Is the Bible Historically Reliable?

The bible was critical to the development of western conceptions of law, literature, medicine, science, and human rights. The people, places, and events recorded in it have been of the utmost importance to human society and culture over the last two millennia. But today, the Hebrew bible and Christian New Testament is under attack. It’s being disregarded as historically inaccurate, primarily mythological, or even a work of propaganda. Is it irrelevant to modern life? Can we trust what it says? Is there a way to verify the accuracy of the bible?

To probe these questions, Discovery Institute senior fellow Andrew McDiarmid speaks with Dr. Titus Kennedy, a professional field archaeologist, adjunct professor at Biola University, and research fellow at Discovery Institute. Dr. Kennedy has been involved in archaeological projects at 18 sites, including directing and supervising multiple projects spanning the Bronze Age through the Byzantine period, and he has conducted artifact research at museums and collections around the world. He earned his doctorate from University of South Africa focusing on archaeological demographics and the Late Bronze Age. Titus has been a consultant, writer, and guide for history and archaeology documentaries and curricula. He is author of three books on the archaeology of the Bible: Unearthing the Bible, Excavating the Evidence for Jesus, and his latest book The Essential Archaeological Guide to Bible Lands.

This session focuses on Dr. Kennedy’s book Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries That Bring the Bible to Life.

Chapters

• 00:00 Is the Bible Relevant Today?
• 01:46 Introducing Dr. Titus Kennedy
• 03:35 Pursuing Archaeology As Career
• 06:13 The Importance of Artifacts
• 08:37 The Stele of Hammurabi
• 10:40 The Dream Stele
• 12:38 The Nomads of Yahweh
• 14:37 The Curious Case of Shechem
• 16:08 The Tel Dan Stele
• 18:03 Archaeology as a Modern Science
• 19:03 The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
• 20:52 The Mesha Stele
• 21:21 New Testament: Paulus the Proconsul
• 22:59 New Testament: Delphi Inscription
• 24:28 Closing