ but also, ‘As
you yourselves also know’ (Acts 2:22).
Had there been any tendency to depart from the facts in any material
respect, the possible present of hostile witnesses in the audience would have
served as a further corrective.”
Millar Burrows.
(1889-1990). Millar
Burrows was a Presbyterian minister, biblical scholar, educator, and author. In
1947, while Burrows was serving as director of the
Member of American
Author: Founders of Great Religions,
Scribner, 1931. What Mean These Stones?, American Schools of Oriental
Research, 1941. Outline of Biblical Theology,
Contemporary Authors
Online, Gale, 2005.
Millar Burrows. What
Mean These Stones?
Millar Burrows. What
Mean These Stones?
Millar Burrows. What
Mean These Stones?
Millar Burrows. What
Mean These Stones?
Millar Burrows. What
Mean These Stones?
Millar Burrows. What
Mean These Stones?
Thomas John Drobena
(Born 1934). Minister. Educator. Co-pastor, Holy Trinity Lutheran
Church, Torrington, Conn., 1986; pastor,
Member:
Fellow Istituto Slovacco; American
Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, America Association of Teachers
of Slavic and East European Languages, Czechoslovak Society for the Arts and Sciences,
New England Lutheran Historical Society (pres. 1990, editor Journal of New England, Lutheran Historical
Society 1995).
Co-author: Heritage of the Slavs, 1976; editor The
Marquis Who's Who, 2005.
In McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict (1975 ed), p. 65, citing John Warwick Montgomery, “Evangelicals and Archeology,” Christianity Today, August 16, 1968, pp. 47-48.
“[American Institute of
Nelson Glueck
(1900-1971). American archaeologist, College
President. Discovered King Solomon's copper mines, over 1000 artifacts in
Trans-Jordan, the Negev, using Bible as guide, 1930s; president, Hebrew Union
College, 1947-71. American School of
Oriental Research, Jerusalem, Palestine, Morgenthau
fellow, 1928-29; Hebrew Union College (now Hebrew Union College-Jewish
Institute of Religion), Cincinnati, OH, instructor, 1929-31, assistant
professor, 1932-33, associate professor, 1934-35, professor of Bible and
biblical archaeology, 1936-71, president, 1947-50 (also president of Jewish
Institute of Religion, New York, 1949-50); Hebrew Union College-Jewish
Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, New York, and Jerusalem,
president, 1950-1971. University of Cincinnati, lecturer on biblical
literature, 1932-36; American Schools of Oriental Research, director in
Jerusalem, 1932-33, 1936-40, 1942-47, annual professor in Baghdad, 1933-34, and
field director in Baghdad, 1942-47. Director of archaeological excavations at Khirbet Tannur and Tell-el-Kheleifeh, and member of exploration and survey teams
elsewhere in
Member: American Philosophical Society, American Schools of Oriental Research, American Oriental Society, Archaeological Institute of America, Israel Exploration Society, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Phi Beta Kappa; Explorers Club and P.E.N. (both New York), Literary Club and University Club (both Cincinnati), Cosmos Club (Washington, DC), Harvard Club (Boston).
Awards:
Author: Das Wort Hesed im alttestamentlichen Sprachgebrauche, A. Topelmann, 1927, translation by Alfred Gottschalk, published as Hesed in the Bible, Hebrew Union College Press, 1967.
The Other Side of the
Author of Explorations in Eastern Palestine (annuals of American School of Oriental Research), Volume XIV, 1934, Volume XV, 1935, Volume XVIII-XIX, 1939, Volume XXV-XXVIII, 1951.
Contributor of articles on archaeology and Bible to books, encyclopedias, and magazines.
-- Melissa A. Dobson.
Contemporary Authors Online,
Gale, 2005.
Nelson Glueck. “As a matter of fact, however, it may be clearly stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a single biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact details historical statements in the Bible.” Rivers in the Desert (New York: Farrar, Strausee and Cudahy, 1959), p. 136. Quoted by Norman L. Geisler and Ron Brooks, When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook on Christian Evidences (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1990), p. 179.
