Biblical Minimalists are critics who historically have taken the position that almost everything in the Bible is either myth or fantasy. Until recently, Minimalists claimed that the entire Old Testament was written in Babylon during the period of the captivity of the Jews in the late Sixth Century. The Old Testament allegedly was a propaganda tool concocted to buck up the spirits of the exiled Judeans with a wonderful fictional history, something like an ancient Michael Moore “documentary”.

Minimalists refuse to acknowledge the accuracy of anything recorded in the Bible until forced by extra-Biblical verification. Unfortunately for the Minimalists, archaeologists keep uncovering evidence for the accuracy of the Biblical narrative. These discoveries have forced the Minimalists to recant and have left them with fewer Biblical accounts to disparage. For example, the once doubted historicity and veracity of the accounts of King David and King Solomon have been authenticated. When the first archaeological evidence emerged showing that King David existed, it was attacked as wrongly interpreted; however, as more inscriptions were uncovered bearing David’s name, Minimalists were forced to admit the truth.

Sadly for the Minimalists, independent extra-Biblical evidence has been found for the existence of another Biblical character. On October 29, 2007, Dr. Marjo Korpel, an Old Testament scholar at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, announced that an ancient engraved seal from the collection of the Israel Antiquity Authority in Jerusalem bears the name of Queen Jezebel, the Phoenician wife of King Ahab. Jezebel, discussed in 1 Kings 21, famously ran afoul of the Prophet Elijah.

Why This is Important

The extra-Biblical proof of not only Queen Jezebel’s existence but also of the accuracy of the specifics of the Biblical account (i.e. when she lived, where she lived, her queenly role) leave the Minimalists with nothing but unsubstantiated and unsupported claims of Biblical inaccuracies. The more the archaeologists dig, the worse the Minimalists’ case is against the Bible.

Source: Utrecht University ( 2007, October 29). “Ancient Seal Belonged to Queen Jezebel”. Science Daily. Retrieved from www.sciencedaily.com.

By: Lawrence Vescera, Ph. D.

Tags: Apologetics, Archaeology, Bible, Christian Apologetics, Jezebel

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