{"id":57565,"date":"2021-06-10T14:31:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T18:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=57565"},"modified":"2021-06-10T14:31:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T18:31:46","slug":"edomites-archaeology-confirms-the-bible-as-always","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/06\/edomites-archaeology-confirms-the-bible-as-always.html","title":{"rendered":"Edomites: Archaeology Confirms the Bible (As Always)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

Adam Lee<\/a>\u00a0is an atheist writer and activist, who runs the blog,\u00a0Daylight Atheism<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0He has written articles for AlterNet, Salon,\u00a0the International Humanist and Ethical Union,\u00a0Canadian Freethinker<\/em>,\u00a0Freethought Today<\/em>,\u00a0Free Inquiry<\/em>, and\u00a0Secular Future<\/em>, the newsletter of the U.K.-based National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

In this article I will be responding to a portion of his post,\u00a0\u201cLet the Stones Speak: Part 2\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(unknown date). He wrote:<\/p>\n

The Israelites in Transjordan<\/b><\/p>\n

The King of Edom<\/b><\/p>\n

According to Numbers 20, while the Israelites were encamped at Kadesh-barnea, Moses sent messengers to the king of the nation of Edom asking for permission to pass through his country en route to the Promised Land. That petition was soundly rejected, however, and the \u201cstrong hand\u201d of Edom denied the Israelites passage.<\/p>\n

However, in a by now familiar theme, archaeology has failed to corroborate this account. Surveys of the ancient nation of Edom, on the plateau of Transjordan between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, have revealed that the Middle and Late Bronze Ages were periods of little or no population (MacDonald 1992<\/a>, p. 299). Except for some activity in the copper mines of the north-central Feinan region, there is virtually no evidence of human presence either sedentary or nomadic during this time. By contrast, both earlier and later periods are well attested archaeologically. . . .<\/p>\n

Early Bronze sites are scant and appear to be concentrated around mining areas.<\/p>\n

Following the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, Edomite population experienced a resurgence during the Iron I period. Small villages appear around mining and farming sites, and this theme continues into the Iron II, with larger, permanent agricultural settlements, slag piles from mining and smelting, and pottery sherds and charcoal datable by radiocarbon methods both dating to the 8th to 6th centuries (ibid., p. 297).<\/p>\n

The situation with regard to Edom is best summed up by excavations at the city of Bozrah, apparently the capitol according to several biblical verses (Amos 1:11-12; Jeremiah 49:7-13). Bozrah, whose name means \u201cfortress\u201d, is identified with the modern village of Buseirah just off the line of a route called the King\u2019s Highway (Numbers 20;17), almost due east of Kadesh-barnea.\u00a0 . . .<\/p>\n

Ancient Bozrah was a formidable stronghold, with strong walls surrounding a city and a central walled citadel. Unfortunately, it was not built before the end of the eighth century BCE, centuries later than the latest proposed date for the Israelite escape from Egypt, . . .<\/p>\n

In short, at the time of the Exodus, Edom was not a settled nation, but an empty desert occupied by, at most, a few roving bands of pastoralists. The king of Edom could not have denied the Israelites passage, because there was no king, no nation. There was no \u201cstrong hand\u201d that could have come out against them, nor were there \u201cmuch people\u201d, as Numbers 20:20 claims. (Note that a nomadic tribal people would not have fields, vineyards, and especially not borders, as Numbers 20:17 claims. Clearly, what is envisioned here is a settled country, with established boundaries and a sedentary population practicing agriculture, and this is precisely what did not exist in Edom during this period.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Jerusalem Post<\/em> on 9-19-19 announced evidence that contradicts the above picture. Aaron Reich reported these exciting finds in his article, \u201cIsraeli researchers identify biblical kingdom of Edom\u201d<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[R]esearch has uncovered the untold story of a thriving and wealthy society in the Arava Desert \u2013 in parts of Israel and Jordan \u2013 that existed during the 12th-11th centuries BCE.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing technological evolution as a proxy for social processes, we were able to identify and characterize the emergence of the biblical kingdom of Edom,\u201d explained\u00a0Tel Aviv University<\/a>\u2019s Prof. Ezra Ben-Yosef, who led the study with Prof. Tom Levy of the University of California, San Diego. \u201cOur results prove it happened earlier than previously thought and in accordance with the biblical description.\u201d . . .<\/p>\n

Using a methodology called the punctuated equilibrium model, the research team analyzed findings from ancient copper mines in Jordan and Israel to create a timeline of the evolution of copper production from 1300-800 BCE. . . .<\/p>\n

