Preamble
A radical reconstruction of ancient history
Following is a series of three articles
- The Times of the Judges—the Archaeology (a)
Exodus to Conquest
- The Times of Abraham
- A Better Model for the Stone Age
as a preliminary sortie of what is these days called ‘A radical reconstruction
of ancient history’.
The writer, Dr John Osgood, recognises that ‘he who proposes the theory must
furnish the proof’. He also recognises that this reconstruction will not be
quickly grasped by specialists in the field of history and archaeology until an
extremely large amount of evidence for that reconstruction covering all related
fields of archaeology and history has been exhaustively presented and stood the
test of time and specialist criticism.
Dr Osgood also recognises that other radical reconstructions of ancient history
have been attempted by Velikovsky,1 Courville,2
and Bimson,3 as well as a preliminary attempt by Anati.4
These have not convinced the specialists up to this date and all have their problems,
both major and minor.
A quick dismissal of all biblical history before 1,000 B.C. is, however, not acceptable
to a large segment of Bible scholars who believe that the stakes are very high.
All constructions of ancient history begin with presuppositions,
and those who hold the generally accepted dating should appreciate this major fact.
History is not science, it is an interpretation of records and
artifacts, which may be refuted or sustained by logical reasoning, but cannot be
proven or disproven by the scientific method, for the simple reason that it has
now gone, and lies in the past.
The following articles are simply a beginning of a long re-interpretation of the
evidence. The reader is asked to critique each part on its own merits as each time
and period is faced.
Dr Osgood is convinced that a reconstruction must be made however long it takes,
or however many pitfalls be in its path, and here begins with three strategic areas.
- Velikovsky, I., 1973. Ages in Chaos, Abacus, London.
Return to text.
- Courville, D., 1971, Exodus Problem and its Ramifications,
Challenge Books, Loma Linda, California. Return to text.
- Bimson, J.F., 1981. Redating the Exodus and Conquest
, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, The Almond Press, Sheffield.
Return to text.
- Anati, 1981. Biblical Archaeological Review, 11
(4):42–57. Return to text.
|