Victor Roland Gold
(Born 1924-). Gold
is fluent in German and reads French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Greek, and
Hebrew. Ordained Lutheran minister, 1946; Wittenberg University,
Hamma Divinity School, Springfield, OH, assistant
professor, 1952-56; Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminaryinary,
Berkeley, CA, associate professor, 1956-61, professor of Old Testament, 1961--;
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, professor of Old Testament, 1962--. Visiting professor of Semitic Languages at
Education: Wartburg College, B.A., 1944;
Wartburg Theological Seminary, B.D., 1946; Johns Hopkins University, Ph.D.,
1951; American School of Oriental Research, postdoctoral study, 1951-52. Avocational Interests: Travel (Europe,
Member: Deutscher Verein zur Erforschung Palaestinas,
Institute for Mediterranean Studies (executive director, 1969--), Society of
Biblical Literature (secretary of Pacific Coast region, 1961--; member of
national council, 1961--), American Oriental Society, Archaeological Institute
of America, Palestine Exploration Fund, Pacific Coast Theological Society.
Awards: Honorary associate of American
Schools of Oriental Research, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1963-65; fellow of Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion Biblical and Archaeological School, 1963.
(Contributor) David N. Freedman and G.
Ernest Wright, editors, Biblical Archaeologist
Reader, Volume I, Doubleday, 1961. (Editor) Kirchenpraesident
oder Bischof?
(title means “Church President or Bishop?”), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1968.
(Contributor) Daniel F. Martensen, editor, Christian Hope and the Secular,
Contributor to
Contemporary Authors
Online, Gale, 2005.
Gerhard F. Hasel / Gerhard Franz Hasel
(1935- ). Austrian-born, naturalized
Author: A
Theology of the Old Testament; Studies in the Book of Daniel; Studies in
Contemporary Hermeneutics; Commentary on Amos and Hosea; research on ancient Near Eastern and Israelite prophecy; studies
in apocalypticism.
Contemporary Authors
Online, Gale, 2005.
Frederic Kenyon / Sir
Frederic George Kenyon
(1863-1952). British scholar and administrator, assistant keeper of manuscripts in The British museum (1898-1909), Director of the museum (1909-1930). Yusuf Ali, in his widely used English translation of the Qur’an, twice cites Sir Frederic Kenyon as a renowned authority. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, THE HOLY QUR’AN: Text, Translation and Commentary (Qatar: Qatar National Printing Press, 1946), pp. 285, 287.
Author: The Paleography of Greek Papyri; Our Bible and Ancient Manuscripts; Handbook to the Textual Criticism of The New Testament; The Bible and Archaeology.
Sir Frederic George Kenyon, The Story of the Bible,
Sir Frederic George Kenyon.
Our Bible and Ancient
Manuscripts,
“It cannot be too strongly asserted that in
substance the text of the Bible is certain: Especially is this the case with
the New Testament, of early translations from it, and of quotations from it in
the oldest writers of the Church, is so large that it is practically certain
that the true reading of every doubtful passage is preserved in some one or
other of these ancient authorities. This
can be said of no other ancient book in the world.
“Scholars are satisfied that they possess
substantially the true text of the principal Greek and Roman writers whose
works have come down to us, of Sophocles, of Thucydides, of Cicero, of Virgil;
yet our knowledge of their writings depends on a mere handful of manuscripts,
whereas the manuscripts of the new Testament are counted by hundreds, and even
thousands.”
“The
Christian can take the whole Bible in his hand and say without fear or
hesitation that he holds in it the true Word of God, handed down without
essential loss from generation to generation throughout the centuries.”
Sir Frederic G. Kenyon, The Bible and Archaeology,
Sir Frederic G. Kenyon, The Bible and Archaeology,
“This is at any
rate objective evidence, not resting on theological prepossessions, and since
it is accepted by all those who have had most experience in dating the gospel
itself must on all
grounds of probability be put back into the first century,
in order to allow time for the work to get into circulation; and a date toward
the end of that century is what Christian tradition has always assigned to it.