\u201cOur new findings contradict the view of many archaeologists that the Arava was populated by a loose alliance of tribes, and they\u2019re consistent with the biblical story that there was an Edomite kingdom here,\u201d explained Ben-Yosef of TAU\u2019s department of archaeology and ancient Near Eastern cultures. \u201cA flourishing copper industry in the Arava can only be attributed to a centralized and hierarchical polity, and this might fit the biblical description of the Edomite kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

While archaeology had never doubted the existence of the Edomite kingdom, it was widely assumed to have emerged around the late eighth century BCE in the Edomite Plateau, located in Jordan near Petra and southeast of the Dead Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore they built their capital in the plateau, the Edomites were a complex and organized kingdom, but they were still nomadic,\u201d said Ben-Yosef. \u201cThey dwelled in tents. They didn\u2019t have villages or cities, but they had cemeteries and smelting sites.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Edomites eventually did settle in cities on the plateau and built settlements along the trade routes, but these findings prove that they possessed a centralized system of organization long before they settled there.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Encyclopedia Britannica<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cMoses\u201d<\/a>) estimates that the time of the biblical Exodus was 1290 BC (13th century BC). I accept the life and death dates of Moses to be c. 1370-c. 1250 BC, based on data presented in the same article, and the Bible.<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
Corroboration of the 13th century BC (i.e., the Late Bronze Age) comes from\u00a0\u00a0Levy, T., Bettilyon, M., & Burton, M. (2016). The Iron Age copper industrial complex: A preliminary study of the role of ground stone tools at Khirbat en-Nahas, Jordan<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0Journal of Lithic Studies<\/i><\/a>,\u00a03<\/i>(3), 313-335, 10-31-16. This article states. regarding excavations at Khirbet [or Khirbat] en-Nahas<\/a>:<\/div>\n
\n
The ground stone assemblage from the 2006 excavations consisted of 454 artefacts . . . The artefacts derive from Layers 1-5, which were dated to the 13th-9th centuries BCE (Levy et al. 2014b). Artefacts were plotted in the field using digital surveying and Geographic Information System (GIS) software. As described above, many of the ground stone artefacts were found closely associated with evidence of smelting activities, such as slag mounds, tuy\u00e8re pipes and furnaces.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
A UCSan Diego web page<\/a> collects 1366 digital photographs of the ongoing work at Khirbat en-Nahas in present-day Jordan (biblical Edom). It summarizes:<\/div>\n
\n
As a part of the Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Project the UCSD Levantine Archaeology Lab under the direction of Prof. Thomas Levy, has excavated three seasons at Khirbat en-Nahas (KEN). . . .<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
Recent field work at KEN and limited AMS radiocarbon dating have pushed back the dates for the Iron Age in Edom some 200 to 400 years earlier than previously thought (Levy et al 2004, 2005; Higham et al 2005). This has opened up new research questions that challenge models that explain the emergence of the Edomite state (i.e. core-civilization (Assyrian) dominance over Edom vs. local peer polity interaction with neighboring statelets such as Israel, Judah, Moab and others).<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
See also: \u201cSome Thoughts on Khirbet En-Nahas, Edom, Biblical History and\u00a0Anthropology: a Response to Israel Finkelstein\u201d<\/a> by\n
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Thomas E Levy and\u00a0Mohammad Najjar, in Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University<\/em>, vol. 33, no. 1, February 2006 [a PDF can be downloaded for free], and also the wonderfully interactive web page: \u201cThe Kingdom of Copper: Copper Production and Social Complexity in Iron Age Faynan, Jordan\u201d<\/a>, by Matthew D. Howland, Brady Liss, Mohammad Najjar, and Thomas E. Levy, March 1, 2021.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
The scientific article, \u201cThe beginning of Iron Age copper\u00a0production in the southern Levant: new\u00a0evidence from Khirbat al-Jariya, Faynan,<\/a>
\nJordan\u201d<\/a>, by\u00a0Erez Ben-Yosef, Thomas E. Levy, Thomas Higham,\u00a0Mohammad Najjar, & Lisa Tauxe (Antiquities<\/em>, vol. 84, 724-746, 3 March 2010) describes Late Bronze Age datings (and dates prior to the biblical Exodus and Joshua\u2019s conquest) for several of the excavated copper sites. It summarizes:<\/div>\n
