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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: thames_sider who wrote (18062)	7/13/2001 2:13:15 AM
From: Greg or e	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 82486

"Demonstrably" What have you demonstrated besides your ignorance? Not much. Absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence. You are just plain wrong. Making assertions and quoting biased "scholars', demonstrates nothing, remember? Or do your standards of proof only apply to others? As far as Jericho is concerned, the digging has confirmed many of the biblical details, the walls did indeed collapse, and the city was subsequently destroyed by fire, and yet full grain jars were found burned. These would normally have been taken by the victors, if God had not commanded otherwise. All that, is consistent with the biblical account. The only real question remaining is the date at which this happened. If you knew anything about archaeological dating, which clearly you do not you would know that it is as much an art, as a science. One misread shard of pottery can skew a date by several hundreds of years. No, the Jews never existed. They sprung up out of nothing, just like the universe. Not a day goes by, or a shovel is turned in the middle East, but that a new archaeological find is made that confirms the biblical account of history. David never existed? Is that your assertion? "I believe it's up to the claimant to prove that natural law is not so, that the universe is non-causal." One minute you want proof that the universe is "non-causal" but when asked about the cause of the universe, suddenly you change your tune. Either matter will become eternal,(which it is "demonstrably" not), or spontaneous generation of everything from nothing will be dressed up to sound to sound like it's science. Louis Pasture would have had a good laugh about that. So what have you have demonstrated besides your ignorance? A biased, closed mind, and a skewed view of "reality".

To: thames_sider who wrote (18062)	7/13/2001 2:32:25 AM
From: Greg or e	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

The Walls of Jericho Pat Zukeran According to the Bible, the conquest of Jericho occurred in approximately 1440 B.C. The miraculous nature of the conquest has caused some scholars to dismiss the story as folklore. Does archaeology support the biblical account? Over the past century four prominent archaeologists have excavated the site: Carl Watzinger from 1907-1909, John Garstang in the 1930's, Kathleen Kenyon from 1952-1958, and currently Bryant Wood. The result of their work has been remarkable. First, they discovered that Jericho had an impressive system of fortifications. Surrounding the city was a retaining wall fifteen feet high. At its top was an eight-foot brick wall strengthened from behind by an earthen rampart. Domestic structures were found behind this first wall. Another brick wall enclosed the rest of the city. The domestic structures found between the two walls is consistent with Joshua's description of Rahab's quarters (Josh. 2:15). Archeologists also found that in one part of the city, large piles of bricks were found at the base of both the inner and outer walls, indicating a sudden collapse of the fortifications. Scholars feel that an earthquake, which may also explain the damming of the Jordan in the biblical account, caused this collapse. The collapsed bricks formed a ramp by which an invader might easily enter the city (Josh. 6:20). Of this amazing discovery Garstang states, "As to the main fact, then, there remains no doubt: the walls fell outwards so completely, the attackers would be able to clamber up and over the ruins of the city."{6} This is remarkable because when attacked city walls fall inward, not outward. A thick layer of soot indicates that the city was destroyed by fire as described in Joshua 6:24. Kenyon describes it this way. "The destruction was complete. Walls and floors were blackened or reddened by fire and every room was filled with fallen bricks."{7} Archaeologists also discovered large amounts of grain at the site. This is again consistent with the biblical account that the city was captured quickly. If it had fallen as a result of a siege, the grain would have been used up. According to Joshua 6:17, the Israelites were forbidden to plunder the city, but had to destroy it totally. Although the archaeologists agreed Jericho was violently destroyed, they disagreed on the date of the conquest. Garstang held to the biblical date of 1400 B.C. while Watzinger and Kenyon believed the destruction occurred in 1550 B.C. In other words, if the later date is accurate, Joshua arrived at a previously destroyed Jericho. This earlier date would pose a serious challenge to the historicity of the Old Testament. Dr. Bryant Wood, who is currently excavating the site, found that Kenyon's early date was based on faulty assumptions about pottery found at the site. His later date is also based on the discovery of Egyptian amulets in the tombs northwest of Jericho. Inscribed under these amulets were the names of Egyptian Pharaohs dating from 1500-1386 B.C., showing that the cemetery was in use up to the end of the late Bronze Age (1550-1400 B.C.). Finally, a piece of charcoal found in the debris was carbon-14 dated to be 1410 B.C. The evidence leads Wood to this conclusion. "The pottery, stratigraphic considerations, scarab data and a carbon-14 date all point to a destruction of the city around the end of the Late Bronze Age, about 1400 BCE."{8} Thus, current archeological evidence supports the Bible's account of when and how Jericho fell.