Is the Bible historically accurate? (part 6)

The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy. (Part 5 of 5 film series on archaeology)

My daughter Murphey, 16, took her first plane ride yesterday. She went from Little Rock to Dallas and had to change planes to Houston. She really enjoyed it.

My son Wilson, 14, had to fly from Little Rock to Chicago Midway Airport and then fly to Los Angeles with his brother Hunter, 22. I kidded Wilson before the flight and told him how very short the runway is at Chicago Midway Airport and I told him that the plane has to go almost straight down and land on a runway shorter than our street at home and you will really think when you get close to the ground that you are going tip the tops of some of the houses before you land. I asked him later how it was and he said he was very scared they would not make it.

From time to time you will read articles in the Arkansas press by  such writers as  John Brummett, Max Brantley and Gene Lyons  that poke fun at those that actually believe the Bible is historically accurate when in fact the Bible is backed up by many archaeological facts. The Book of Mormon is blindly accepted even though archaeology has disproven many of the facts that are claimed by it. For instance, take the issue of horses.

Horses are mentioned eleven times in the Book of Mormon in the context of its New World setting.[33] There is no evidence that horses existed on the American continent during the 2500-3000 year history of the Book of Mormon (2500 BC – 400 AD) The only evidence of horses on the American continent dates to pre-historic times,[34](between 12,500 and 10,000 BC.[35]). It is widely accepted that horses were extinct in the Western Hemisphere over 10,000 years ago and did not reappear there until the Spaniards brought them from Europe.[36] Horses were re-introduced to the Americas (Caribbean) by Christopher Columbus in 1493[37] and to the American continent by Cortés in 1519.[38]

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Shishak Smiting His Captives
Shishak Smiting Prisoners

Did Shishak invade Israel as a punishment from God over their civil war?

Shishak was the first king of Egypt mentioned by name in the Bible. Egypt knew him as Pharaoh Shoshenq I,  founder of the 22nd Dynasty of Egypt and he reigned from 944-924 B.C. After Solomon died the Kingdom of Israel divided in half and 5 years later during the reign of Rehoboam, king of Judah, Pharaoh Shishak invaded Jerusalem. Shishak did not utterly destroy Jerusalem because he was paid an enormous ransom.

The Bible mentions that Shishak marched his troops into the land of Judah and plundered a host of cities including Jerusalem,  this has been confirmed by archaeologists. Shishak’s own record of his campaign is inscribed on the south wall of the Great Temple of Amon at Karnak in Egypt. In his campaign he presents 156 cities of Judea to his god Amon. 

“Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.” 2 Chronicles 12:9 

Jeroboam fled to the court of Shishak before he was king, during the reign of Solomon. (1 Kings 11:40).

The Bible reveals details in 1 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 12 about the campaign by Pharoah Shoshenq (referred to as Shishak in the Bible) against King Rehoboam of Judea. During his campaign, Shishak marched though Judea, then he went north through the Valley of Jezreel. He then moved north to Beth Shean and finally across the Jordan River eastward. A list of the cities he sacked during his campaign is preserved in the Karnak Temple in Thebes including the Israelite and Judean cities of Jerusalem, Gibeon, Megiddo, Beth Shean, Aijalon, and more. 

“In the fifth year of Kign Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt marched against Jerusalem–for they had trespassed against the Lord–with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen and innumerable troops who came with him from Egypt: Lybians, Sukkites, and Kushites. He too the fortified towns of Judah and advanced on Jerusalem.”  – 2 Chronicles 12:2-4

Shishak smiting his prisoners discovery is important in the study of Biblical Archaeology.

The movie Raiders of the Lost Ark created the fictional idea that Shishak had stolen the Ark of the Covenant when he conquered Jerusalem and brought it back to Tanis, Egypt in 980 B.C.

1 Kings 11:40 – Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

2 Chronicles 12:9 – So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

2 Chronicles 12:7 – And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; [therefore] I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

2 Chronicles 12:2 – And it came to pass, [that] in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD,

1 Kings 14:25 – And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, [that] Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:

2 Chronicles 12:5 – Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and [to] the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.

Note: The Great Dakhla Stela mentions Shishak as “Pharaoh Shoshenq”.

