Dabbling In Biblical Archaeology

What good is a blog if you can’t tell the world about all your crazy adventures?

The Trip

Last year at the Apologetics Canada Conference, our last speaker was Dr. Steven Collins, whose talked called, “Confirming the Bible Through Archaeology” was after lunch, at the end of a tiring week for me. I was tempted to tune out of this one or skip it altogether. Then he said something on in the introduction that I will not forget,

“All the faith of all the Christians in the world is useless if you can’t put trowel to dirt and dig up these places in the Bible.”

What followed was one of the best apologetic talks I have ever heard. Dr. Collins systematically showed why his findings in a Middle Bronze Age ancient city, north of the Dead Sea and East of the Jordan River (just like Genesis 13 states) is the site of the biblical city of Sodom.

He talked about finding a layer of ash. And pottery that was glassy on one side having been heated and cooled quickly. Then he talked about the bodies they found. Something catastrophic happened to end this city. Something so bad that no one settled on this fertile area for approximately 700 years.

I sat there riveted at the possibility that maybe these stories in the Bible are actually true. Dr. Collins gave a very convincing talk as to why this was one of the greatest archaeological findings in history. Here’s the story on Youtube. Then Collins invited people to come along and help out if they could. 

“Here am I, send me!”

Now that I’m in England, I’m much closer than I was that day, sitting in the pew at Coquitlam Alliance Church. I found a really cheap flight on Easy Jet and told Dr. Collins to save me a trowel and one of those large brimmed hats he’s always wearing. I was coming!

January 19. Tonight, that’s officially tomorrow. 

In the morning I’m taking a cab, two trains, and a cheap flight ending up at a hotel on the Dead Sea. You can expect some updates as they come.