The Legacy of Darwin, Hitler,
and Finkelstein
by Nic Samojluk
Introduction. The reader may wonder why am I associating Finkelstein with Darwin and Hitler. The reason is simple. Hitler’s meteoric political rise came at a time when the Germany’s economy was in shambles. He managed to restore Germany’s prestige and economic power, and did a lot of good. Even Americans remember him for giving Germans and the world the Volkswagen. That was the only car my dad drove until he couldn’t drive anymore. Nevertheless, the world remembers Hitler not for the good he performed on behalf of others, but rather for his genocide of six million Jews.
We could say something similar about Darwin. He opened the eyes of scientists about the fact that species do not remain static as time goes on and environments change, but rather tend to adapt to those altered circumstances. Nevertheless, sooner or later, I believe that he will be remembered by the baleful influence of his iconoclastic theory which succeeded in turning people’s reliance in God as the source of life and everything that is good and beneficial. Actually, Hitler was philosophically indebted to Darwin for his survival of the fittest suggestion, which led him to posit the superiority of the German race.
Who is Israel Finkelstein? At this point, someone may wonder who is Israel Finkelstein. He is the director of the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, and co-author of the book “The Bible Unearthed,” a “truly iconoclastic and provocative work” written with the overt objective of “challenging the fundamentalist readings of the scriptures” and suggesting that the lack of archaeological evidence tends to support his notion that “many of the most famous stories of the bible—the wanderings of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, and David and Solomon’s vast empire—reflect the world of the later authors rather than actual historical facts.” (John Shelby Spong, back cover of Finkelstein’s book.)
The Seriousness of Finkelstein’s Iconoclastic Hypothesis. If Finkestein’s hypothesis is correct, then not only the historical existence of such individuals as Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon become questionable; but the story of the Exodus, the giving of the Ten Commandments, the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, the United Monarchy of David and Solomon, and the building of Solomon’s Temple and his palaces become no more trustworthy than the legend of King Arthur’s Round Table. Is this something that should concern Adventists? I believe it is. If Moses did not exist, then the Ten Commandments are a no more than the product of human imagination, and the relevance of the Sabbath is out the window as well. In spite of this, I know of Adventists who have a great respect for Finkelstein’s strange interpretations of recent archaeological discoveries.
The Opinion of Other Experts. This is what prompted me to do some research in order to figure out what other experts think of Finkestein’s work and theory. Here is a small sample of what I did find out:
“Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein and his colleagues are stirring controversy with contentions that many biblical stories never happened, but were written by what he calls ‘a creative copywriter’ to advance an ideological agenda.”
“The Bible talks about the great and magnificent united monarchy of David and Solomon in the 10th century BCE, which split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, because of the demand by Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, for excessive tax payments from the tribes of the northern hills and Galilee, which thereupon angrily seceded from the united monarchy. … Finkelstein is dubious about the existence of this great united monarchy.”
“According to Finkelstein’s theory … ‘the people of Judah started to market the story of Joshua’s conquest of the land … They didn’t actually care whether there ever was such a person as Joshua. … there was nothing to conquer, there were only hills and rocks. Jericho was not fortified and had no walls, and it’s doubtful that there was a settlement there at the time. …at the time of the events not one letter of the alphabet had been written anywhere … there is no evidence that the Israelites were in Egypt … The goal was to create a myth saying that Judah is the center of the world …” [1]
“The thesis of this book is that there is no archaeological evidence for the existence of Abraham, the Patriarchs, Moses, or the Exodus, and that the monarchies of David or Solomon were much smaller than the Bible implies. … Finkelstein and Silberman ‘move from the hypothetical to the improbable to the absurd. … Finkelstein’s revised chronology is ‘not accepted by the majority of archaeologists and biblical scholars.” [2]
“Dr. Finkelstein … cast serious doubts on the historical basis of such famous biblical stories as the wonderings of the Patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt and conquest of Canaan, and glorious empire of David and Solomon … For example, camels were not commonly used as beasts of burden in the Near East until the seventh century BCE … Finkelstein and Silberman maintain that ‘the historical saga contained in the Bible … was not a miraculous revelation, but a brilliant product of human imagination.” [3]
Refutation of Some of Finkestein’s Arguments. Finkelstein argues that the alphabet had not been invented at the time of the patriarchs, that camels were not in use at the time as beasts of burden, and that there is no archaeological evidence for the existence of the divided monarchy. Here is the opinion of other authorities regarding these claims:
“The original alphabet was developed by a Semitic people living in or near Egypt. … Until recently, it was believed that these people lived in the Sinai and began using their alphabet in the 1700’s bc. In 1998, archaeologist John Darnell discovered rock carvings in southern Egypt ‘Valley of Horrors’ that push back the origin of the alphabet to the 1900’s bc or even earlier.” [4]
“Carved in the cliffs of soft stone, the writing, in a Semitic script with Egyptian influences, has been dated to somewhere between 1900 and 1800.” [5]
“Humans first domesticated camels between 3,500—3,000 years ago.” [6]
“In 1992 Phillip Davies … concluded that David and Solomon were no more historical than King Arthur and the Round Table. But his arguments is one of silence. … The bible is guilty until proven innocent.”