.japan disatster: Heavy snow falls on rescue workers at a devastated factory area in Sendai

Heavy snow falls on rescue workers at a devastated factory area in Sendai
March 22, 2011 – 7:44 am Categories: Biblical Archaeology | Post a comment

George Washington at 279 (Born Feb 22, 1732) Part 10

Amy Sancetta / ASSOCIATED PRESS

No 1: Laettner sinks Kentucky

NCAA East Regional final, March 28, 1992 — You’ve seen the replay: With 2.1 seconds remaining, Duke’s Grant Hill hurls a three-quarters court pass to Christian Laettner, who catches it at the free-throw line. He takes one dribble to his right, spins left and shoots just before time expires. “I remember I kept saying to myself, ‘Just get a good shot up,’ ” Laettner recalled years later. “I was worrying about catching the ball more than anything.” The cap to a perfect game (10-for-10 from the field, 10-for-10 from the free-thrown line) gave the Blue Devils a 104-103 overtime win and propelled them to their second-straight national title.

Back a few years ago, I got to go to Rick Pitino’s weekly show which was held at a restaurant and I got to speak with him. I told him that I saw a special on ESPN that called this game the best ever and sat my two sons down and told them that this game had two of the greatest coaches going up against each other. Now it seems that my sons just seemed this was the greatest games ever that the two coaches involved are the two best ever. Pitino told me, “I like the way you teach your kids. Keep up the good work.”

 

Steeling the Mind Bible Conference Pt 2 of 6 David Barton

My sons Hunter and Wilson are in Los Angeles now and they had the opportunity to sit down next to two really interesting people. Wilson wants to be a movie director one day and he met a guy who graduated from USC film school and this guy offered to take him on a tour of the campus. Hunter is interested in comedy and he sat next to Gabriel Iglesias, who is famous comedian. Take a look at some of his work below.

In the next few days I will post portions of the speech (which really was just a newspaper article) but since it is so long I will put an outline of the speech that is provided by David Barton of Wallbuilders.

  • Replace “inveterate antipathies” (hatred) and passionate attachments with “just and amicable feelings.”
    1. “passionate attachments” produce a variety of evils
    2. these attachments will lead you into “quarrels and wars”
    3. they will also lead to favoritism, conceding “privileges denied to others.”

    Washington’s own words:

    In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations and passionate attachments for others should be excluded, and that in place of them just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation prompted by ill-will and resentment sometimes impels to war the government contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject. At other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim.

    So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country without odium, sometimes even with popularity, gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.

    Trivia about George Washington:

    One of Washington’s most interesting innovations was a nearly round, 16-sided barn for thrashing wheat.

    — He established a spy ring in 1780 to reveal that Major General Benedict Arnold was a traitor.

    n pictures: Japan earthquake and tsunami

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    March 21, 2011 – 3:27 pm Categories: David Barton, Founding Fathers | Post a comment

    Ronald Wilson Reagan Part 63

    Anonymous / AP

    No. 19: Danny Ainge’s full-court drive vs. Notre Dame

    East Regional semifinals, March 19, 1981 — BYU seemed beat when they faced a 50-49 deficit with eight seconds remaining against Notre Dame. Except the Cougars had Danny Ainge. The guard took an in-bounds pass, dribbled behind his back between two defenders and streaked baseline-to-baseline to drop in a finger-roll lay-up with two seconds remaining. It was a coast-to-coast blur unmatched until 14 years later._____________________________________

    Picture of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis in their engagement photo.
    (Picture from the Ronald Reagan Library)

    Engagement photograph of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis. (January 1952)

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    Is Mike Anderson of Misssouri going to be the new Arkansas basketball coach? Brad Stevens of Butler is a good candidate too and so is Buzz Williams of Marquette (who is from Texas and spent a lot of time in Oklahoma).

    Reagan v Carter Debate 1980

    Governor Reagan has the last word on this question.

    GOVERNOR REAGAN

    Yes. The figures that the President has just used about California is a distortion of the situation there, because while I was Governor of California, our spending in California increased less per capita than the spending in Georgia while Mr. Carter was Governor of Georgia in the same 4 years. The size of government increased only one-sixth in California of what it increased in proportion to population in Georgia.

