102 BElWEENTEXTANDARTIFAC!"[nsomecontextsmattersarecomplicatedfurtherbyareluctanceto
allowthedisciplineofancientNearEasternarchaeologyanindependent
voiceinbiblicaldiscussions.Again,thistendency,thoughregrettable,is
understandable.Overthelastdecademyobservationhasbeenthatstudent
loyaltiesare morenaturallygiven toscriptural traditionthantodistinct
fieldsofacademicinquiry.Manystudentswhoenterthebiblicalstudies
classroomfroma theologicalperspectiveholdtighttopositivisticassump-
tionsthatarchaeologicaldatawill,eventually,confirmthe"truth"ofthe
bible(outcome1),Evenmore,forstudentsthe"tnllh"oftheBibleencom-
passes more than historical accuracyand includes an assumption of
normativereligiouspracticeinbiblicaltimes.AlthoughI runintofewstu-
dents who are willing to dismiss archaeological data out of hand,
throughouteachsemesterI ameverawarethatmany,if notmost,students
emotionallyclingtoa positivisticperspectivesomethinglike:~Whenallof
theevidenceisin,andhasbeenproperlyunderstood,archaeologywill
confirmwhattheBiblehasalreadystatedtobetrue."5
Whereasonecan holdtothelogicalpossibilityofsuchultimatecor~
roboration, to honorsucha perspectiveasa necessarysolutionamong
studentscould beconsidereda form oftheological dysfunction. If all
proper archaeological interpretation must ultimately confirm biblical
"truth,"thenthefieldofarchaeologyitselfiswrestedfromitsstatusasan
independentdisciplineandbecomesthe"yes-persun"ofbiblicallileulugy.
Inotherwords, a formoftheologicalenmeshmentmanifestswherethe
archaeologicaldisciplineis engulfed,distorted,andabused.
Itistheinstructor'stask,then,toprovidestudents....ithahermeneuti~
calsophisticationthatwillallowthemproperlytointegratethefieldsof
biblicalstudiesandarchaeologyaswellastoallowthesedisciplinesto
inform,challenge, mature, andbroadenconfessional faith perspectives
alreadyheld.Atthecore,itisthebroadandmultifacetedtaskofrelating
scienceandreligion,thepossibilitiesofwhichIanBarbourhascharacter-
izedasconflict,independence,dialogue,andintegration.^6 Thefirststepis
toallowbothdisciplinestheirownintegrity.
METHODOLOGICALDIFFERENTIATIONTothoseworkingintheologicalcontexts,itmayseemcounterintuitive
tostressa healthydifferentiationbetweenbiblicalstudiesandancientNear
5 RandallPrice,tbeSt01u.>SCryOllt:WbalArcbaeoloR)JRt-vealsaboUfIheTrolhofthe
Bible(Eugene,Ore.:HarveslHousc.1997),344.
6 IanG.Barbour,Rc!igio'lalldScience:lIislOrical{IudOmtemporaryIssues(NewYork:
HarperCollins,1997),77-105.