Yes, the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947, provided stunning confirmation of the reliability of the Hebrew Bible.
Previously the oldest complete copy of the Hebrew Bible, the so-called Masoretic text, was from around 1000 A.D.
That text is called the Leningrad Codex.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, dating from the 3rd to the first centuries BC, proved the Masoretic scribes had not altered the text in over a thousand years.
The Great Isaiah scroll for instance was virtually identical to the Masoretic version, with the differences being tiny and insignificant.
But interestingly the reliability of the Masoretic text could have been largely established without the Dead Sea Scrolls.
After all, the Hebrew Bible had between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC been translated into Greek.
This was done by scholars working in Alexandria and a few other places, and the translation is called the Septuagint.
So one could easily compare the Septuagint with the Masoretic script to see if, and to what extent, the text had been changed.
In fact, it had not. And this fact was then further corroborated by the Dead Sea manuscripts found around 75 years ago.
Bottom line: The Jews today read the same ancient Hebrew Scriptures that Jesus did. And so do we.
More here: https://a.co/d/0dQ8QKfI
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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.
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF PHILISTIA
The biblical story of Samson pulling down temple of the Philistines seems to be the stuff of legend.
See below the famous painting by Antonio Joli that immortalizes the Samson story.
For many decades, skeptics pointed to the story of Samson and Delilah, along with other stories such as David and Goliath, to demonstrate the obvious unreliability of Scripture.
But archaeological investigation in the territory of Israel once ruled by the Philistines—this land was called Philistia— casts new light on these biblical episodes.
In the mid-1990s, archaeologist Aren Maeir in the Philistine area of ancient Gath found an ostracon—a piece of pottery with writing on it.
Dated to the 10th century B.C., it contained two names ALWT and WLT which are etymologically related to the name Goliath.
No one is saying it’s the same Goliath. Maeier’s point is that Goliath seems to be a Philistine name that can be connected with the biblical Goliath’s own city of Gath.
Moreover we have examples ...
THE BEHISTUN INSCRIPTION
Ancient cultures were once largely inaccessible to scholars because they didn’t know how to read their writing.
This affected biblical archaeology because the Bible describes empires hostile to the Israelites such as the Babylonian and the Assyrian.
The discovery of the Rosetta Stone in Egypt led to scholars being able to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics.
But another key discovery in this area is the lesser-known Behistun Inscription.
It’s a monumental rock inscription carved high on a limestone cliff in western Iran.
The carved panel is huge: 45 feet high and 75 feet wide.
Dated to around 520 B.C., the panel depicts the Persian king Darius and proclaims his divine right to rule, sanctioned by the god Ahura Mazda.
The same account is given in 3 languages: Persian, Elamite and Babylonian Akkadian.
Since scholars knew how to read Persian, they were able to use the Behistun Inscription to crack the code of Mesopotamian writing.
The inscription helped archaeologists ...
One of the great treasures of biblical archeology is the Madaba Map.
It is a mosaic floor map that was found in a Greek Orthodox Church in Madagascar, Jordan.
Dated to the 6th century A.D., the Madaba Map has a beautiful and detailed depiction of Palestine—the Roman name for Israel.
Jerusalem occupied the map’s central section, showing various sites like the Damascus Gate and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
But it also marks other ancient sites such as Jericho, Shiloh and Bethlehem.
The Madaba map has enabled archaeologists to find several ancient biblical locations that had been lost to history.
More here: https://a.co/d/01EgJy1y
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