DOCSLIB.ORG

Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future Southwestern Journal of Theology BIBLICAL THEOLOGY: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE (VOL. 2) Southwestern Journal of Theology EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paige Patterson, President, Professor of Theology, and L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism (“Chair of Fire”) MANAGING EDITOR Terry L. Wilder, Professor and Wesley Harrison Chair of New Testament EDITORIAL BOARD Jason G. Duesing, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Assistant Professor of Historical Theology Keith E. Eitel, Professor of Missions, Dean of the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, and Director of the World Missions Center Mark A. Howell, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church Daytona Beach Evan Lenow, Assistant Professor of Ethics, Bobby L. and Janis Eklund Chair of Stewardship, and Associate Director of the Richard Land Center for Cultural Engagement Miles S. Mullin II, Assistant Professor of Church History, J. Dalton Havard School for Theological Studies Steven W. Smith, Vice President of Student Services and Communications and Professor of Communication Jerry Vines, Jerry Vines Ministries Joshua E. Williams, Assistant Professor of Old Testament BOOK REVIEW EDITOR AND EDITORIAL ASSISTANT David G. Norman, Jr. Southwestern Journal of Theology invites English-language submissions of original research in Biblical studies, historical theology, systematic theology, ethics, philosophy of religion, homiletics, pastoral ministry, evangelism, missiology, and related fields. Articles submitted for consideration should be neither published nor under review for publication elsewhere. The recommended length of articles is between 4000 and 8000 words. For information on editorial and stylistic requirements, please contact the journal’s Editorial Assistant at journal@ swbts.edu. Articles should be sent to the Managing Editor, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 22608, Fort Worth, Texas 76122. Books and software for review may be sent to Book Review Editor, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 22608, Fort Worth, Texas 76122. Please direct subscription correspondence and change of address notices to Editorial Assistant, P.O. Box 22608, Fort Worth, Texas 76122. Change of address notices must include both the old and new addresses. A one-volume subscription in the United States is $30. An international subscription is $52. Southwestern Journal of Theology (ISSN 0038-4828) is published at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas 76122. For the contents of back issues and ordering information please see http://swbts.edu/journal. © 2013 CONTENTS Editorial . 1 Terry L. Wilder The Present and Future of Biblical Theology . 3 Andreas J. Köstenberger The Freedom of God and the Hope of Israel: Theological Interpretation of Romans 9 . 25 John W. Taylor Phoebe, the Letter-Carrier of Romans, and the Impact of Her Role on Biblical Theology . 43 Terry L. Wilder Jesus Christ, The Good to Great Shepherd . 53 Steven W. Smith Observations on the Historical Reliability of the Old Testament . 65 Helmut Pehlke Book Reviews. 87 Abstracts of Recent Dissertations at Southwestern . .137 Index of Book Reviews Southwestern Journal of Theology • Volume 56 • Number 1• Fall 2013 Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future (Vol. 2) Terry L. Wilder, Editor [email protected] Ever since Brevard Childs wrote Biblical Theology in Crisis (1970) and declared the discipline to be dead, the Biblical theology movement has, to the contrary, substantially grown. Indeed, it is thriving at present—especially amongst evangelicals who are committed to the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. This development is an excellent one primarily because it can aid the church in the making and equipping of disciples, and it is also timely, especially in a day when Biblical illiteracy has dramatically increased, even amongst church members. Biblical theology clearly has its growing pains. Unsettled questions in the minds of many abound, like, “What exactly is Biblical theology?” “How is it different from the disciplines of systematic theology, historical theology, practical theology, and theological interpretation?” “What precise approach should be used to do Biblical theology?” “How can we be helped in our quest by the inquiries and discussions of those who have gone before us in the church’s history?” Theological conferences are regularly held for pastors and professors to explore and discuss answers to these kinds of questions. One such conference designed to benefit students, pastors, scholars, and the church, led to the publication of papers included in both the previous and the present issue of this journal. This issue of the Southwestern Journal of Theology (SWJT) marks our online debut and is the second of two volumes on the topic, Biblical Theol- ogy: Past, Present, and Future. Most of the articles in these volumes were initially presented on March 9-10, 2012, at the Southwest Regional Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), which met in the Riley Cen- ter on the campus of the host institution, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The plenary speakers for the conference were Gerald Bray from Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, and Andreas J. Köstenberger from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Southwestern Seminary and the editorial staff of SWJT would like to thank Herbert W. Bateman IV, formerly professor of New Testament at Southwestern, for serving as pro- gram chair for the regional ETS meeting in 2012 from which