“With regard to the
other books of the New Testament there is not much to say. No one doubts that
the synoptic gospels belong to a period perceptibly earlier than the fourth
gospel, so that the traditional dates round about the fall of Jerusalem remain
approximately the latest possible, and the dating of Luke carries with it that
of Acts.
“ For the Pauline epistles the only new evidence
is that they were circulating as a collection by the end of the second century,
and that this collection included Hebrews, but apparently not the pastoral
epistles...
“The
interval than between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant
evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation
for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they
were written has now been removed. Both
the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament
may be regarded as finally established.”
Sir Frederic G. Kenyon, The Bible and Modern Scholarship.
Regarding the Chester Beatty Papyri (A.D. 200),
located in C. Beatty Museum in Dublin and part-owned by the University of
Michigan, containing papyrus codices, three of them containing major portions
of the New Testament, “The net result of this discovery – by far the most
important since the discovery of the Sinaiticus – is,
in fact, to reduce the gap between the earlier manuscripts and the traditional
dates of the New Testament books so far that it becomes negligible in any
discussion of their authenticity. No
other ancient book has anything like such early and plentiful testimony to its
text, and no unbiased scholar would deny that the text that has come down to us
is substantially sound.”
F. F. Bruce. “The Victoria Institute and the Bible.” http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1961/JASA3-61Bruce.html “Sir Frederic did not think of himself as a Biblical scholar, but it is widely recognized that his contributions to Biblical scholarship were of the highest value.
II. BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP AND CHRISTIAN ORIGINS
“Sir Frederic Kenyon, in successive annual addresses which he delivered as our president, emphasized the special opportunities presented to the Institute to meet the need of the hour, provided that our work was characterized by “liberty of investigation, an open mind, charity toward our opponents, and faith in the victory of truth.” One particular way in which he thought the Institute might well provide “the sound basis of scholarship” for carrying on the struggle against anti-Christian forces was in making known the historical foundation of the Christian faith. This is something which I should like to repeat and underline.
“For Christianity is nothing if it is not a historical faith-that is to say, a faith founded on things which have really happened. Some Christian leaders have propounded outlines of ‘basic Christianity’ which (they urge) men and women might well accept and live by, even if (per impossibile) it could be proved that Jesus of Nazareth had no historic existence. But such a “basic Christianity” is a very different thing from the basic Christianity of the apostles, which consisted in the affirmation that God had acted for the redemption of mankind in the events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The beliefs and ethical principles of which modern “basic Christianity” consists were certainly inculcated by the apostles, but the apostles inculcated them as corollaries of the redeeming act of God in Christ. And if we continue to use the term ‘Christianity’ in its historic sense (as we should), then Christianity must rest upon the foundations of the apostolic witness.”
Kenneth A. Kitchen
Archaeologist. Personal and Brunner
Professor Emeritus of Egyptology,
Research programme: (1)
Egyptology: producing the translations and commentaries for the texts published
in his earlier Rammesside Inscriptions, I-VII; work
in ancient Egyptian history (especially New Kingdom and Third Intermediate
Periods), foreign relations (with Near East and East Africa) and literature.
(2) Ancient Near East: major project on history, inscriptions and cultures of
ancient [pre-Islamic] Arabia, and in the
Author: On the Reliability of the Old Testament, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2003; Ramesside Inscriptions, Translated and Annotated: Translations, in progress, Blackwell, Oxford, I (1993), II (1996), III (2000), IV (2000); Notes and Comments, in progress, Blackwell, Oxford, I (1994), II (1996); The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100-650 BC), 2nd ed. with 2nd supplement, Aris & Phillips, Warminster, 1996; Poetry of Ancient Egypt, Gothenburg, Åström, 1999; The World of Ancient Arabia, Liverpool University Press I (1994), II (2000); III, IV in preparation
Faculty webpage: http://www.liv.ac.uk/sace/organisation/people/research_staff/kitchen.htm
K. A. Kitchen, The Bible and Its World: The Bible and Archeology Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1977), p. 134.