    And the idea that my tax-cut proposal is inflationary: I would like to ask the President, why is it inflationary to let the people keep more of their money and spend it the way they’d like, and it isn’t inflationary to let him take that money and spend it the way he wants?

    MR. SMITH

    I wish that question need not be rhetorical, but it must be because we’ve run out of time on that. [Laughter] Now, the third question to Governor Reagan from William Hilliard.

    MR. HILLIARD

    Yes, Governor Reagan, the decline of our cities has been hastened by the continual rise in crime, strained race relations, the fall in the quality of public education, the persistence of abnormal poverty in a rich nation, and a decline in the services to the public. The signs seem to point toward a deterioration that could lead to the establishment of a permanent underclass in the cities. What, specifically, would you do in the next 4 years to reverse this trend?

    GOVERNOR REAGAN

    I have been talking to a number of Congressmen who have much the same idea that I have, and that is that in the inner-city areas, that in cooperation with local government and with National Government, and using tax incentives and with cooperation with the private sector, that we have development zones. Let the local entity, the city, declare this particular area, based on the standards of the percentage of people on welfare, unemployed, and so forth, in that area. And then, through tax incentives, induce the creation of businesses providing jobs and so forth in those areas.

    The elements of government through these tax incentives — for example, a business that would not have, for a period of time, an increase in the property tax reflecting its development of the unused property that it was making wouldn’t be any loss to the city, because the city isn’t getting any tax from that now. And there would simply be a delay, and on the other hand, many of the people that would then be given jobs are presently wards of the Government and it wouldn’t hurt to give them a tax incentive, because that wouldn’t be costing Government anything either.

    I think there are things to do in this regard. I stood in the South Bronx on the exact spot that President Carter stood on in 1977. You have to see it to believe it. It looks like a bombed-out city — great, gaunt skeletons of buildings, windows smashed out, painted on one of them “Unkept promises,” on another, “Despair.” And this was the spot at which President Carter had promised that he was going to bring in a vast program to rebuild this area. There are whole blocks of land that are left bare, just bulldozed down flat, and nothing has been done. And they are now charging to take tourists through there to see this terrible desolation.

    I talked to a man just briefly there who asked me one simple question: “Do I have reason to hope that I can someday take care of my family again? Nothing has been done.”

    MR. SMITH

    Followup, Mr. Hilliard?

    MR. HILLIARD

    Yes, Governor Reagan. Blacks and other nonwhites are increasing in numbers in our cities. Many of them feel that they are facing a hostility from whites that prevents them from joining the economic mainstream of our society. There is racial confrontation in the schools, on jobs, and in housing, as non-whites seek to reap the benefits of a free society. What do you think is the Nation’s future as a multiracial society”

    GOVERNOR REAGAN

    I believe in it. I am eternally optimistic, and I happen to believe that we’ve made great progress from the days when I was young and when this country didn’t even know it had a racial problem. I know those things can grow out of despair in an inner city, when there’s hopelessness at home, lack of work, and so forth. But I believe that all of us together — and I believe the Presidency is what Teddy Roosevelt said it was; it’s a bully pulpit — and I think that something can be done from there, because the goal for all of us should be that one day, things will be done neither because of nor in spite of any of the differences between us — ethnic differences or racial differences, whatever they may be — that we will have total equal opportunity for all people. And I would do everything I could in my power to bring that about.

    MR. SMITH

    The stern of the grounded cargo ship Asia Symphony breaches the port wall and juts out onto a road in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture in northeastern Japan on 19 March 2011. The picturesque fishing town of Kamaishi was devastated when the tsunami hit less than 15 minutes after the 9.0 earthquake that rocked Japan on 11 March 2011. EPA/STEPHEN MORRISON

    The stern of the grounded cargo ship Asia Symphony breaches the port wall and juts out onto a road in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture in northeastern Japan on 19 March 2011. The picturesque fishing town of Kamaishi was devastated when the tsunami hit less than 15 minutes after the 9.0 earthquake that rocked Japan on 11 March 2011. EPA/STEPHEN MORRISON

    https://i0.wp.com/www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/large/C35252-11.jpg

    President Reagan with actress Victoria Principal during a photo opportunity with the Arthritis Poster Child of the Year in the Oval Office. 5/29/86.

