Archaeology and the Bible
Three lectures sponsored by The Central Pennsylvania Forum for Religion and Science and the Messiah College Department of Biblical and Religious Studies

Featured speaker: Dr. Thomas W. Davis, Director of the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus

First lecture: The Rise and Fall of Biblical Archaeology: towards a new paradigm
The Biblical archaeology of William Foxwell Albright was an attempt to ground the historical witness of the Bible in realia, or demonstrable historical reality. Albright brought biblical archaeology out of the armchair and into the field in Palestine. His student, George Edward Wright, created a positivist theological/theoretical basis for biblical archaeology. Albright and Wright saw biblical archaeology as an objective science, providing historical reality to the Hebrew Bible. However, when Wright excavated the site of Shechem, he realized that archaeology was not purely objective. This realization destroyed the theoretical basis for biblical archaeology and the positivist Albright/Wright model of Biblical history collapsed under numerous critical attacks. What is needed is a new paradigm for Biblical archaeology that incorporates a post-processual approach to the archeological record and recovers the fruitful relationship between archaeology and Biblical studies.
Friday, 11 November 2005 at 7:00 pm in Hostetter Chapel

Second lecture: Archaeology and the Old Testament: New data on the Egyptian Frontier and the route of the Exodus
New discoveries since 2000 have radically altered scholars understanding of the north Sinai in the New Kingdom. Using unpublished data from a new excavation, we will explore the implications of the new findings for our understanding of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt.
Saturday, 12 November 2005 at 9:00 am in Hostetter Chapel

Third lecture: Archaeology and the New Testament: New Data on Cyprus and the Pauline World
Cypriot Archaeology is bursting with new information that illumines the world of Paul. We will discuss the latest findings on Roman sea trade, road networks, new site discoveries and survey data that bring into much better focus the beginning of the first missionary journey of the great Apostle. The choice of Cyprus for the first field becomes much more understandable in light of the new data.
Saturday, 12 November 2005 at 10:30 am in Hostetter Chapel

Students receive chapel credit for all three lectures

Directions and a campus map are here http://www.messiah.edu/visitors/direction.html.

A Christian archaeologist who has done field work on four continents, Dr. Davis is author of Shifting Sands: The Rise and Fall of Biblical Archaeology (Oxford University Press, 2004). A former student of William Dever at the University of Arizona, he directs the Cypriot branch ( www.caari.org ) of the American Schools of Oriental Research (www.asor.org ).

The Central Pennsylvania Forum for Religion and Science, based at Messiah College, has been made possible in part by a Local Societies Initiative grant (http://www.metanexus.net/lsi) of the Metanexus Institute (www.metanexus.net). For information about the American Scientific Affiliation, see www.asa3.org. For details about all Forum events, please visit http://www.messiah.edu/godandscience/ or contact Dr. Ted Davis (tdavis@messiah.edu), 717-766-2511, ext 6840.