How do Christians use archaeology in relation to apologetics?

Answer 1

A:Apologetics is the art of defending a belief through reasoning or information. Christian archaeologists have sought to contribute to the defence of Christian belief by interpreting archaeological finds such as to prove something biblical to be true. It is not uncommon for biblical archaeologists to argue that when the evidence from an archaeological excavation does not fit that from The Bible, one may conclude that the archaeological evidence is incomplete or incorrectly interpreted.

It has been said that the introduction of the Bible into the realm of Middle Eastern Archaeology is primarily due to the efforts of the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF), which was established in 1865 by a group of British churchmen and biblical scholars who sought to use archaeology to restore faith in the Bible, which was being eroded by Darwinism. Albright was subsequently the foremost practitioner of what became known as biblical archaeology.

Unfortunately, not all who dabble in archaeology are qualified to do so. The self-styled "biblical archaeologist" Ron Wyatt, who claimed to have found Noah's Ark, was actually a Seventh Day Adventist nurse anaesthetist. His colleague, 'Dr' Allen Roberts, received his qualification from a Florida 'university' that has turned out to be a letterbox outside a fundamentalist church from which fake 'doctorates' can be obtained for a few dollars. On the other hand, there have been biblical archaeologists who were properly trained and sincere, although sometimes lacking in objectivity.

Archaeologists have recently been questioning the validity and motivations behind the use of biblical narratives in archaeology and even the foundations of biblical archaeology as a discipline.