Bible -- Antiquities; Bible. Old Testament -- Evidences, authority, etc.
With just this brief reference to the voluminous records to be found in
Egyptian archeology, we would be able to establish the triumph of the
Bible in the realm of historical accuracy, had we no other sources. The
fact of the matter, however, is that the Assyrian and Babylonian
accounts of the Hittites are at least as numerous as are the Egyptian.
It may be noted in passing that, although filled with consternation at
these marvelous discoveries in Egyptology, the critics were by no means
silenced. It would have been better for their later reputation had they
graciously accepted their defeat and acknowledged that they were in
error. Instead, they rushed into vociferous refutation of the newly
discovered Egyptian records. Unfortunately, their denunciations and
renewed claims were given wide publicity by being included in the then
current edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. It is to be regretted
that this great encyclopedia has often been a tremendous aid to
criticism in spreading its errors and fallacies. This in large measure
is due to the fact that there is a common reverence for this great work
in the mind of the average human. There is a certain class of readers
who hold this notable reference work in such great reverence that its
authority to them is greater than that of the Word of God. It must be
remembered, however, that the encyclopedia of each generation represents
only the current thought of that brief period of human experience.
Anything that is written by man is subject to later revision or
repudiation, as human knowledge increases. So in this great compendium
of human wisdom it is unfortunate that much space was given to the famed
critic, the Rev. T. K. Cheyne.
This eminent authority was a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. In the
above cited article, he treated the statements of the Bible as
unhistorical and classified them as pure folklore. Concerning the
Biblical references to the Hittites, he used these exact words, “They
cannot be taken as of equal authority with the Egyptian and Assyrian
inscriptions!” In dealing with Abraham’s purchase of the burial plot for
Sarah, he had a great deal to say in refutation of the possibility of
any accuracy in the record. At the conclusion of his criticism he
stated, “How meager the tradition respecting the Hittites was in the
time of the great Elohistic narrator, is shown by the picture of Hittite
life in this reference.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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