Many Bible students are fascinated by archaeology. There’s a certain mystique about recovering something hidden from human eyes for thousands of years. Archaeological discoveries can tell us a lot about the past. Artifacts can tell us something about how people lived. Texts can tell us what they thought or saw. Because archaeology provides these windows into the past, it’s important for understanding the Bible.
Unfortunately, what archaeology can do for the Bible is often overstated. Popular apologetics books talk a lot about how archaeology “proves” the Bible, but that’s misleading. While it’s true that the names of biblical characters have been found on tablets and inscriptions, archaeology has never produced a text or artifact that precisely points to any biblical character before the time of David. For example, finding “Jacob” inscribed somewhere isn’t necessarily a reference to the biblical character. A lot of people at the time could have borne that name.
Does that mean that there is no archaeological evidence for Bible characters like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, and Samuel? Yes. But the issue needs to be framed differently. If we ask, “Does that mean that there is no archaeological evidence for the events, historical circumstances, lifestyle portrayals, and religious beliefs of those biblical characters?” the answer would be the polar opposite. Archaeology has produced a lot of evidence that demonstrates the details of biblical stories are quite plausible (e.g., marriage customs and treaty structures). It has also produced artifacts that show a biblical detail about history was correct even though correlating proof was lacking for many years (e.g., Belshazzar’s rule over Babylon). These achievements are important for defending biblical validity.
Something archaeology can never do, though, is prove the theological statements of the Bible. You can’t dig up God. And even if archaeologists find the walls of the biblical Jericho toppled down and burned (and some would say they have), Jericho’s ruins cannot prove that God knocked them down. That’s a theological assertion. Since God’s existence and power is beyond the realm of science, they are also beyond the realm of archaeology. The coherence of the Bible’s truth claims needs to be defended on other grounds, such as sound logic.
Archaeology is a valuable tool for validating the circumstances of biblical events. It is dangerous, however, to exaggerate its contribution. Claims that overstate evidence are bound to be overturned. Theological truths should not be put in jeopardy by careless apologetics.