conference he helped to select the papers for these two journal issues on Biblical theology. The present volume is devoted to Biblical Theology Present and Future and features five helpful articles. The lead article is presented by Andreas 2 EDITORIAL Köstenberger entitled, “The Present and Future of Biblical Theology.” In this essay he looks at what he thinks is the present and future of the discipline. Moreover, he offers survey and summary assessments of recent Biblical the- ologies. John Taylor, associate professor of New Testament at Southwestern, also contributes a paper titled, “The Freedom of God and the Hope of Israel: Theological Interpretation of Romans 9.” In this article, he outlines some of the historical contours of the soteriological debate over the interpreta- tion of Romans 9 and asks whether the passage can bear the weight of such discussion. He argues that theological interpretation of the chapter needs to consider properly in context the Roman believers’ situation and Paul’s concern for the status and fate of Israel. This editor contributes to this issue an article called, “Phoebe, the Letter-Carrier of Romans, and the Impact of Her Role on Biblical Theology,” in which he contends that Phoebe is a courier and that Paul’s recommendation of her in Romans 16:1–2 fits the pattern found in texts where letter-carriers are commended to the recipients of letters. The impact of this conclusion on a Biblical theology of women in ministry is then briefly considered. Steven Smith, Vice President for Student Services and Communications and Professor of Communication at South- western, provides an article in which he maintains that the Christology of the New Testament cannot be understood apart from the book of Hebrews. He views the portrait of Christ in Hebrews as overwhelming and focuses in his essay on the triad of Christ’s exclusive work, superiority, and corporate nature. Lastly, Helmuth Pehlke, professor of Old Testament for Southwest- ern’s Bonn, Germany extension, provides an article called, “Observations on the Historical Reliability of the Old Testament. He maintains that no reason exists to doubt that the Old Testament in its reports preserves historical facts. If the events were fictionally reported, as some claim, then it would have enormous theological implications because God would then no longer be the Lord of history, but a creature of one’s own imagination. A close rela- tionship exists between historical understanding and relationship with God. This issue also contains for your perusal several book reviews and abstracts of recent doctoral dissertations done at Southwestern. We pray that these articles equip and assist you as you study Biblical theology. We hope you like what you read in this issue. If you would like to have one of our faculty members or students speak in your church, or lead your congregation in a study of any sort, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are more than happy to serve you. Further, if God has called you into his service please consider allowing us the privilege of preparing you for a lifetime of ministry. These are exciting times at Southwestern for the study of Biblical theology. God bless you. Terry L. Wilder, Editor Professor and Wesley Harrison Chair of New Testament Southwestern Journal of Theology • Volume 56 • Number 1 • Fall 2013 The Present and Future of Biblical Theology Andreas J. Köstenberger Senior Research Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Wake Forest, NC [email protected] As a journal editor, I sometimes wonder if we should make it a rule that only those who have actually written a book may write book reviews; that only those who have written at least one commentary may review commen- taries; and so forth. If that standard were applied to my topic today, I may not perfectly qualify, because even though I’ve written a Johannine theology and contributed several essays on Biblical-theological topics, I have yet to write a full-fledged Biblical
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Prelims May 2007.Qxd
    BOOK REVIEWS INGRID REMBOLD, Conquest and Christianization: Saxony and the Caro lingian World, 772–888 , Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, Fourth Series, 108 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), xviii +277 pp. ISBN 978 1 107 19621 6. £75.00 This book is based on the author’s Cambridge Ph.D. thesis, which was supervised by Rosamond McKitterick and submitted in 2014. The author, Ingrid Rembold, is now a Junior Research Fellow at Hertford College, Oxford, but following her Ph.D. submission, she obtained postdoctoral funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to carry out research at the Georg August Uni - versity, Göttingen. It is important to mention this because it is clear that Rembold’s work has benefited immensely from her postdoctor - al studies; in contrast with other English publications in the field, her book shows not only an awareness but a profound and critical grasp of relevant research published in German, with which she is fully up to date. The bibliography alone (pp. 245–73) is ample proof of the author’s intensive engagement with the literature, as are her thor - ough footnotes, which number nearly a thousand. Indeed, sometimes one can have too much of a good thing; this reviewer feels that it was not really necessary, for example, for the author to list so many of Hedwig Röckelein’s publications in footnote 123, only to repeat them all again in the bibliography (pp. 268–9). The author correctly notes at the beginning of the study that ‘Sax - ony represents an important test case for the nature of Christian - ization and Christian reform in the early medieval world’ (p.
