(January 21, 2012 at 12:15 am)Justtristo Wrote: I am going to play the devil's advocate here.
As I see it the main flaw of archaeology to reconstruct history is that very little from the distant past actually get preserved in the archaeological record. A good analogue would be trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle with only some of the pictures, what you get is a incomplete picture.
To use an example in Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars, there is a record migration of a tribe called the Helvetti which even accounting for overestimation in numbers, was many thousands of people. However the archaeological evidence for this migration is nil. The same scant archaeological evidence for a lot of mass scale migrations attested in historical writings.
I agree, to little is known about much of the ancient past. During the time of David there's few historical records or facts through any sources and when something is found everyone wants their two cents worth. It would be nice to see people work together instead of everyone wanting to be king on the mountain.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.