The Associates for Biblical Research
God raised up the Associates for Biblical Research to demonstrate the historical accuracy of the Bible, and defend it against attacks from critics and skeptics. The Bible has been under attack in the Western world for over 200 years, but never more intensely than today. These attacks have taken different forms and have come from many different quarters—from philosophers, scientists, text critics, historians and archaeologists. In the field of Biblical archaeology, the attacks have increased dramatically in the past 50 years. Once a discipline dominated by Bible-believing scholars, now it is largely made up of atheists, agnostics, skeptics and those committed to undermining the truth of Scripture.
These attacks on the Bible are part of a larger humanistic movement in Western culture. Spearheaded by academic elitists in the university and public education system, the news and popular media, and the entertainment industry, these revisionists cloak themselves with supposed objectivity, purity of motives, and the superiority of science over the “uninformed” and “unscientific” religious community. They regularly denigrate those who question their worldview and conclusions by mocking them and accusing them of being “unscientific.” These issues are of more than academic concern, for once an individual has been convinced that the Bible is non-historical, he or she turns a deaf ear to the spiritual message of God’s Word.
We are engaged in a culture war and a battle for the souls of men. In these days of intense spiritual battle, God has called ABR to assist the church in standing up for the truth. ABR defends and demonstrates the historical reliability of the Bible through archaeological fieldwork and original academic research on so-called Bible “problems.” When in-depth research is done, what the critics claim to be Bible problems in all cases turn out to be incorrect interpretations of the historical evidence.
Bryant Wood became a Christian while an undergraduate in college. After working as a nuclear engineer at General Electric for 13 years, God called him to serve in Biblical archaeology and he returned to school for training in this specialized field. After earning an M.A. in Biblical history from the University of Michigan, he went on to the University of Toronto where he earned a PH.D. in Syro-Palestinian Archaeology. Bryant is Director of Research at ABR. He oversees ABR’s excavation of Khirbet el-Maqatir, where evidence has been found to indicate that it is the Biblical site of Ai (Joshua 7–8), one of the “problem” sites in Biblical archaeology. His other research projects include: locating Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis Philistines, clarification of the Biblical Hethites and Hittites, Egyptian Sojourn, route of the Exodus and location of Mt. Sinai, Conquest, judges period and Biblical personages. Bryant’s work demonstrating the truth of the Biblical account of the capture of Jericho (Joshua 2–6) received international academic and media attention.
Bryant and Faith have four married children and nine grandchildren.
This is a January, 2021 Update,
From Adam to Abraham: The Latest on the Genesis 5 and 11 Project
Henry B Smith Jr MA MAR
The goal of this article is to provide the reader with a brief update on the Genesis 5 and 11 Research Project. We will describe the current emphases of the research, provide answers to questions we have received about Genesis 5 and 11, and briefly outline plans for the publication of the book, From Adam to Abraham (FATA). The goals, description, and published articles for the Gen 5/11 Project can be found at the end of this article.
1. Recent Areas of Emphasis, Hermeneutics
Can we really claim to hold to the full God breathed nature of Scripture while simultaneously imposing interpretive theories derived from external sources unto Holy Scripture, sources which are ultimately rooted in fallen, man-centered authorities? The ultimate answer to this question is “no.” And yet, a majority of evangelical scholars apply hermeneutical methods to Genesis 1-11 that are foreign to the authority, sufficiency, and clarity of Scripture. In effect, because the Bible itself is not permitted to exert ultimate hermeneutical control over the interpretation of Genesis 1-11, evangelicals interpret texts such as the numbers in Gen 5 and 11 in ways which suit their interpretations of external data, such as the Sumerian King List or other archaeological discoveries from the ancient Near East.
Victory in Jesus,
For more information on the ministry of Bryant Wood and the Associates for Biblical Research, visit the ABR website at www.biblearchaeology.org.