    [Show full text]
  • Timothy Ferris Or James Oberg on 1 David Thomas on Eries
    The Bible Code II • The James Ossuary Controversy • Jack the Ripper: Case Closed? The Importance of Missing Information Acupuncture, Magic, i and Make-Believe Walt Whitman: When Science and Mysticism Collide Timothy Ferris or eries 'Taken' James Oberg on 1 fight' Myth David Thomas on oking Gun' Published by the Comm >f Claims of the Paranormal THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION off Claims of the Paranormal AT THE CENTER FOR INQUIRY-INTERNATIONAl (ADJACENT TO THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO) • AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION Paul Kurtz, Chairman; professor emeritus of philosophy. State University of New York at Buffalo Barry Karr, Executive Director Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow Lee Nisbet Special Projects Director FELLOWS James E. Alcock,* psychologist, York Univ., Susan Haack, Cooper Senior Scholar in Arts and Loren Pankratz, psychologist Oregon Health Toronto Sciences, prof, of philosophy, University of Miami Sciences Univ. Jerry Andrus, magician and inventor, Albany, C. E. M. Hansel, psychologist, Univ. of Wales John Paulos, mathematician, Temple Univ. Oregon Al Hibbs. scientist Jet Propulsion Laboratory Steven Pinker, cognitive scientist, MIT Marcia Angell, M.D., former editor-in-chief, New Douglas Hofstadter, professor of human Massimo Polidoro, science writer, author, execu­ England Journal of Medicine understanding and cognitive science, tive director CICAP, Italy Robert A. Baker, psychologist, Univ. of Kentucky Indiana Univ Milton Rosenberg, psychologist, Univ. of Stephen Barrett, M.D., psychiatrist, author, Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics Chicago consumer advocate. Allentown, Pa. and professor of history of science. Harvard Wallace Sampson, M.D., clinical professor of Barry Beyerstein.* biopsychologist.
    [Show full text]
  • Ne Word and Work
    "Holding fast the Faithful Word ..." J"L ne word and Work TTti "Holding forth the Word of Life." November - December, 2002 The M(j)st High God who Humbled Himself "Man coukUnever climb to God. Man in his fallen state could not know God. The lower nature can never understand the higher nature. The mineral kingdom cannot understand the plant kingdom. The animal king dom cannol understand the kingdom of men. The carnal man cannot under stand the kingdom of God. "Solid geometry can include the facts of plane geometry, but plane ge ometry cannot include the facts of solid geometry. A philosopher can play with at kitten, but a kitten cannot talk philosophy. The initiative must al ways come from the higher to the lower. So God must act first if man is to be lifted above his fallen condition." - N. E. Rhodes. Jr. The GOD who STOOPSl O the love that drew salvation's plan, O the grace that brought it down to man, O the mighty gulf that God did span At Calvary! William Newell penned that song. Consider this: He could have ended the stanza with the words, "...At BETHLEHEM"! Not only the cross of Calvary, but also the barnyard birth of that Child was stunning. And his whole life was f0"-inspiring: the manger ... the carpenter shop ... the hum ble preacher with no place of his own to lay his head ... his rag-tag band of followers ... his washing their feet. Even apart from his arrest, trial, torture Continued Inside Front Cover Continued from Front Cover and death, consider how long a journey he made to span that mighty gulf and bring far, far down to us the salvation we needed.