     

    March 21, 2011 – 7:29 am Categories: Ronald Reagan | Post a comment

    Pelphrey and the Razorback Hatcher Curse

    March 21, 2011 – 6:21 am Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

    Ronald Wilson Reagan Part 62

    Elsa / Getty Images

    No. 20: The ‘Cat that sunk Pittsburgh

    East Regional finals, March 28, 2009 — The Panthers were trying for their first Final Four berth since 1941, but Scottie Reynolds’ mad dash to the hoop ended those dreams. Dante Cunningham received the in-bounds pass, but dished it to a sprinting Reyolds, who went nearly the entire length of the court and into the lane, where he hit an off-balance jumper for the 78-76 win.

    ________________________________

    The funny thing is Pitt went down again yesterday early in the NCAA Tournament and this time by one point to Butler. I will be surprised if Arkansas does not go after Butler’s coach this year.

    Reagan quotes

    MR

    The taxpayer – that’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take a civil-service exam.

    Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

    Millions of individuals making their own decisions in the marketplace will always allocate resources better than any centralized government planning process.

    How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.

    If I could paraphrase a well-known statement by Will Rogers that he never met a man he didn’t like – I’m afraid we have some people around here who never met a tax they didn’t like.

    Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.

    The size of the federal budget is not an appropriate barometer of social conscience or charitable concern.

    We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.

    President Reagan drafts his address to the nation after an Oct. 23, 1983, terrorist attack on the U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut killed 241 service members.

    March 20, 2011 – 8:32 am Categories: Ronald Reagan | Post a comment

    George Washington at 279 (Born Feb 22, 1732) Part 9

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    No. 2: Magic vs. Bird

    NCAA Championship game, March 26, 1979 — This wasn’t a moment as much as a movement. This was the start of Bird vs. Magic, which only grew in stature after the pair’s rivalry continued to grow in the NBA. But the fans knew. Michigan State’s win against unbeaten Indiana State remains the highest-rated game in college basketball history. Watching Magic Johnson run the Spartans past Larry Bird’s Sycamores was like watching a prelude to everything the NBA would become. And college hoops got to see it first.

    Steeling the Mind Bible Conference pt 1 of 6 with David Barton

    Crazy finish to the Butler victory over Pittsburgh in the NCAA Tournament. Can you believe the Pitt player fouled with 1 second to go? Tonight we saw the biggest moon we have ever seen!!!!

    In the next few days I will post portions of the speech (which really was just a newspaper article) but since it is so long I will put an outline of the speech that is provided by David Barton of Wallbuilders.

    Foreign Policy.

    1. We should exercise “good faith and justice towards all nations.”
      1. “religion and morality enjoin this conduct”
      2. we should be guided by “an exalted justice and benevolence.”

    Washington’s own words:

    Observe good faith and justice towards all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct. And can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period a great nation to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices?

    Trivia about George Washington:

    He and Martha were both 27 when they married.

    — Martha, who had first been married at 18, was one of the wealthiest widows in the Tidewater region of eastern Virginia when she married Washington. Only one of her four children with her first husband Daniel Custis survived to adulthood.

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    March 19, 2011 – 11:45 pm Categories: David Barton, Founding Fathers | Post a comment

    Ronald Wilson Reagan Part 61 (British people know what it is to fight for their freedom in WWII)

    

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    No. 21: Indiana’s perfect finish

    NCAA Championship game, March 29, 1976 — Bob Knight’s first NCAA title capped a 32-0 season, the last any men’s team has completed a season without a loss. Six teams had logged unbeaten season in 20 seasons before the Hoosiers did so. Yet in the more than 30 years since, only two teams even entered the NCAA tournament without a loss, let alone won the title. The Hoosiers may be the last of their kind.

    Wilson and I got to see Bobby Knight coach at Texas Tech when he came into Little Rock and beat my Razorbacks. He was walking back on the court after halftime and almost tripped while stepping on the court and he turned and said something to the security guard that was sitting there. He has chilled some over the years when he would have started yelling. We were on the 15 row and would have heard him if he had yelled. Knight also revealed that one of his parents was from Arkansas.

