Why are you here?

[Nooj]

He asked for archaeological evidence for the Bible.

morningstar2651 asked for archaeological evidence for Solomon did he not?

I'll do some looking into the gate.

There's contention about the gate among minimalists and other archaeologists. There are three gates that William Dever considers to be Solomonic in Hazor, Gezer and Meggido, but Israel Finkelstein thinks the opposite.

Wikipedia has a succint summary.

Nothing indisputably of Solomon's reign has been found. Archaeological excavations at Hazor, Megiddo, Bethshan and Gezer have uncovered structures that Israeli archaeologists Ammon Ben-Tor, Amihai Mazar and US Professor William G. Dever argue all belong to his reign and all were simultaneously destroyed by a raid of Shishaq,[5] but Finkelstein and Silberman argues that these structures are dated to the Omride period, more than a century after Solomon's reign,[6] although they believe that David and Solomon did live. [7][8] Excavations on these sites are ongoing.

 

[morningstar2651]

I take it you've never visited Solomons temple ,or the Solomonic gate, or the mines, or Solomons pools, or the cities he helped rebuild(Hazor, Mediggo, and Gezer) which included the Stables that Solomon used. And of course we have the writings of books like Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes(as well as some others things that might have been written by him, like the Book of Wisdom)
Also Jersusalem was big in the standards of what the people thought "big" in those days. The kingdom of Israel at the time of Solomon was little more than a small city state. And what does wealth have to do with how big jerusalem is? Most of their weath came from Egypt actually.

Don't you mean Herod's Temple? It was built circa 19 BCE.

The area has had the name Solomon's Stables since Crusader times, during which they were used by the crusaders as stables; the Temple Mount above is traditionally the location of the Temple of Solomon. However, they are unlikely to date as far back as Solomon, and are more plausibly due to Herod the Great, who substantially extended the Temple Mount platform by building the vaults at this corner, and elsewhere, to support it.

Solomon's Pools (Berekhot Shelomo), are located immediately to the south of al-Khader and about 5 kilometres southwest of Bethlehem. The pools consist of three open cisterns, each pool with a 6 metre drop to the next, fed from an underground spring. With each pool being over 100metres long, 65 metres wide and 10 metres deep, the total water capacity is approximately 200 million litres. Consequently the pools have played a significant role in the area's water supply for centuries. They are erroneously named after the Biblical Solomon, stemming from a legend of Solomon using the waters and gardens as in Ecclesiastes 2.6, where Solomon is recorded as saying "I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees". [1] However recent evidence suggests that the lowest pool was probably the constructed during the Maccabean period at the time of the reconstruction of the temple at Jerusalem (circa 2 BCE).

The more I know about history, the more I am aware it is written by people with agendas. I am as suspicious of those who claim one version as I am of those who advance another. As an example of the difficulty of determining fact from fiction, look at the controversy over whether Saddam Hussein did or did not possess weapons of mass destruction. (I tend to agree with Ted Koppel who quipped that we know he did because we still have the receipts!) The question of whether Moses, David, or Solomon existed is even more loaded.

How certain are you of the authorship of the various books of the OT?
http://books.google.com/books?id=QzOJ9nMlUJcC

 

[tcampen]

Atheism is true because atheists say atheism is true.

I'm more of an agnostic-unitarian-deist type of guy, but more for emotional than for rationa reasons. Yea, I admitted it. But I would not consider myself an atheist, just so you know.

It's like evolution is true because darwinian evolutionists write each other peer-reviewed articles?

You can research and experiement with your own ERVs or Cytochrome-C or genetic drift without having to consult with "darwinists", and get your own results. Thats what science does. It's not some exclusive club where only those who go along with the program are allowed in. It's about the process, not the results. And biological evolution is no different than chemestry and physics in this sense.

The Biblical reporting happened in real life at real times.

I'm not sure what this means. None of the books of the bible were written contemporaneously with the events they describe. The gospels themselves are dated decades after the crucifixion. Maybe I misunderstood.

Human nature and real life happenings make the Apostles look like incredibly smart. Not to mention the carpenters son they quote and refer everyone back to. Christianity reality and secularism a fairy tale.

By my reading of the NT, I find the stories highly legendary and even mythical at times, mixed in with real people, places and events. Human nature makes the apostles' actions just after the crucifixion perplexing. Why would they be willing to die only after seeing one more resurrection when the many others before weren't enough to sustain their faith for a few days until Jesus returned just as he said he would? Makes zero sense from a human nature standpoint (especially 2,000 years ago), but tells a nice story from a theological position.

I look at the Gospels from the same place I would look at the accounts of Alexander the Great, Julius Cesar, Pythagorus, etc. I just look at them for what they are without having a dog in the fight one way or the other. If that's secular, then so be it. But from an intellectual standpoint, I have not seen good reason to approach one set of texts as necessarily true and all others with skepticism.

How is that any different than standing in a dorm room with your buddies brewski's in hand, ranting about Sky Daddy not existing because you guys can't get it that he does.

I've never done that, but it does sound like more fun than many services I've attended. Good point.

Atheism is true because atheists say so. If Dawkins and Hitchens are all you got, then you better get some better smart guys.

Apparently smart is in the eye of the beholder. Dawkins and Hitchens are not my heros, but at least I know they exist.

 

[Garyzenuf]

To bring GLORY to GOD!
To bring GLORY to GOD!
To bring GLORY to GOD!
To bring GLORY to GOD!

If that what you think you're doing by posting your endless stream of nonsense you're sadly mistaken

*

 

[LightHorseman]

I'm here because I know the likes of you are here. I learned some time back - and am still in the process of learning - that the religion you preach is not the truth that will set one free. On the contrary, Fundamentalist Christianity is the yoke that Christ came to free us from.

Pretty much what he said.

Oh, and Biblical literalism and legalism is idolatry, and the universe is approx 15 billion years old, and Earth's biodiversity is best explained by evolution.

 

[morningstar2651]

I've been asking around on another forum for more reading on the subject of Biblical Archeology. I'll probably be picking The Bible Unearthed and David and Solomon when I get the chance.

I'll also be looking into the Copenhagen school, primarily through Thompson's The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives and The Mythic Past.

Figured I'd share my reading list for those that wish to read along.