    [Show full text]
  • Incredible Finds Or Incredulous Fakes? a Consideration of the Joash Tablet and James Ossuary
    Northwest Evangelical Society March 2003 Incredible Finds or Incredulous Fakes? A Consideration of the Joash Tablet and James Ossuary Greg Trull, Ph.D. Western Baptist College Salem, Oregon Introduction In the span of less than three months, the world of biblical scholarship was rocked by two incredible discoveries. One was an ossuary, possibly the ancient bone box of a key church leader in the New Testament. The other was an inscription, perhaps a record of repairs to the First Temple by the reforming king Joash. This paper seeks to review the backgrounds of the discoveries, survey and evaluate current assessments of the finds, and reflect on their significance for evangelicals today. In the middle of October 2002, Biblical Archaeological Review made public the discovery of an ossuary containing the inscription: “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” This discovery splashed across the front pages of the New York Times, Washington Post, Jerusalem Post and most other major newspapers around the world. Feature stories appeared on ABC, NBC, PBS, CNN and in Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report. Reactions included: “Some scholars believe it may be the most important find in the history of New Testament archaeology.”1 CNN headlines asked, “Oldest Evidence of Jesus?”2 Newsweek pondered the incredible significance of the box: “Biblical archaeologists may have found their holy grail.”3 The Jewish owner of the box, Oded Golan, was stunned by the revelation of its significance. “How could the Son of God have a brother?”4 Others were much surer of the ossuary’s 1 Royal Ontario Museum media release, Oct 25, 2002.
    [Show full text]
  • Mapping the Margins: the Family and Social Discipline in Canada, 1700
    http://www.ucalgary.ca/hic • ISSN 1492-7810 2008/09 • Vol. 8, No. 1 Richard Franklin Sigurdson, Jacob Burckhardt’s Social and Political Thought. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004. Pp. xii + 272. CDN$58.00 (cloth). ISBN: 0-8020-4780-7. Reviewed by Mark G. Spencer, Brock University In this fine volume on the Swiss born thinker Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897), Richard Sigurdson sets out with two goals. First, he aims to “make a modest contribution to the larger project of intellectual history, especially to the study of the history of social and political ideas of the tumultuous nineteenth century.” In that endeavour he aims not to “advocate Burckhardt’s political point of view” but “to explicate his political views, which have been previously under-appreciated, and to give his ideas the kind of careful consideration that might spur on others to engage in further examination and critical analysis.” Second, Sigurdson hopes “to help introduce Burckhardt to a larger English-speaking academic audience” (ix). While Burckhardt is most often remembered today — when he is remembered at all — for his contributions to historiography especially as author of The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860), Sigurdson aims to cast light on Burckhardt’s social and political ideas, noting however that “we must make use of his entire corpus if we are to appreciate the breadth and depth of his socio-political thought” (6). Giving attention to Burckhardt’s published works, public lectures, and private correspondence, Sigurdson presents his thoroughly-researched findings in a gracefully-written book divided into two parts.
    [Show full text]
  • The Example of Clarissa and Leopold Von Ranke
    Longing and belonging within an academic family of the 19th century: the example of Clarissa and Leopold von Ranke Andreas D. Boldt Discussions about longing and belonging usually refer to the status of national, regional, ethnic, religious, social, political, groups and individuals, whether rooted or displaced. This essay proposes to adopt a different perspective and to examine the sense of longing and belonging at the level of a family unit, here a 19th-century couple, the world-renowned historian Leopold von Ranke and his wife Clarissa. How did their sense of longing and belonging differ? What was their perception of each other’s national group? How did they establish their common belonging to a state in Central Europe? Related questions, such as how to overcome classes and national belonging, how to deal with longing or transfer of belonging, languages and perceptions, will also be examined. The Rankes’ experience offers a particularly apt study-case within the context of transnational European identity. Who were Clarissa and Leopold von Ranke? Before I discuss their relations to be/longing, I wish to situate the Rankes in relation to their respective cultural backgrounds. The German historian Leopold von Ranke was born in Germany in 1795. His first Between, vol. VII, n. 13 (Maggio/ May 2017) Andreas D. Boldt, Longing and belonging within an academic family of the 19th century major work, Geschichte der romanischen und germanischen Völker von 1494 bis 1514 (History of the Latin and Teutonic Nations, 1494-1514), was published late in 1824. It was based on archival research, viewed by Ranke as the foundation of all historical work, and it established his professional reputation.