    My NCAA Tournament Bracket is not going to win the million dollar prize this year. I am left with all  my favorite teams out already. I will pull for Purdue since my secretary is a big Purdue fan and she has tickets to the Final Four in Houston this year!!!

    Beloved Winston and His Brooklyn Breeding

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    1. He was full of curmudgeonly quips (i.e. “Winston, if you were my husband, I’d poison your tea.” “Lady Astor, If you were my wife, I’d drink it.”)
    2. He knew that Hitler guy was gonna be a big problem before anyone else did, at least according to his own history on the war.
    2a. Once it became apparent he was right, he became Prime Minister and held down the fort until the U.S. got in on the action in 1941, all the while delivering inspiring speeches (“We shall never surrender!”), and always making time for a nap.
    3. His mom was from Brooklyn!
    That’s right, Winston’s mum, Jenny Jerome, was an American, born and bred in Brooklyn. Cobble Hill to be precise.
    In 1953, it made front page news in the Eagle when Winston came to Brooklyn to visit the house at 426 Henry St. where she was born (she also lived at 8 Amity St. at some point). He reportedly called it “a very moving occasion,” and the then-owners of the house presented him with a foot-long cigar.

    In a prophetic speech concerning the Soviet Union, Ronald Reagan predicted that “the march of freedom and democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history.” Today is my last post of an excerpt from  one of Reagan best speeches ever.  He addressed the members of the British Parliament on June 8, 1982.

    British people know what it is to fight for their freedom (WWII)

     
    The British people know that, given strong leadership, time and a little bit of hope, the forces of good ultimately rally and triumph over evil. Here among you is the cradle of self-government, the Mother of Parliaments. Here is the enduring greatness of the British contribution to mankind, the great civilized ideas: individual liberty, representative government, and the rule of law under God.

    I’ve often wondered about the shyness of some of us in the West about standing for these ideals that have done so much to ease the plight of man and the hardships of our imperfect world. This reluctance to use those vast resources at our command reminds me of the elderly lady whose home was bombed in the Blitz. As the rescuers moved about, they found a bottle of brandy she’d stored behind the staircase, which was all that was left standing. And since she was barely conscious, one of the workers pulled the cork to give her a taste of it. She came around immediately and said, “Here now — there now, put it back. That’s for emergencies.”Well, the emergency is upon us. Let us be shy no longer. Let us go to our strength. Let us offer hope. Let us tell the world that a new age is not only possible but probable.

    During the dark days of the Second World War, when this island was incandescent with courage, Winston Churchill exclaimed about Britain’s adversaries, “What kind of a people do they think we are?” Well, Britain’s adversaries found out what extraordinary people the British are. But all the democracies paid a terrible price for allowing the dictators to underestimate us. We dare not make that mistake again. So, let us ask ourselves, “What kind of people do we think we are?” And let us answer, “Free people, worthy of freedom and determined not only to remain so but to help others gain their freedom as well.”

    Sir Winston led his people to great victory in war and then lost an election just as the fruits of victory were about to be enjoyed. But he left office honorably, and, as it turned out, temporarily, knowing that the liberty of his people was more important than the fate of any single leader. History recalls his greatness in ways no dictator will ever know. And he left us a message of hope for the future, as timely now as when he first uttered it, as opposition leader in the Commons nearly 27 years ago, when he said, “When we look back on all the perils through which we have passed and at the mighty foes that we have laid low and all the dark and deadly designs that we have frustrated, why should we fear for our future? We have,” he said, “come safely through the worst.”Well, the task I’ve set forth will long outlive our own generation. But together, we too have come through the worst. Let us now begin a major effort to secure the best — a crusade for freedom that will engage the faith and fortitude of the next generation. For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny.Thank you.

    

    

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    Japan: Damage at the Fukushima Dai Ichi Power Plant in Japan in a satellite image

    Satellite view of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant on Wednesday 16 March, confirming damage to reactors 1, 3 and 4. Steam can be seen venting from the reactors 2 and 3 reactor building

    Feb. 12, 1974

    Sen. Bob Dole and then-California Gov. Reagan at a Wichita political rally

    March 18, 2011 – 9:55 pm Categories: Ronald Reagan | Post a comment

    Is the Bible historically accurate? (part 5)

    My son Hunter Hatcher has started trying his hand at comedy. I have heard him do it twice now. I wanted to pass on a joke that he told the other night.

