Before debating free will, you have to start with the Calvinist view of God.

In Calvinism, God doesn’t merely permit or allow events to happen—He decrees them.

That distinction changes the entire debate over predestination.

This video illustrates how biblical archaeology works by examining a clay seal dated to the 8th century BC and attributed to the prophet Isaiah. It was produced by the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology (http://www.armstronginstitute.org) and narrated by Stephen Flurry.

Andrew Wilson insisted in our debate that the “heresy” of Judaism is the cause of moral degeneracy in the West.

Oh really? Jewish communities were deeply conservative over the centuries, and they were only corrupted by Jews moving away from Judaism.

My conversation on biblical archaeology with Jennifer Bagnaschi on the “Deep Believer” podcast.

The prophet Isaiah scolds a guy named Shebna for building an ostentatious tomb for himself. (Isaiah 22:15-16)

Isaiah describes Shebna, who is the steward to King Hezekiah, as the man “over the royal household.”

Shebna is a minor character in the Bible. In film parlance, he’s a biblical “extra.”

In 1870 the French archaeologist Claremont-Ganneau found a limestone block with a 3-line Hebrew text.

It dated to the eighth or seventh century B.C.—around the time of Hezekiah.

The inscription was above the entrance to a tomb built in the grand style befitting an official of some importance.

The British Museum acquired the limestone inscription which was only deciphered in 1953 by the Israeli archaeologist Nahman Avigad.

The inscription has a missing space with only the ending part of a name—“yahu”—but it lists the man’s occupation by saying he is “over the house.”

That’s precisely the job of the royal steward as described in Isaiah.

Archaeologists recognize the missing space ...