The Case For Christ

question of whether the New Testament accounts of Jesus are
accurate. While serology and toxicology aren't able to shed any
light on the issue, another category of scientific proof-the
discipline of archaeology-has great bearing on the reliability
of the gospels.
Sometimes called the study of durable rubbish, archaeology
involves the uncovering of artifacts, architecture, art, coins,
monuments, documents, and other remains of ancient cultures.
Experts
study these relics to learn what life was like in the days when
Jesus walked the dusty roads of ancient Palestine.
Hundreds of archaeological findings from the first century have
been unearthed, and I was curious: did they undermine or
undergird the eyewitness stories about Jesus? At the same time,
my curiosity was tempered by skepticism. I have heard too many
Christians make exorbitant claims that archaeology can prove a
lot more than it really can. I wasn't interested in more of the
same.
So I went on a quest for a recognized authority who has
personally dug among the ruins of the Middle East, who has an
encyclopedic knowledge of ancient findings, and who possesses
enough scientific restraint to acknowledge the limits of
archaeology while at the same time explaining how it can
illuminate life in the first century.
THE FOURTH INTERVIEW: JOHN MCRAY, PH.D.
When scholars and students study archaeology, many turn to John
McRay's thorough and dispassionate 432-page textbook Archaeology
and the New Testament. When the Arts and Entertainment Television
Network wanted to ensure the accuracy of its Mysteries of the
Bible program, they called McRay as well. And when National
Geographic needed a scientist who could explain the intricacies
of the biblical world, again the phone rang in McRay's office at
well-respected Wheaton College in suburban Chicago.
Having studied at Hebrew University, the cole Biblique et
Arch6ologique Franaise in Jerusalem, Vanderbilt University
Divinity School, and the University of Chicago (where he earned
his doctorate in 1967), McRay has been a professor of New
Testament and
archaeology at Wheaton for more than fifteen years. His articles
have appeared in seventeen encyclopedias and dictionaries, his