    Hunter Hatcher

    I know we  pray over our food before we eat it. We will be sitting there asking the Lord “Will you please nourish this food to my body.” You know good and well that you are about to eat about four pounds of fried chicken or maybe a chilly cheese coney. What you really need to ask the Lord is: “Would you please change the molecular structure of this food for the nourishment of my body.” That would be a miracle.

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    The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy. (Part 4 of 5 film series on archaeology)

    I mentioned earlier about the doubts John Brummett, Max Brantley and Gene Lyons have about the Bible’s accuracy historically.

    I have read quotes from many scholars in the 1800’s doubting the existence of the Hittites. I wonder what these guys would have said if we lived back then?

    Most doubting scholars back then said that the Hittites were just a “mythical people that are only mentioned in the Bible.” Some skeptics pointed to the fact that the Bible pictures the Hittites as a very big nation that was worthy of being coalition partners with Egypt (II Kings 7:6), and these bible critics would assert that surely we would have found records of this great nation of Hittites.

    The ironic thing is that when the Hittite nation was discovered, a vast amount of Hittite documents were found. Among those documents was the treaty between Ramesses II and the Hittite King.

    Discovery of the Hittites

    The Hittites played a prominent role in Old Testament history. They interacted with biblical figures as early as Abraham and as late as Solomon. They are mentioned in Genesis 15:20 as people who inhabited the land of Canaan. 1 Kings 10:29 records that they purchased chariots and horses from King Solomon. The most prominent Hittite is Uriah the husband of Bathsheba. The Hittites were a powerful force in the Middle East from 1750 B.C. until 1200 B.C. Prior to the late 19th century, nothing was known of the Hittites outside the Bible, and many critics alleged that they were an invention of the biblical authors.

    In 1876 a dramatic discovery changed this perception. A British scholar named A. H. Sayce found inscriptions carved on rocks in Turkey. He suspected that they might be evidence of the Hittite nation. Ten years later, more clay tablets were found in Turkey at a place called Boghaz-koy. German cuneiform expert Hugo Winckler investigated the tablets and began his own expedition at the site in 1906.

    Winckler’s excavations uncovered five temples, a fortified citadel and several massive sculptures. In one storeroom he found over ten thousand clay tablets. One of the documents proved to be a record of a treaty between Ramesses II and the Hittite king. Other tablets showed that Boghaz-koy was the capital of the Hittite kingdom. Its original name was Hattusha and the city covered an area of 300 acres. The Hittite nation had been discovered!

    Less than a decade after Winckler’s find, Czech scholar Bedrich Hronzny proved the Hittite language is an early relative of the Indo-European languages of Greek, Latin, French, German, and English. The Hittite language now has a central place in the study of the history of the Indo-European languages.

    The discovery also confirmed other biblical facts. Five temples were found containing many tablets with details of the rites and ceremonies that priests performed. These ceremonies described rites for purification from sin and purification of a new temple. The instructions proved to be very elaborate and lengthy. Critics once criticized the laws and instructions found in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy as too complicated for the time it was written (1400 B.C.). The Boghaz-koy texts along with others from Egyptian sites and a site along the Euphrates called Emar have proven that the ceremonies described in the Jewish Pentateuch are consistent with the ceremonies of the cultures of this time period.

    The Hittite Empire made treaties with civilizations they conquered. Two dozen of these have been translated and provide a better understanding of treaties in the Old Testament. The discovery of the Hittite Empire at Boghaz-koy has significantly advanced our understanding of the patriarchal period. Dr. Fred Wright summarizes the importance of this find in regard to biblical historicity:

    Now the Bible picture of this people fits in perfectly with what we know of the Hittite nation from the monuments. As an empire they never conquered the land of Canaan itself, although the Hittite local tribes did settle there at an early date. Nothing discovered by the excavators has in any way discredited the Biblical account. Scripture accuracy has once more been proved by the archaeologist.{4}

    The discovery of the Hittites has proven to be one of the great archaeological finds of all time. It has helped to confirm the biblical narrative and had a great impact on Middle East archaeological study. Because of it, we have come to a greater understanding of the history of our language, as well as the religious, social, and political practices of the ancient Middle East.

