The Bible is unique. The objection that the Bible is “just a collection of writings written over a 2000 year period, can also be seen as a validation, and evidence of inspiration if you are willing to look at extra-biblical archaeological evidence.                                                                                            “What?! Haven’t respected PhD’s categorically denied that there is any such thing?” Yes. They have. They have done this, disengenuously ignoring major archaeological finds of the last twenty years. Why would they do this? Because scholars are people first and scholars second. Critical thinking demands that you look at evidence critically, and not just jump in line behind your favorite published scholar.

One hundred years ago archaeology was in its  infancy.  So much history remained buried. Since the early nineteen hundreds, popular  thinkers  of the day (thinking themselves deep and agreeing with each other) began to deny the historic validity of the Old  Testament.” It is just the fanciful writing of ancient men, and most certainly written much later than Christians would have you believe. No corroborating evidence. ” they said. This popular view came to be written in stone in the ivory towers of secular academia.

 They overlooked numerous actual writings in stone. They failed to consider the  evidence of entire civilizations found through archaeology. Having the honor of  publication, and ensconced in their positions of authority, they sequestered themselves from any evidence against their “deep ” thoughts. They were followed closely by doctoral candidates seeking their spot in the sun, and the all important approval of mentors.

Of course, a minimal requirement for receiving the Bible as the Word of God, would be the historicity  of the people, kingdoms, and specific people groups that were recorded in the Old Testament.   These documents record God’s intervention in human history. Skeptics claimed that there is no evidence that many of the important people and places in the Old Testament even existed. There are many  examples of extra-biblical evidence for the historicity of the Old Testament persons and places that have been claimed to be fictitious by published authorities. Archaeology has provided much extra-biblical evidence.

Two authors who categorically rejected the record of King David and his progeny  in the tenth century B.C.,  and wrote  about the impossibility  of their existence are Phillip R. Davis who authored, “In Search of Ancient Israel”, and Thomas L. Thompson who wrote, ” Early History of the Israelite People”. (1992) Thompson said  “The existence of the ‘United Monarchy’ during the tenth century [B.C] is….impossible.”

Unfortunately for Davis and Thompson, archaeology began uncovering evidence of  the House of David Dynasty beginning in 1993, although their popular views are still promoted.   The first stone inscription was a fragment found at Tel Dan in Galilee, Northern Israel. This inscription referred to “the House of David  and David as the King of Israel.  The following summer two additional fragments were found at the same tel, confirming this same information.  From other quarters, a large stone inscription by King Mesha of Moab in the ninth century B.C, documents King David’s line one century after David’s death. This was found by Andre Lemaire from the College of France.  Another find from Egypt, a 7.5 foot tall stone, the Merneptah Stela, found in the temple of the Pharoah Merneptah, confirmed the establishment of nation of Israel in Canaan centuries before King David by its inscription. This triangulation of finds from different cultures in that region is an example that confirms the veracity of the disputed Old Testament record. 

This is a blog, not a book. This, and much more evidence  can be found by those who want to see. I am not an archaeologist. I have not spent a lifetime researching the evidence. I have spent my life as a mom and a nurse, but I can read the work of those who have spent a lifetime in researching the evidence and I can evaluate their sources. I love to read and to write. Most of this information can be found in Grant D. Jeffrey’s book, “The Signature of God”. This book contains the supporting evidence of linguists, archaeologists, and historians. It is an excellent compilation of evidence, and is well documented. The above contains a summary of a very small part of the information contained in this book. My blog is not a quote, but I would like to cite Grant Jeffrey’s quote of Dr. Glueck, an archaeology researcher, who said “…it may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. By the same token, proper evaluations of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries.”