    [Show full text]
  • Europe (In Theory)
    EUROPE (IN THEORY) ∫ 2007 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper $ Designed by C. H. Westmoreland Typeset in Minion with Univers display by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book. There is a damaging and self-defeating assumption that theory is necessarily the elite language of the socially and culturally privileged. It is said that the place of the academic critic is inevitably within the Eurocentric archives of an imperialist or neo-colonial West. —HOMI K. BHABHA, The Location of Culture Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: A pigs Eye View of Europe 1 1 The Discovery of Europe: Some Critical Points 11 2 Montesquieu’s North and South: History as a Theory of Europe 52 3 Republics of Letters: What Is European Literature? 87 4 Mme de Staël to Hegel: The End of French Europe 134 5 Orientalism, Mediterranean Style: The Limits of History at the Margins of Europe 172 Notes 219 Works Cited 239 Index 267 Acknowledgments I want to thank for their suggestions, time, and support all the people who have heard, read, and commented on parts of this book: Albert Ascoli, David Bell, Joe Buttigieg, miriam cooke, Sergio Ferrarese, Ro- berto Ferrera, Mia Fuller, Edna Goldstaub, Margaret Greer, Michele Longino, Walter Mignolo, Marc Scachter, Helen Solterer, Barbara Spack- man, Philip Stewart, Carlotta Surini, Eric Zakim, and Robert Zimmer- man. Also invaluable has been the help o√ered by the Ethical Cosmopol- itanism group and the Franklin Humanities Seminar at Duke University; by the Program in Comparative Literature at Notre Dame; by the Khan Institute Colloquium at Smith College; by the Mediterranean Studies groups of both Duke and New York University; and by European studies and the Italian studies program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
    [Show full text]
  • Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi
    Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Faculty Publications 2020-02-04 Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi Dana M. Pike Brigham Young University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, Mormon Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Pike, Dana M., "Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi" (2020). Faculty Publications. 3697. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/3697 This Peer-Reviewed Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Chapter 7 Israelite Inscriptions from the Time of Jeremiah and Lehi Dana M. Pike The greater the number of sources the better when investi- gating the history and culture of people in antiquity. Narrative and prophetic texts in the Bible and 1 Nephi have great value in helping us understand the milieu in which Jeremiah and Lehi received and fulfilled their prophetic missions, but these records are not our only documentary sources. A number of Israelite inscriptions dating to the period of 640–586 b.c., the general time of Jeremiah and Lehi, provide additional glimpses into this pivotal and primarily tragic period in Israelite history. The number of inscriptions discovered from ancient Israel and its immediate neighbors—Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, and Phoenicia—pales in comparison to the bountiful harvest of texts from ancient Assyria, Babylonia, and Egypt.
    [Show full text]
  • The James Ossuary: the Earliest Witness to Jesus and His Family?
    The James Ossuary: The Earliest Witness to Jesus and His Family? Joseph M. Holden, Ph.D. President, Veritas International University One of the earliest and most important discoveries relating to the historicity of Jesus and members of his family is the limestone bone-box (called an ossuary) made known to the public in October, 2002. Ossuaries were used by Israel from about the second century BC until the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Over ten thousand such ossuaries have been discovered but only about one hundred contain inscriptions. Of these, only two have an identification similar to the one etched in the now famous and somewhat controversial “James Ossuary.” The entire Aramaic inscription reads, “Jacob (James), son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” (Ya’akov bar Yosef akhui di Yeshua). If, in fact, the inscription in its entirety is recognized as authentic (which we believe to be the case), we have clear first-century AD testimony of Jesus, his father Joseph, and brother James. James (Ya’akov) is given in the Gospel accounts as a brother of Jesus (Mt. 13:55), but he is also one of the most important figures in the New Testament. The book of Acts reveals that he was the pastor of the Jerusalem church, moderator of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, and penned the epistle of James. James is also spoken of a number of times in the writings of Josephus. He was put to death by certain Jewish leaders in AD 62, so if the James Ossuary is the one in which his bones were placed, then the dating of the bone-box would be approximately AD 62-63, allowing time for the reburial of the bones after the decomposition of the flesh, according to Jewish practices.