    March 18, 2011 – 8:09 am Categories: Biblical Archaeology | Comments (3)

    Ronald Wilson Reagan Part 60 Was he an “amiable dunce?”

    Ronald Reagan, as the Republican candidate for governor of California in 1966, shakes hands at a shopping center in a Los Angeles suburb for a campaign rally. The former radio announcer and movie actor burst onto the political scene after a rousing television speech for Barry Goldwater on the eve of the 1964 election. Reagan was elected governor of California by a landslide in 1966 and was reelected in 1970

    My NCAA tournament bracket is not looking good since I had Louisville winning the national championship and they lost in the first round when Morehead State beat them by 1 with a 3 point shot at the buzzer.

    I will be quoting from an article “Five Myths about Ronald Reagan” (Washington Post, Feb 4, 2011) by Edmund Morris.

    5. He was an “amiable dunce.”

    Yeah, right, Clark Clifford. Ronald Reagan only performed successfully in six different careers: radio sportscaster, movie actor, trade union president, corporate spokesman, two-term governor and two-term president of the United States. Lucky for him he wasn’t hampered by Jimmy Carter’s intelligence!

    Edmund Morris was the authorized biographer of Ronald Reagan. In addition to “Dutch,” his life of the 40th president, he has published a trilogy about Theodore Roosevelt.

    Doug Mills / Associated Press

    No. 23: No. 15 Richmond makes history

    East Regional opener, March 14, 1991 — Four No. 15 seeds have won NCAA tournament games, but the Spiders were the first, pulling an improbable 73-69 win against second-seeded Syracuse. Even better, it was the first year CBS had broadcast rights to the opening round, allowing a prime-time audience to watch some history.

    March 18, 2011 – 7:13 am Categories: Ronald Reagan | Post a comment

    Lyons: The Bible is not history (Part 4)

    The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy.(Part 3 of 5 video series on Bible and Archaeology, Taylor Prism)

    My friend Perry emailed me and said he really enjoyed the film series on Archaeology and the Bible, so I am putting up another segment of it tonight and I will do another one tomorrow.

    Gene Lyons has let be known on many ocasions concerning his distain for biblical fundamentalism. However, I am one of those. John Brummett and Max Brantley have mocked at biblical fundamentalists too. They all believe that the Bible contains historical errors.

    John Brummett in his article, “Good luck teaching the Bible in school,” (Arkansas News Bureau, March 13, 2011) asserted: “The value of the Bible in scholarly instruction is as literature, not as history.”

    Biblical Cities Attested Archaeologically. In addition to Jericho, places such as Haran, Hazor, Dan, Megiddo, Shechem, Samaria, Shiloh, Gezer, Gibeah, Beth Shemesh, Beth Shean, Beersheba, Lachish, and many other urban sites have been excavated, quite apart from such larger and obvious locations as Jerusalem or Babylon. Such geographical markers are extremely significant in demonstrating that fact, not fantasy, is intended in the Old Testament historical narratives; otherwise, the specificity regarding these urban sites would have been replaced by “Once upon a time” narratives with only hazy geographical parameters, if any.

    Israel’s enemies in the Hebrew Bible likewise are not contrived but solidly historical. Among the most dangerous of these were the Philistines, the people after whom Palestine itself would be named. Their earliest depiction is on the Temple of Rameses III at Thebes, c. 1150 BC, as “peoples of the sea” who invaded the Delta area and later the coastal plain of Canaan. The Pentapolis (five cities) they established — namely Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gaza, Gath, and Ekron — have all been excavated, at least in part, and some remain cities to this day. Such precise urban evidence measures favorably when compared with the geographical sites claimed in the holy books of other religious systems, which often have no basis whatever in reality.10

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    Graphic on the aftermath of Friday’s tsunami on towns along Japan’s northeastern coastline.

    Japan quake: live report

    March 17, 2011 – 10:35 pm Categories: Biblical Archaeology | Post a comment