Archaeologists & the Bible In listening to  a Dr. james Charlesworth lecture entitled, The Symbol of the Serpant in the Bible,  the realization came that too many archaeologists are not qualified to handle and explain Biblical truths. far to many scholars and archaeologists donot believe the Bible, they are experts in the ancient languages, they are experts in the dating process and the digging up ancient sites but even with a theology degree, they will not be experts in spiritual truths nor grasp the meaning of what the Bible says. The reason for this is partially found in 2 Tim. 3:13: "...while evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse deceiving and being deceived..." Without Christ as their Savior these men are under the power of evil and are being deceived in what they study and because of their unbelief are easily led to false ideas and thoughts concerning what God meant in the Bible. Archaeologists are experts in their fields but that expertise is limited to  ancient languages, dating, digging and discovering artifacts and mss. but even with a theology degree they are not experts in what the Bible says.  Especially if they do not have the Holy Spirit guiding them to the truth. Thus archaeologists have no right to determine if the Bible is true or not, if certain events happened or not or what certain symbols mean.  They do not have their minds regnerated by christ and they cannot grasp all the teachings of the Bible.  A they dig and study the past they fall prey to a common trap, Drs. Dever and Ehrman have done this, which takes their eyes off God andplaces it upon the limited amount of physical evidence uncovered. They limit their faith to what they can see, which is contrary to what God said to do.  In Dr. dever's case, he sought physical evidence and when he did not fond what he wanted, his faith wentout the window, disillusioned with God and His word. For Dr. Ehrman, he put his eyes on the lack of original mss. for the books of the Bible and by doing so, opened a door for the devil to work his deceptiona nd lead Dr. Ehrman away from his salvation. In no verse or passage of scripture does God say to do this, He says, and Jesus does as well, follow me or keep your eyes on me and that is what counts for as peter sank in the water inthe storm, so will people sink when they take their eyes of God or Christ and place it upon what secular archaeologists and bible scholars say or conclude. This is not to say that those few archaeologists and scholars who are Christians are getting it right as well but needless to say, if the archaeologist or scholar is an unbeliever then you know they will only have enoughtruth to confuse the issue and lead people into the devil's trap. In Dr. Charlesworth case, I am no fan of his as his arrogance leads him to declare thatthe Bible is wrong when it states that John the Baptist grew up in the deseert. (Dead Sea Scroll Lectures-BAR).  He uses his experience in the desert to claim that what God said about John was untrue and there was no way for that to take place.  Well he is wrong as he forgets that God is in the equation and that God does not lie and that God would make sure that John would be portected.  Of course Dr. Charlesworth's experience would not lead him to that conclusion because he is not/was not walking with God and his experience is not the same as John's was. This is the key, when trying to learn about the past. Archaeologists will only go where their faith or lack of it will let them.  They do not have God on their side (most of them) or if they do some are too compromised by the world's ways that they cannot see what God wants them to see and follow. Which makes them very unqualified to determine what the Bible means or what the symbols are. Without God, they feel free to retranslate words, change meanings of actions, change the time frame and other misleading acts and lead people away from the truth.  No one saying this is a conspiracy but it is a natural result of those who do not believe God or the Bible.  When archaeologists start saying what a Bible passage means, do not listen, for they do not have the Holy Spirit leading them to the right answer. The Bible is God's word and no secular scientist, archaeologist, bible scholar has the qualifications to expound on Biblical stories or message.  No matter what they say they have discovered and what they say it means, look at the evidence yourself and let God lead you to the truth for the secular 'experts' do not know what that is and look for alternatives. When it comes to the Bible, to the past only God is the expert for He has all the evidence, He (Trinity) is the only eye-witness to all events, He is the one who allows what evidence, artifact, mss. to be discovered.  The archaeologist and Bible scholar have no control over those things and are mostly groping in the dark. So whatis a believer to do?  Look to God  to help them examine the evidence themselves, to lead them to those true believing archaeologists who do present the truth and counteract the secular world, to help them see the truth for themselves and be strongenough to withstand the false ideas which deny the Biblical record.  Then finally, to please God by using their faith that God did not lie and that the Bible is correct no matter what 'the experts' claim.