Are atheists afraid of archaeology?

by Xanthippe 32 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  Xanthippe

  Larsinger thinks we are. I have to answer this because it makes my blood boil. This is one of the key things that trapped me in a religion for the first 30 years of my life.

  We were told the archaeologists have found Ur of the Chaldeans, Babylon, Nineveh and evidence for the existence of the Hittites.Therefore the other things in the Bible must be true.

  Archaeologsts have also found Troy in modern day Turkey. Heinrich Schliemann started excavating there in 1868. He found several Trojan cities there. So therefore Homer's Iliad must all be true mustn't it? So does this mean that Paris existed and was he asked by three Goddesses, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite to choose between their beauty?

  Did Aphrodite then offer to give him Helen of Sparta as a bribe to choose her as the most beautiful goddess, starting the Trojan War? Was there really an Achilles, the most famous of the warriors in that war, according to Homer, born of the nymph Thetis and Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons? Did Thetis dip him by his heel in the river Styx and almost make him immortal apart from his 'Achilles heel'?

  This must all be true mustn't it if they have excavated the city of Troy?

  Reality and legend mixed together have been the accepted 'history' of all ancient nations for millennia. Finding Bible cities does not mean the rest of the Bble is true.

  This false premise enslaved me. I am not afraid of archaeology. I am not afraid of any knowledge but I claim the right to continue using my brain and questioning what that knowledge means.
• 

  Phizzy

  Archaeology also brought us Gobekli Tepe, which proves that Lars' beloved "Bible Chronology" is nonsense. There is another two or three threads on that.

  And of course Paleo-archaeology and allied sciences show us older human activity than the Gobekli Tepe site, which is 11,600 years old.

  Hypotheses about the users and uses of such sites are put forward by scientists, but they are only used to further our knowledge of human development.

  Trying to prove that the Bible is accurate and reliable is a waste of time, and even if it were, it would still be the work of men, and not prove the existence of God.
• 

  LockedChaos

  No fear here of science. Are god botheres afraid of facts? Do they fear rational thought? Are they concerned that they follow the unknowable and unprovable? Do they know most of the books of the bible were written, not by the authors names they went under, but by someone else? The bible isn't a science book or a book of history. It does contain some elements of both. That proves nothing.
• 

  cantleave

  Not at all. I am only atheist because that is where the evidence takes me. Archeological evidence doesn't disagree with other evidences at all. It is only misinterpretation of evidence coupled with confirmation bias that disagrees with real scholarly research.,
• 

  GrandmaJones

  Simple answer...no.
• 

  MrFreeze

  Actually, if anything archeology does more to aid atheism than belief in a god.
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I don't remember specific details because it seemed so trivial to me, but they found evidence of a well one time and they were ready to declare it proof of the Bibles accuracy because a well was where they expected it to be.

  Wells were wherever wells need to be. No proof of the Bible.

  Bring on archaeologists, they will only help verify TTATT.
• 

  nancy drew

  Archeology is fascinating and if you want to find truth you have to hone your critical thinking skills check out what is real evidence and follow it wherever it takes you.
• 

  GoodGuyGreg

  I discussed a similar issue on another forum a while back.

  The thing with Biblical accuracy is this: The data put forth on writing a segment of the Bible needed to be accurate if it was easily verifiable. The acceptance of the Bible by the contemporary intended audience hinged on that. This is one of the reasons why archaeologists during the 19th and 20th centuries could find likely excavation sites using the old testament and a map and compass. This is also one of the reasons why sometimes biblical characters otherwise forgotten have suddenly reappeared on a tablet or stele in the area where they would have been active.

  But as almost everyone in this thread has already agreed, this isn't proof that the Bible is divinely inspired, or for that matter that there is anything divine that could've inspired it. On the contrary, just to mention one example, The Bible Unearthed by Silberman and Finkelstein (also available in electronic formats) points to some very interesting anachronisms in the texts, which rather show how archaeology casts a huge shadow of doubt over the divine origins of the old testament (and therefore, of course, over the entire Bible).
• 

  rebel8

  I all forms of science.

  Why does it make your blood boil, I'm wondering? Let people be ignorant if they want to. Their loss. Just giggle. :D