Test 4

Question 1

What motivation did the Jews have for accurately copying Scripture?

Answer 1

1. It was the Word of God
2. God had entrusted them with its presentation and transmission
3. They had been commanded by God not to change it.

Question 2

What 20th century discovery proved that the OT had been accurately copied over the last 2000 years?

Answer 2

Dead Sea Scrolls

Question 3

A complete manuscript of the book of Isaiah was among the documents discovered. When was it determined to have been written?

Answer 3

125 BC

Question 4

Who did the writers of the OT scriptures claim to be speaking for?

Answer 4

For God

Question 5

What evidence do we have to support this claim?

Answer 5

Unity of the Bible:Different occupations,different languages,and different geographical locations,and was written over 1600 years
Fulfilled Prophecy:The destruction of tyre,the reign of the Persian King Cyrus,Babylon’s rule over Judah,Babylon’s destruction.

Question 6

What is big question #2?

Answer 6

Is the Bible reliable? Who is God?

Question 7

In light of their worldview,how do materialists view the Bible,and why?

Answer 7

They believe that there is no God because they belief that if there’s no God,then the Bible must be man made,miracles are possible,and since miracles are recorded in the Bible,it can’t be historically reliable.

Question 8

Explain Julius Wellhausen’s theory of the evolutionary origin of religion

Answer 8

The idea that religion from pantheism to polytheism to monotheism

Question 9

Summarize Wellhausen’s Documentary Hypothesis and his reasons for it.

Answer 9

He claimed that the Torah was written by multiple authors,written over hundreds of years,and written more than 1,000 years after the event described because there was lack of external evidence for the Torah,use of different names of God in the Torah,and recording of miracles in the Torah.

Question 10

What are some of the precise details given in the biblical text which situate it in the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1550 BC),the time of the events it describes

Answer 10

Covenants,Social customs,Slave prices,Personal names

Question 11

What and where is Tel el-Dab’a?

Answer 11

Archaeological dig in ancient Goshen

Question 12

Describe 2 archaeological discoveries that provide evidence for the presence of Israel in Egypt

Answer 12

Israelite houses:discovered and excavated at Averis

Brooklyn Papyrus:Egyptian household record listing 77 slaves by name

Question 13

Describe 2 archaeological discoveries that provide evidence for the presence of Israel in Canaan

Answer 13

Amaris Letters:14 century BC document referring to raids and conquests of several Canaanite cities by the Habiru
Merenptah Stele:records an attack on areas in Canaan by Pharoah

Question 14

Describe the archaeological evidence we have for the Israelites 40 years of wilderness wandering

Answer 14

Egyptian Temple Inscription:It places these nomads in Moab and Edom

Question 15

According to the Bible,why did God command His people,the Israelites, to wipe out the people of Canaan?

Answer 15

God condemned the Canaanites because of their idoltry and their child sacrifices.

Question 16

What what archeological evidence has been found which supports the Biblical account of the destruction of Jericho?

Answer 16

1. Walls of Jericho were impressively fortified
2. Houses of mud brick built into the walls
3. Walls fell outward,unlike what normally happens in a siege
4. Attack occurred after spring harvest

Question 17

What 2 archaeological discoveries situate Jericho’s fall around the biblical date of 1400 BC

Answer 17

1. Pottery

2. Scarabs

Question 18

What are the 3 tests used to determine the reliability of an historical document?what question does each test attempt to answer?

Answer 18

The Bibliographical Test:Is the text we now have the same as what was originally written?
The Internal Evidence Test:Is the original written record credible?
The External Evidence Test:Is the content of the document supported by other sources?