Kitchen remarks that after “a fair and full investigation of the total available resources, the verdict is frequently a high measure of agreement between the Bible and the world that is its ancient and original context.”
K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and Old Testament (Chicago: InterVarsity Press, 1972), pp. 20, 20n.
Nowhere else in the whole of Ancient Near Eastern history
has the literary, religious and historical development of a nation been
subjected to such drastic and wholesale reconstructions at such variance with
the existing documentary evidence. The fact that Old
Testament scholars are habituated to these widely known reconstructions, even
mentally conditioned by them, does not alter the basic gravity of the situation
which should not be taken for granted.... [citing
Bright] “The
new evidence [i.e., objective Near Eastern data], far from
furnishing a corrective to inherited notions of the religions of earliest
K. A. Kitchen, The Bible in Its World: The Bible and Archeology Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1977), p. 7
Thus, “Biblical studies have long been hindered by the persistence of long-outdated philosophical and literary theories (especially of nineteenth-century stamp), and by wholly inadequate use of first-hand sources in appreciating the earlier periods of the Old Testament story in particular.”
Gary Lease
(Born 1940-). American
scholar, archaeologist. St. Xavier College, Chicago, IL, assistant professor of theology,
1968-69; Loyola University of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, assistant professor
of religious studies, 1969-73, acting chairman of department, 1971; University
of California, Santa Cruz, assistant professor, 1973-74, associate professor of
religious studies, 1974--, chairman of department, 1974-76, chairman of history
of consciousness, 1976-77, acting provost of Kresge
College, 1977-78, professor of history of consciousness, 1984--, chair,
environmental studies, 1986-89, chair, history of consciousness, 1988-89,
associate chancellor, 1989-90, dean of humanities, 1990--. John
XXIII Institute for Ecumenical Theology, research director, 1968-69; University
of California Education Abroad Program Study Center, director, 1980-82. California Department of Fish and Game hunter safety instructor,
1971--; investigator for various archaeological excavations, 1974, 1976, 1980,
1981.
Education:
Awards: National Defense Foundation fellow,
1962; Danforth Foundation fellow, 1967; Younger
humanist fellow at University of Munich, National Endowment for the Humanities,
1971; Fulbright fellow, 1984; American Philosophical Society research grant,
1986; DAAD study grant, 1987; American Council of Learned Societies
grant-in-aid, 1988; National Endowment for the Humanities summer grant, 1990.
Author: Witness to the Faith,
“Odd Fellows” in the Politics of Religion: Modernism, National Socialism and German Judism, Mouton de Gruyter, 1995.
(Co-editor) Reinventing Nature?:
Reponses to Postmodern Deconstruction,
Contributor to books, including Vecchi
e Nuovi Dei, edited by R. Caporale,
Valentino (Turin), 1976; Jewish Tradition in the Diaspora: Studies in Memory
of Professor Walter J. Fischel, edited by M. M. Caspi, Berkeley Publishing, 1981; Religion and Politics
in the Modern World, edited by Peter Merkl and Ninian Smart, New York University Press, 1983; Newman
and the Modernists, edited by Mary Jo Weaver, University Press of America,
1985; and The Roots of Egyptian Christianity, edited by Birger Pearson and James Goehring,
Fortress, 1986. Contributor to various periodicals and journals, including Religious
and Theological Abstracts, Newman-Studien, Biblical Archaeologist, Metanoia:
An Interdisciplinary Review, Journal of the American Academy of Religion,
Religious Studies Review, Goettinger Miszellen, Downside Review, Loyola, and Journal of
Ecumenical Studies. Research on the history of
nineteenth-century religious thought in Germany; studying problems of Christian origins and Hellenistic
mystery religions; a study of the relationship of religion and political
ideologies; a biography of Merry del Val.
Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2005.
