Website

So our church got a website. Feel free to check it out, there will be lots of great resources here over time. 

www.calvarypaarl.com

Indefinite Hiatus

Indefinite Hiatus is a term that some of you may not be familiar with. Its a term that bands often use, it pretty much means 'we hate each others guts and can't stand to play music together any more so we are breaking up BUT we want you to think there is chance that one day we may reform, make new music and play shows again so that you'll continue to buy our merchandise'. Yea those two little words say all that!

Anyway this term seems appropriate for Theos Logos....etc because that is what is happening right now. Due to a lack of time and a lack of real interest from me, or anyone else for that matter, I've decided that this blog will be onhold for an indefinite period of time, which could include forever. If a day comes when I have more time, and I feel that blogs are worthy persuits and that this one in particular is important to me or the world, I may start posting again.

To anyone who has actually enjoyed or benefitted from this blog and now feels cheated I apologise. I trust you will forgive me and can only hope you will find archaeological tidbits that are better written and informed elsewhere.

All the best - Dave 'hiatus' Emmerson

Ebla Tablets

The Ebla Tablets were found in an ancient Tell Mound in Northern Syria by Archaeologists between 1974-75. A total of 17,000 tablets (complete or fragmentary) were uncovered in what is thought to have by the royal library.

The significance of these clay tablets is quite far reaching. The tablets are dated to around 2,300BC, which in Biblical terms is the era in which God called Abraham to Canaan. It is also around about the time that Sodom & Gomorrah were destroyed by God.

The tablets are written in a Semitic language and show many similarities with Biblical Hebrew. They show a great deal of knowledge of the middle east and contact with out civilizations.

I would suggest you read the articles below for the greater detail about these tablets but I'm going to briefly some up their importance to us as Christians

1. They serve to confirm Abraham's existence as an historic person, no simply a Jewish myth. The people of Ebla had no reason to lie about his existence as they were not Hebrews and thus had no vested interest.
2. The tablets confirm the story of Abraham's victory over the Kings of the five cities of the plain (Genesis 14:8 - Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim & Zoar). Previously it was thought that these cities were fictions and Abraham's victory simple legend. 
3. They back up the Biblical account of Sodom & Gomorrah. They record them as historic places that were later destroyed. Again the people of Ebla would have no ulterior motives in recording this. 
4. These tablets show that the Ebla-ites had an awareness of the God of the Hebrews mentioning El or Yahwah. This is important as it refutes any claims that God is a creations of later times with mythological writings constructed to legitimize the religion.

Please do take a look at these articles, they have much more to say than I have time to re-iterate. I hope you find this helpful, I've been blessed by learning about the Ebla tablets, I hope you will be too.

Blessings - Dave

More Info



Wikipedia
The Institute for Creation Research
www.scribd.comwww.formerthings.com

Re-envisioning The Blog

Hey Folks

Sorry that is has been so long since I've posted anything here. I don't have a real reason, I guess you might call it writers block, but not really. Just been doing a lot of thinking of late in regards to blogs and if I'm honest I'm not sure I really care for them much anymore!

I saw this guy outside the mall the other day with his headphones in - he was singing his heart out to whatever terrible pop song he was listening too. It sounded awful. I mean that guy really couldn't sing! And I got to thinking how blogs are to the publishing industry what headphones are to the music industry. Blogs are a lame excuse for word press just like that guy singing along was a bad attempt at music. There are to many people out there spewing half digested information on blog sights and clicking 'publish now' and I have to admit to being one of them at times. It is just to easy. It doesn't take enough work. We've lost the art of the peer review.

Blogs have their place for certain. I think they are a great way of keeping in touch with friends and family and letting the world know what you are going through, your triumphs and failures. But when it comes to serious discussions of science and theology I'm not sure the blog is the way to go. In fact I'm sure it isn't.

So what am I saying? Well what I'm not saying is that this thing is done and I'm going to delete it. But what I am saying is that it is going to change format. I still wanted to help arm people with information that could help them in their struggles with big life questions and in their debates over archaeology, theology, science, apologetics etc.

Up till now I confess I've had a tendency to try to wrap things up in neat little packages and say 'here is the answer' and 'they are wrong, we are right'. That has been a trend in previous posts. I still believe in right and wrong, true and false, good and bad, but I know that to arrive at my conclusions I've often oversimplified. From now on my aim is simply to present you with information and facts, to highlight some of my opinions (as opinions rather than facts) and to allow you to take this info and do with it as you please.

My prayer is that The Holy Spirit will advise me the writer and you the reader as these articles go up and speak to us clearly. Facts alone are not enough, we need the spirit to move in us and through us to be able to know and learn anything. We also need His help to be able to debate with those who would slate our faith as fake and/or outmoded.

This is getting long but I have a couple of last points - 1) Be careful what you read on blogs - a lot of it is pure opinion and conjecture. Just because it is 'published' on the internet does not make it credible. 2) I'm sorry that I have at times been a purveyor of such conjectural and subjective information.

I hope to post at least a bog a month throughout the year - January's will deal with the Ebla tablets. All the best - Dave

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The books and journal articles that have been written about the Dead Sea scrolls could fill the famous Library of Alexandria twice over no doubt, so I don't intend to write too much here. I do feel however that they are well worth a mention (this blog would be rather lacking without a discussion of their significance) and promise to do my best to keep it short and to the point, whilst directing you to other better written articles for your perusal.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, also known as the Qumran Scrolls, were discovered by accident in a series of caves near the ancient community of Qumran on the western banks of the Dead Sea in Israel. This discovery took place in 1947 (though further finds continued until  1979) when small boy shepherds heard the smash of pottery breaking as the threw rocks into a cave. They scrambled up and found large numbers of sealed pots which contained scrolls. The total number of scrolls and scroll fragments discovered was over a thousand.