    [Show full text]
  • Light to the Nations and Aliens and Strangers: an Overview of the People of God in the Old Testament
    Theological Study Conference 2017 1 David Green: Light to the Nations and Aliens and Strangers: An overview of the people of God in the Old Testament Light to the Nations and Aliens and Strangers: An overview of the people of God in the Old Testament David M. Green, Vice-Principal, London Seminary Two Preliminary Caveats Before addressing the subject of this paper, two preliminary matters must be dealt with relating to the interpretation of Old Testament texts and their application to contemporary Christian life. 1. Who are the people of God? The question of who the people of God are, in the Old Testament, is less straightforward than in the New. Apart from a few doubtful cases, like Simon “the sorcerer” in Acts 8:9ff, it is usually clear that those identified by the New Testament as the people of God are believers, regenerate by his Spirit. When it comes to Old Testament Israel, however, we may seek to draw lessons from individuals whom we have no real basis for regarding either as “regenerate” or “unregenerate” in the New Testament sense. At times in the discussion which follows, the “people of God” may refer to the people of Israel as a whole as they actually were, or as they were called to be under the terms of the Sinai covenant, or only to the godly remnant within a largely apostate Israel. This calls for a nuanced approach to making comparisons with the New Testament church and the experience of the New Testament believer, and in drawing lessons for Christians today.
    [Show full text]
  • Digging up the Past
    Digging Up the Past By Louis Rushmore © 2007, 2009 Louis Rushmore [email protected] 662.739.3035 J.C. Choate/Louis Rushmore Publications P.O. Box 72 Winona, MS 38967 www.WorldEvangelism.org www.GospelGazette.com 662.283.1192 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Digging Up the Past ..........................................4 Chapter 2: Bone Boxes .......................................................8 Chapter 3: Almost as Old as Dirt .....................................14 Chapter 4: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls ................19 Chapter 5: The Missing Superpower ...............................28 Chapter 6: The Moabite Stone ..........................................33 Chapter 7: The Black Obelisk ...........................................37 Chapter 8: Hezekiah’s Tunnel ...........................................40 Chapter 9: Jerusalem ........................................................44 Chapter 10: Rome ..............................................................53 Chapter 11: Corinth ...........................................................59 Chapter 12: Iraq .................................................................63 Chapter 13: Damascus ......................................................72 Works Cited ........................................................................77 Chapter 1: Digging Up the Past Archaeology is a science Bible View that sifts evidence of mankind’s past to discern historical infor- mation. A dictionary defi nition for “archaeology” is “the scien- tifi c study of material remains (as
    [Show full text]
  • The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
    The Annals of Applied Statistics 2008, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1–2 DOI: 10.1214/08-AOAS162 © Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 2008 EDITORIAL: STATISTICS AND “THE LOST TOMB OF JESUS” BY STEPHEN E. FIENBERG Carnegie Mellon University What makes a problem suitable for statistical analysis? Are historical and reli- gious questions addressable using statistical calculations? Such issues have long been debated in the statistical community and statisticians and others have used historical information and texts to analyze such questions as the economics of slavery, the authorship of the Federalist Papers and the question of the existence of God. But what about historical and religious attributions associated with informa- tion gathered from archeological finds? In 1980, a construction crew working in the Jerusalem neighborhood of East Talpiot stumbled upon a crypt. Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Author- ity came to the scene and found 10 limestone burial boxes, known as ossuaries, in the crypt. Six of these had inscriptions. The remains found in the ossuaries were re- buried, as required by Jewish religious tradition, and the ossuaries were catalogued and stored in a warehouse. The inscriptions on the ossuaries were catalogued and published by Rahmani (1994) and by Kloner (1996) but there reports did not re- ceive widespread public attention. Fast forward to March 2007, when a television “docudrama” aired on The Dis- covery Channel entitled “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”1 touched off a public and reli- gious controversy—one only need think about the title to see why there might be a controversy! The program, and a simultaneously published book [Jacobovici and Pellegrino (2007)], described the “rediscovery” of the East Talpiot archeological find and they presented interpretations of the ossuary inscriptions from a number of perspectives.
    [Show full text]