1a. Define: Life science
A term that encompasses all scientific pursuits related to living organisms
1b. Define: Archaeology
The study of past human life as revealed by preserved relics
1c. Define: Artifact
Objects made by people, such as tools, weapons, containers, etc.
1d. Define: Geology
The study of earth’s history as revealed in the rocks that make up the earth
1e. Define: Paleontology
The study of life’s history as revealed in the preserved remains of once-living organisms
1f. Define: Aristotle’s dictum
The benefit of the doubt is to be given to the document itself, not assigned by the critic to himself
1g. Define: Known age
The age of an artifact as determined by a date printed on it or a reference to the artifact in a work of history
1h. Define: Dendrochronology
The process of counting tree rings to determine the age of tree
1i. Define: Radiometric dating
Using a radioactive process to determine the age of an item
1j. Define: Absolute age
The calculated age of an artifact from a specific dating method that is used to determine when the artifact was made
1k. Define: The Principle of Superposition
When artifacts are found in a rock or earth that is layered, the deeper layers hold the older artifacts.
- If you wanted to learn about the history of life other than human life, would you use archaeology or paleontology?
paleontology
- Name the three tests used to evaluate documents that claim to be historical.
the internal test, the external test and the bibliographic test
- Give a brief description of each of the tests listed in #3.
The internal test makes sure that the document does not contradict itself. The external test makes certain the the document does contradict other known historical or archaeological facts. The bibliographic test makes certain the document we have today is essentially the same as the original.
- In what test is Aristotle’s dictum used? Why must we use it?
the internal test, we must use it because what seems to be a contradiction in a document might not be a contradiction
- There are 2 reasons to believe that the cope of an ancient document might not be the same as the original. One is that the person making the copy might have made some unintentional mistakes. What is the other reason?
Often those who are making the copy or those who are ordering the copy to be made will make intentional changes
- What 2 things help a document pass the bibliographic test?
First, there should be a small time period between when the original was written and when the first available copy was made
- Does the Bible contain any contradictions that make it fail the internal test?
no
- Does the Bible have any difficult passages that might seem like contradictions?
yes
- Why are the 2 accounts given in Acts 9:7 and Acts 22:9 not contradictory? Feel free to use your Bible to look up those verses.
The first tells us that the men heard sounds, but the second tells us that the men could not understand those sounds.
- Why are the 2 genealogies of Christ given in Luke 3 and Matthew 1 not contradictory? Once again, you can use your Bible.
One of the genealogies traces Mary’s line, while the other traces Joseph’s line.
- Why can we say that the Bible passes the external test better than any other document of its time?
no other work has had so much archaeological evidence compared to it
- Suppose a document passes the internal and bibliographic tests but some of the conclusions of archaeologists go against what the document says. If the document has some other external support (other historical documents or some archaeological evidence), why should you not automatically say that it fails the external test?
Sometimes, it turns out that archaeology is wrong
- Why can we say that the New Testament passes the bibliographic test better than any other document of its time?
The New Testament has significantly shorter time spans between original and copy as compared to any other work of the same time period. It also has thousands more supporting documents than any other document of its time.
