In our last article, we looked at archaeological finds that shed light on the kingdom of David.1Until fairly recently, critical scholars had assumed the historicity of the united monarchy and doubted only the earlier periods (the time of the judges, the settlement of the land, the exodus, the patriarchs, etc.). But as we noted, the united monarchy of David and Solomon has come under fire in recent decades.

When postmodern deconstructionism came to roost in biblical studies, the historicity of the united monarchy, once accepted as factual by nearly everyone, was now called into question. Thus the modern-day postmodern critic will claim that even though the biblical authors spoke of a David who ruled from such places as Hebron and Jerusalem, these stories are insufficient to provide us with reliable historical information and thus cause us to doubt their reliability.

There is hardly a more well-known story in the whole of Scripture than that of the spies, Rahab, and Joshua in and around the city of Jericho (Josh. 2; 6). Because of various details of Jericho found in the story (e.g., fortification walls, a gate, housing built into the city wall), finding and excavating Jericho has long been viewed as a way to correlate the text of Scripture with artifacts in the ground. Having said this, most critical scholars view Jericho as a hallmark example of how archaeology disproves the Bible. How might we respond to such an assertion?

In this article on physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia, the author discusses unjust killing, Paul and suicide, and suffering.