Jack P. Lewis / Jack
Pearl Lewis
(1919-). American
scholar. Minister,
serving in churches in Texas, Rhode Island, and Kentucky, 1941-54; Harding
Graduate School of Religion, Memphis, TN, associate professor, 1954-57,
professor of Bible, 1957-89.
Jack P. Lewis has a reading knowledge of
German, French, Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin. He has led more than thirty
tours to the
Member: Society of Biblical Literature,
Awards: American School of Oriental
Research (Jerusalem), Thayer fellow, 1967-68; Christian Education Award, Twentieth Century Christian, 1968; Distinguished
Service Award, Harding College, 1979; senior fellowship, W. F. Albright
Institute of Archaeological Research (Jerusalem), 1983-84; a festschrift
published in Lewis's honor, Biblical Interpretation Principles and
Practices, was published by Baker Books in 1986; Distinguished Christian Service Award, Harding University,
1988, and (with wife) Pepperdine University, 1991;
Honorary Dean, Japanese School of Evangelism, Tokyo, Japan, 1989; Distinguished
Work and Practical Christian
Service (with wife), Freed-Hardeman University, 1998.
Author: The Minor Prophets, Baker
Book, 1966. The Interpretation of Noah and the Flood in
Jewish and Christian Literature,
E. J. Brill (
(Editor) The Last Things, R. B.
Sweet, 1976. The Gospel According to Matthew (commentary), R. B.
Sweet, 1976, reprinted in two volumes,
(Editor) Interpreting Second Corinthians 5:1421: An Exercise in Hermeneutics, Edwin Mellen, 1989. Questions You've Asked about Bible Translations, Resource Publications, 1990. Also author of Archaeology and the Bible, 1975. Contributor of articles to Journal of Bible and Religion, Journal of Evangelical Theological Society, and Biblical Archaeologist. Member of editorial board, Restoration Quarterly, 1957, and Journal of Hebraic Studies, 1969.
Contemporary Authors
Online, Gale, 2005.
Paul L. Maier / Paul
Luther Maier
(Born 1930). History
professor, minister, writer. Professor of Ancient
History,
Awards: Gold Medallion Book award ECPA, 1989, Distinguished
Faculty Scholar Western Michigan University, 1981, Alumni Award Teaching
Excellence, 1974; named Outstanding Educator in America, 1974-75, Professor of
Year Council for Advancement and Support of Education, 1984, citation Michigan
Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, 1985.
Member: American Historical Association,
American Society for Reformation Research.
Lutheran.
Author: A Man Spoke, A
World Listened, 1963, Pontius Pilate,
1968, First Christmas, 1971, First Easter, 1973, First Christians, 1976, The
Flames of Rome, 1981, In the Fullness
of Time, 1991, A Skeleton in God's
Closet, 1994, More Than a Skeleton,
2003, The Da
Vinci Code -Fact or Fiction?, 2004; editor: The Best of Walter A. Maier, 1980; editor: Josephus-The Jewish War, 1982; editor, translator: Josephus-The Essential Writings, 1988, Josephus-The Essential Works, 1995, Eusebius-The Church History, 1999;
contributor of over 250 articles and reviews to professional journals.
Paul L. Maier. “History, Archaeology and Jesus: Hard evidence from the ancient world dramatically supports the New Testament record on Jesus,” The Lutheran Witness, October 1999. http://www.issuesetc.org/resource/archives/maier3.htm
“At the 2,000th anniversary of Christianity, then, we should
be ready to tell everyone that the sum total of the literary, historical and
archaeological evidence from the ancient world dramatically supports the New
Testament record on Jesus. Those who claim it does not are sadly misinformed,
tragically closed-minded, or dishonest.”
Marquis Who's Who, 2006.
John Robert McRay
(1931-). American Religion educator. Professor New Testament and archaeology,
Education:
BA, David Lipscomb University, Nashville, 1954; MA, Harding University, Searcy,
Arkansas, 1956; PhD, University of Chicago, 1967.