These scrolls seem to have been collected by a Jewish monastic community at Qumran, which existed from 150BC to 70AD, then hidden away in these caves, perhaps under the threat of Roman destruction. Some of the scrolls predate the community there and some were obviously manuscript copies that were carefully made by the scribes at Qumran.

 So what is the significance of these scrolls and scroll fragments and why have they caused so much controversy and debate? Well what it basically all boils down to is that there are fragments here from every single book of the Old Testament, including significant portions of The Torah, 1st and 2nd Samuel, Isaiah and Habakkuk. There are also fragmentary manuscript copies of some of the New Testament Epistles including a large chunk of 1st John. These are the oldest known surviving Biblical manuscripts copies, predating AD 70.

Again, why all the fuss, right? Well the scrolls revealed that the basis for our modern Bible is firm - there were no significant differences between the dead sea scrolls and other, younger, manuscript copies that we have based out English translations upon. The only differences found were grammatical, and did nothing to alter the meaning of the verses. None of our Biblical beliefs or doctrines have been changed by this discovery. Furthermore the discovery of the fragment of John confirms that the epistles were written and recorded within a very short time of Jesus life and death, within the lifetime of those who had known Him. This means that there was no room for myth or legend to creep in to the records as those who were still alive would have corrected them.

There is so much more to say here, but I'd really encourage you to download and read a free PDF book on the subject, written by prominent Biblical scholar F.F. Bruce (who's Bible studies my grandfather used to attend!) here. The major thing to note here is that this archaeological discovery has served to enhance the confidence which we can place in the accuracy of our Bible's. The burden of proof is once again laid in the hands of those who claim that the Bible is sheer myth and legend.

More Info:

Wikipedia
iBiblio.org
World of the Bible Ministries
F.F. Bruce - Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls (Free eBook)
How Did We Get The Bible? - Tracy Macon Sumner (ISBN 978-1-60260-363-9)
Halley's Bible Hand Book - Dr Henry H. Halley (ISBN 978-0-310-22479-2)

Noah's Ark Discovery - The Latest

I thought I'd best put a little post up about the claimed discovery of Noah's Ark on Mt Ararat, Turkey, by the Noah's Ark Ministries International (NAMI) team.

As per usual the secular media has moved on to the next big thing but NAMI have continued to work hard in order to answer critics and produce further evidence to back up their discovery. This is certainly the most well researched and publicised Noah's Ark discovery I've ever come across, it is certainly starting to look more and more like this could be the real thing and the end of all the searching and speculation.

If you head over to the NAMI website you can watch a whole serious of videos they have made in answer to specific criticisms. I'd also suggest you read the Expedition Timeline which shows various evidence they have uncovered including petrified wood.

I'm excited to continue to wait and watch as the story unfolds (they are planning another expedition as we speak, I'm thinking about applying to go). This could be one of the most astonishing proofs of the historical accuracy of the Biblical account. If there really is a Noah's Ark then there really was a global flood - the implications of this find are huge, not only to those of the Christian faith but also to all branches of science, world over.

More Info:
http://www.noahsarksearch.net/eng/

World Religions and Dead Men's Bones

I find it highly interesting that of all the religions in the world today there is only one which was founded by a man who died and rose again in order to prove His divinity. Have a little look at this list of founders of religions and the current locations of their bones:

• Krishna, a leading figure within Hinduism, is said to have passed from physical into pure spiritual existence around about 3102 BC. There is no sacred site for the body of Krishna but it is fully understood within Hinduism that he is no longer in existence (at least physically).
• Buddha died in 483BC and was not buried but cremated. His ashes were put in various monuments or stupas, although none are known to survive. The point here though is that he died and was cremated.
• Muhammed died on June 8th, 632AD, and was buried within his home, which was later turned into a mosque. The burial of Muhammad in Medina made it the second most holy city to the Muslims, who still visit the site of his burial to this day.
• Joseph Smith Jr, founder of The Church of The Later Day Saints (Mormons) was shot and killed on June 27th 1844AD. He was buried at his families farmstead in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA.
• Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í faith, died on 29 May 1892AD and is buried in a shrine next to the Mansion of Bahjí in Acre, Israel.
• Charles T. Russell, who started the Jehovah's Witnesses, died on October 31st 1916AD and was buried at Rosemont United Cemetery, Pittsburgh, USA.

Interesting then that Christianity has no monument to the burial of Jesus. Yes there is the tomb in Jerusalem in which He was buried for three days, but there are no bones there. There are no bones anywhere because Jesus body did not decay, it never saw corruption, because on the third day Jesus rose from the grave!

Matthew 28:12-15 says this in regards to the resurrection of Jesus:
'When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, "Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.' And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure." So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day'. The Jewish leaders would have found the body or the bones of Jesus and presented them to the people in order to stop the rumours that Jesus had risen from the dead. They would have done so at any cost. The fact that they didn't shows us that they couldn't because He had risen again.

You may not believe in the resurrection of Christ but I would challenge you to look at the evidence. Why, after all these years, with today's modern scientific research methods etc, have we still not found any trace of Jesus' remains? And if Christ did rise from the dead then His claims to be God must have been true. If Jesus is God then we need to respond to Him as such and decide to either accept Him as Lord and Saviour or reject him and face the consequences. As far as I am concerned the fact that all other the religions' founders are dead and buried whilst there are no remains of Christ lends legitimacy to the arguement that Christ rose again and that Christians worship the true and living God.

More Info
Did Jesus Rise From The Dead?