“The following year, in July 1993, archaeologist at Tel Dan northern Israel uncovered a remarkable find. … Upon turning over a stone, a volunteer noticed a written inscription. The excavator and a linguist later published the text, which mentioned a victory by the Aramean King Ben0Hadad who boasts of defeating the ‘house of David’ and the ‘house of Israel.’ The inscription is dated on the basis of the writing to 850 B.C. … there is no reason to name a dynasty after someone who did not exist.” [7]
Conclusion. I would like to conclude with some comments received from our own SDA archaeologist Lawrence Geraty who sent me the following opinion about the work of Finkelstein:
“Finkelstein is one of the most flamboyant end controversial scholars in Israel and really enjoys his newfound fame as a ‘minimalist’ who ‘debunks’ the accuracy and historicity of the Bible. In most respects he is a good field archaeologist and holds a responsible university position but he is not a believer in any sense. His views are in the minority of responsible archaeologists.” [8]
1. Aviva Lori, Haaretz Newspaper, http://prophetess.lstc.edu~rklein/Documents/grounds.htm
2. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The__Bible__Unearthed
3. Sara Belle Dougherty, Fiat Lux: Archaeology and the Old Testament, http://www.theosophical.org.uk/Biblunsbd.htm
4. “The Origin of the Alphabet” http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/alphabet.html
5. “Discovery of Egyptian Inscriptions Indicates an Earlier Date for Origin of the Alphabet” http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/alphorg.htm
6. “Camel” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel
7. Michael Hasel, “Postmodern Bible Critics and Recent Archaeology,” Adventist Affirm, Vol. 20, No.3: Fall 2006.
8. Received from Lawrence Geraty via Email.
In This Old World, the Evil One
Gets Wiser and Wiser
by Hugo Schmidt
Excellent presentation! However, and here comes the rub, so to speak, as to these three individuals per above. In this old and sinful world, the evil one gets wiser and wiser mostly by experience. So, only God knows why, the American unconstitutional public school system created by Bible Christians, became the almost immediate and most efficient tool of Satan, if there ever was such ready made tool ever as the present public schools system, for Darwinism to spread like wildfire all over America and evermore unopposed while millions are being wasted to keep a something of God in these system.
Yes, and do exactly as stated: "turning people's reliance in God as the source of life and everything that is good and beneficial". Yes, the indoctrination of the American children at an ever younger age; mandated by the Federal Government, whose present President is a Bible and prayer believing Christian but in ignorance, I suggest, who is the most eager for the public schools to in essence continue to do the evil work so pleasing to Satan! Yes, than he wants to fund faith based Institutions, while the public schooling will only nullify what good these institutions might accomplish.
One more item: If American Christian parents wish to be true to God's mandate and educate their children in Christians schools of their choice, they end up with what amounts to a plain and simple, double taxation. In essence, public education in the Nation under God, has put God on its head and put Satan on his feet. Sadly most Conservative Christian are all for public education, including the Seventh Day Adventist Church; my Church as a 4th generation Adventists. It is stomach revolting for me!
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