Return to the World of the Bible

Studying archaeology can help us return to the world of the Bible. Read this short article from author and archaeologist David Chapman to find out how.

TANGIBLE REALITES

One of the benefits to reading the Bible is to understand the culture behind the text. For example, when I am reading a text, I’ll read about somebody drinking, and I immediately think of the cups that I would drink out of or the streets that I would walk down. I import my 21st-century assumptions into the Bible.

One of the great things about archaeology is that it reminds us to start thinking like the people who received the Word of God in the Old and the New Testament. It helps us reenter that world, and to think along with them, and hear the Word of God coming to us in the culture in which it was initially written. That’s a huge aspect of archaeology that really helps every reader of the Scriptures.

REAL HISTORY

Archaeology helps with biblical understanding in another significant way.

I frequently take groups over to Israel to see the various archaeological sites from the Bible. One of the things that people often report is when they go there, they see that This is real history. This is really happening.

I was raised in a Christian home and read the Bible from as early as I can remember. There’s a way that reading the Bible can kind of be like reading a great work of historical narrative or maybe even a fictional story. It can feel like reading Tolkien, with its maps in the back and all of this vivid imagery. It’s easy to become a little distant from the real narrative truth that God is really engaging in real history throughout the Bible.

The authors are really writing about Jesus as he really walked and where he walked. And so when you walk through the land visually, when you discuss the land visually, it reminds you constantly that these events really happened. God really did bring a people out of Egypt. And that makes things even more vivid for people.

When I’m in class teaching, showing slides of archaeology and discussing it, students will often say that it just reminds them of how real Scripture is and that God really did this.

ESV ARCHAEOLOGY STUDY BIBLE

David Chapman is one of the primary contributors for the ESV Archaeology Study Bible. Start using this resource today to begin your return to the world of the Bible. Visit our website to learn more about this study Bible and add it to your library today.

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David Chapman (PhD, University of Cambridge) is professor of New Testament and Archaeology at Covenant Theological Seminary. He is also the author of Ancient Jewish and Christian Perceptions of Crucifixion. He presents research and lectures worldwide.

Originally published on Crossway.org. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.