Member:
Society Biblical Literature (President 1978), Near East Archaelogical
Society (board of directors, 1985), Institute. for
Biblical
Awards: Recipient J.W. McGarvey
award Restoration Quarterly, 1960, award Christian Research Foundation, 1962.
Author: New
Testament Introduction and Survey, 1961, Archaeology and the New Testament, 1991; editor: The Eternal Kingdom, 1961, Index to the Biblical Archaeologist, 1970, Cumulative Index to the BASOR, 1972.
Marquis Who's Who, 2004.
Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), quoting McRay, p. 97.
“The general consensus of both liberal and conservative
scholars is that Luke is very accurate as a historian. He’s erudite, he’s eloquent, his Greek
approaches classical quality, he writes as an educated man, and archaeological
discoveries are showing over and over again that Luke is accurate in what he
has to say.”
Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), quoting McRay, p. 100.
“Archaeology has not produced anything that is
unequivocally a contradiction to the Bible.
On the contrary, as we’ve seen, there have been many opinions of
skeptical scholars that have become codified into ‘fact’ over the years but
that archaeology has shown to be wrong.”
Eugene H. Merrill / Leslie Holt Morrill / Leslie H. Morrill / Eugene Haines Merrill
(1934- ) American
scholar. Professor Old Testament
studies, Dallas Theological Seminary., 1975; Professor,
Education:
Bob Jones University, BA, 57, MA, 60, PhD, 63; New York University, MA 70;
Columbia University, MPhil, 77, PhD, 85.
Member:
American Oriental
Awards: Visiting scholar, Union Theological
Seminary, 63, 64; travel-study grant,
Author: Royal
Priesthood: An Old Testament Messianic Motif, Bib Sac, 93; author, Deuteronomy, New Testament Faith, and the
Christian Life, in Dyer, ed, Integrity
of Heart, Skillfulness of Hands, Baker, 94; author, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 94; author,
Deuteronomy, Broadman
& Holman, 94; contributor to The
Complete Who's Who in the Bible, ed Gardner, Marshall Pickering, 95; author,
History in Sandy, ed Cracking Old Testament Codes, Broadman & Holman, 95; author, The Late Bronze/Early Iron Age Transition and the Emergence of Israel,
Bib Sac, 95; contributor to Evangelical
Dictionary of Biblical Theology, ed Elwell, Baker
Book, 96; co-trans, Deuteronomy, in
New Living Translation, Tyndale, 96; author, The Peoples of the Old Testament According
to Genesis, Bib Sac, 97; ed and contributor New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis,
ed Van Gemeren, Zondervan,
97; author, Suicide and the Concept of
Death in the Old Testament in Demy, ed, Suicide:
A Christian Response, Kregel, 98.
“Eugene H. Merrill.” Directory of American Scholars, 10th ed. Gale Group, 2001.
Eugene H. Merrill, Professor of Old Testament Studies,
“Much of the credit
for this relatively new assessment of the patriarchal tradition must go to the
‘Albright school.’ Albright himself pointed out years ago that apart from ‘a
few diehards among older scholars’ there is hardly a single biblical historian
who is not at least impressed with the rapid accumulation of data supporting
the ‘substantial historicity’ of patriarchal tradition.”
John Randall Price
(1951- ). American theology educator,
researcher. Adjunct Professor, Tyndale Theological Seminary., Ft. Worth, 1996; Adjunct Professor,
Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va., 1995; pres., World of the Bible Ministries,
Inc., San Marcos, Texas, 1993; Professor, Ctrl. Texas Bible Institute., Austin,
1992-93; Instructor, University of Texas, Austin, 1990-92; Director, World of
the Bible Tours, San Marcos, Texas, 1982-92. Career-Related: executive board
Memberships: Society Biblical
Literature, Evangelical Theological Society
Author: Teachers Study Bible, 1992, Ready to Rebuild, 1992, Desecration and Restoration of the Temple, 1993, In Search of Temple Treasures, 1994, Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1996; editor: Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, 1992-96; member advisory board: Messianic Times, Toronto, 1993.