Apologetics benefits from the careful, scholarly evaluation of archaeological sites and discoveries.
Of course, there are great gaps in our knowledge of the ancient world. Sometimes these gaps reflect erosion of the past, deliberate destruction or theft. They may also reflect contemporary politics and culture.
City of David and Jericho
A good case in point is the archaeology of the Holy Land. Any traveller interested in the archaeology of this land will be immediately struck by the contrast between sites in the modern state of Israel and those in the Palestinian West Bank. The state-of-the-art, beautifully displayed City of David site which includes Hezekiah’s Tunnel, makes the Tel of ancient Jericho seem like a barren wasteland – ‘the ugliest Tel in the Holy Land’ as guides will often point out.
Comedy, free speech and warnings from the past
Hannah Arendt was a Jewish philosopher who grew up in Nazi Germany. Eventually she had to flee to France and, …