Definitions
The process of counting tree rings to determine the age of a tree
What is dendrochronology?
When artifacts are found in rock or earth that is layered, the deeper layers hold the older artifacts.
What is the Principle of Superposition?
The study of past human life as revealed by preserved relics
What is archaeology?
If you wanted to learn about the history of life other than human life, would you use archaeology or paleontology?
You would use paleontology (archaeology concentrates on human life).
Does the Bible contain any contradictions that make it fail the internal test?
No. The Bible passes the internal test as well as any document of its time!
The study of earth's history as revealed in the rocks that make up the earth
What is geology?
The age of an artifact as determined by a date printed on it or a reference to the artifact in a work of history
What is known age?
What are the internal test, the external test, and the bibliographic test used for?
To evaluate documents that claim to be historical.
There are two reasons to believe that the copy of an ancient document might not be the same as the original. One is that the person making the copy might have made some unintentional mistakes. What is the other reason?
Often those who are making the copy or ordering the copy to be made will make intentional changes. Kings have done this in an effort to make themselves or their ancestors look better in history. Religious groups have been known to do this to make themselves look more important or to make their view look "right."
Does the Bible contain any difficult passages that might seem like contradictions?
Yes. Due to the difficulty of translating ancient languages, there are some difficult passages. All documents of history has such passages, however!
Objects made by people, such as tools, weapons, containers, etc.
What are artifacts?
The calculated age of an artifact from a specific dating method that is used to determine when the artifact was made
What is absolute age?
Describe the bibliographic test.
The bibliographic test makes certain the document we have today is essentially the same as the original.
What two things help a document pass the bibliographic test?
First, the time period between when the original was written and when the first available copy was made should be small. Second, there must be many different copies from many different sources.
Why can we say that the Bible passes the external test better than any other document of its time?
We can say this because no other work has had so much archaeological evidence compared to it. The Bible has been tested by archaeology more than any other documents of history, and it passes with flying colors!
A term that encompasses all scientific pursuits related to living organisms
What is life science?
The study of life's history as revealed in the preserved remains of once-living organisms
What is paleontology?
Describe the internal test.
The internal test makes sure that the document does not contradict itself.
Suppose a document passes the internal and bibliographic tests, but some of the conclusions of archaeologists go against what the document says. If the document has some other external support, why should you not automatically say that it fails the external test?
Sometimes, it turns out that archaeology is wrong. Remember, several archaeologists thought the Bible was wrong on several occasions, but it turns out that it was the archaeologists who were wrong, not the Bible!
Why are the two genealogies of Christ given in Luke 3 and Matthew 1 not contradictory? Feel free to look up.
One of the genealogies traces Mary's line, and the other traces Joseph's line.
Using a radioactive process to determine the age of an item
What is radiometric dating?
What is Aristotle's dictum?
Describe the external test.
The external test makes certain that the document does not contradict other known historical or archaeological facts.
Explain how the NT and the OT pass the bibliographic test.
The NT has significantly shorter time spans between the original and copies compared to any other work of the same time period, and it has thousands more supporting documents than any other document of its time. The OT passes the bibliographic test just as well as any other document of its time.
Why are the two accounts given in Acts 9:7 and Acts 22:9 not contradictory? Feel free to look them up.
This is a translation problem. The verb "hear" used in Acts 9:7 simply means that the men heard sounds. The verb "hear" used in Acts 22:9 requires that the hearer must actually understand intelligible language. These verses are really complementary, then. The first tells us that the men heard sounds, but the second tells us that they could not understand those sounds.