Someone did a similar study when computers became available and the tests concluded that there were several distinct voices on the pages of the Book of Mormon.

Some years ago I wrote a short paper on Faith and Archaeology, and concluded that Faith has no need of archaeology or other external proofs except the confirmation by the Holy Ghost that what was written on the pages of scripture was true.

That kind of non-validated faith held Christians to their several denominations, sects, and cults from the time of the ministry of Jesus until the founding of the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1865. When significant material was recovered it was at once employed by some Christians to ‘prove’ the truths of their faith.

I am moved to inquire what – before the uncovering of the past, including some disappointments – held them close to their faith, denomination, and practices as being divinely spoken and sanctioned before any discoveries had been revealed by a discipline that seemed for some to be more reliable than the Spirit of Truth.

No scientific discipline can reveal the core beliefs of the Christian religions, including the existence of Almighty God, the divinity of his Only Begotten Son in the Flesh Jesus Christ, not can any dug up article prove, scientifically that Jesus was literally resurrected from the dead, nor that he ascended to the heavens and rules there at the Right hand of his Father who is our Father in Heaven.

If archaeology et all was capable of suffusing weak believers with divine truth and a sure testimony of the plan of Salvation then I would rejoice more when discoveries were made and presented to the world as ‘Proof.”

Sadly, and this is noteworthy, the ‘proof’ offered is of the kind that essays to prove to a Christians united under the umbrella of a particular world-view and serves nothing more wonderful, than, in most cases, to show – prove – that they are right and all disagreers are wrong.

This attempt to define Bible truths totally ignores the principle aim of Christianity which is to demonstrate to unbelievers the irrefutable proof that God lives and that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Saviour, &c,that the Father has sent to us to lead us in the way of salvation.

True Christian faith needs no old-but-not-old-enough shrouds or any other artefact that is then tenuously held to be coeval with the mortal ministry of the Saviour and by the juxtaposition of an article from the Meridian of Time and the fact of Jesus living and teaching at the same time is ‘proof’ that Jesus was real and really was the Son of God, and, therefore, our faith is vindicated.

Science is incapable of proving the existence of God and lots of other things too, although the fundamental scientific premises requires all scientific truths to be demonstrable.

For the simple Christian, the testimony that Heavenly Father has made available to all seekers is the only way anyone, regardless of the level of intellect and other skills they possess, can actually ‘know’ anything about God and religion is by the simple method God had put in place so that ignorance need not be a disqualification that bars the road to great and powerful faith in him, in his Son, and in his Plan of Salvation and Happiness, particularly the model found in the life, mission, faith, and works of the Mortal Jesus, and that way is by reading the sacred scriptures and then on ones knees before the Highest, earnestly plead for light and knowledge from he who is Light and Truth.

Then, the Holy Ghost will reveal to all honest seekers after the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that the blessed recipient of divine knowledge will once and forever now that truth about God and Jesus Christ.

While ancillary issues such as dug up by archaeologists can be exquisitely interesting, and might even provide some kind of buttress to one’s faith, they can never serve as the ground of faith because their descriptions are highly subjective and the interpretations of their significance to the world of faith are often disputed when given over to peer review.

Shall we not, then, trust God when he directs his Holy Spirit to enter our beings and convey direct testimonies from the one that, alone, knows the full picture?

I posit that it is a weak and insubstantial faith that demands to be topped up by archaeologists at every verse end.

Proverbs 3:5-6 is the key to pure faith.

Sadly, we see Saints that are led astray bby what ‘they’ say or by what ‘they’ believe. A railroad car was sent to the wrong train assembly because the points of the rail were moved no more than three inches, a small amount of distance. However, due to the carriage being shunted onto the wrong line, the carriage ended up more than a thousand miles from its intended destination.

Similar things can occur to us and our testimonies by small, apparently inconsequential things being out of kilter wit the result that we miss our eternal destination.

Faith is only truly fed by information received from the celestial regions by the Holy Ghost and not from WikiFibs or other sources whose agendas are not aligned to Heavenly Father’s agenda.

There is grave danger in attempting to buttress our faith in God Almighty by dipping into scientific journals or populist books about what has been dug up somewhere, or not dug up somewhere, and then making a choice to believe certain things and to not believe certain things because someone has joined some dots from one thing to another that are not now and never have been interconnected and so you cannot use A to connect to C because the evidence, such as it is, points to another place or conclusion entirely.

Resting one’s sacred faith in the realms of science is to place a noose around your neck and proffer yourself as an hostage to fate; a practice that has a high failure rate.

Trust in God and in his revelations.

‘The most important question you can ask is ‘How do I obtain personal revelation?” –Boyd K Packer [Q12, York, UK, June 1998].

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