\n
These data\u00a0relate to questions concerning the link between social and technological change and recent\u00a0debates about the relationship between archaeology and history from a period when these\u00a0data can first be linked to the biblical world. In the region of Faynan, these questions are\u00a0specifically related to the emergence of the Iron Age polities of Edom and ancient Israel,\u00a0since both had a potential interest in one of the most significant natural resources of the\u00a0region. . . .<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
The two major copper ore deposits in the southern Levant, Timna (Rothenberg 1999a &\u00a0b) and Faynan (Hauptmann 2007), are located along the margins of the Arabah Valley,\u00a0separating Israel and Jordan. . . . At Timna, research showed that the flourishing Late Bronze Age copper production ceased\u00a0in the mid twelfth century BC . . .<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Timna is about 62 miles (roughly 100 kilometers) south of the Faynan area of current-day Jordan, near\u00a0the modern Israeli city of\u00a0Eilat<\/a>: close to the biblical city was\u00a0Elath<\/a>, mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:8 in conjunction with Moses. It\u2019s just to the north of the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea), and on the southern tip of Israel in the Negev. I briefly discussed this area in my previous article about Kadesh and the Negev desert<\/a>. Now here are some of the estimated earlier dates of the excavated sites, based on carbon-14 dating (a \u201c68.2% probability\u201d and \u201ccalibrated using OxCal v.4.1\u201d):<\/div>\n
\n
Faynan copper ore district<\/strong>
\n*
\nWadi Khalid, Mine 42: 1500-1432 BC<\/div>\n
Khirbat en-Nahas, Lab #OxA19041:\u00a01373-1260 BC<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
Timna Valley and surroundings<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
*<\/div>\n
Timna 30: 1689-1531 BC<\/div>\n
Timna 2, Lab #BM2382: 1530-1430 BC<\/div>\n
Timna 2, Lab #RTT5276 1441-1322 BC<\/div>\n
Timna 2, Lab #Pta4121: 1430-1294 BC<\/div>\n
Timna S18: 1411-1215 BC<\/div>\n
Timna F2: 1386-1215 BC<\/div>\n
Timna 2, Lab #GrH4493: 1370-1131 BC<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The final \u201cDiscussion\u201d section concludes:<\/div>\n
\n
Radiocarbon dates from three Faynan sites, including KEN [Khirbat en-Nahas], suggest small-scale copper\u00a0production activities starting already in the Late Bronze Age (with dates as early as\u00a0the fifteenth century BC, Table 1). . . . \\<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
[D]uring the Iron\u00a0Age I, Faynan was part of the lowlands of biblical \u2018Edom\u2019 and provided the natural\u00a0resources that enabled the beginning of processes that led to a local complex society such\u00a0as a kingdom (Avishur 2007) or chiefly confederacy (Levy 2009) described in the biblical\u00a0accounts.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Encyclopedia Britannica<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cHistory of Jordan\u201d<\/a>) states:<\/div>\n
\n
It was once believed that the area was unoccupied from 1900 to 1300\u00a0BCE<\/span>, but a systematic archaeological survey has shown that the country had a settled population throughout the period. This was confirmed by the discovery of a small temple at\u00a0Amman<\/a>\u00a0with Egyptian, Mycenaean, and Cypriot imported objects.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Thomas E. Levy and Mohammad Najjar, writing in Biblical Archaeology Review<\/em> (July\/August 2006: \u201cEdom and Copper: The Emergence of Ancient Israel\u2019s Rival\u201d<\/a>) provide an excellent concluding remark for this survey of ancient Edom and archaeology:<\/div>\n
\n
Can we say definitively that the kingdom of\u00a0Edom had its origins in the lowlands of Edom\u00a0and that control of copper was the chief catalyst for the rise of social complexity? Not yet.\u00a0However, the excavations and radiocarbon dates\u00a0from Khirbat en-Nahas have drawn the lowlands\u00a0into the center of the debate.<\/div>\n
*
\nWe may look with new eyes at the reference\u00a0to Edom in Genesis 36:31: \u201cThese are the kings\u00a0who reigned in the land of Edom, before any\u00a0king reigned over the Israelites.\u201d This indicates\u00a0that, for the Biblical author, Edom was a state\u00a0with kings (or very-high-ranking chiefs) even\u00a0before ancient Israel. Historical reality can often\u00a0be found in the Bible\u2019s snippets, in its minor\u00a0clauses that are almost footnotes. This statement\u00a0does not support a particular point of view.\u00a0There is no advocacy behind it or many of the\u00a0other statements concerning Edom, such as the\u00a0revolt mentioned earlier. On the contrary: It gives\u00a0Edom a \u201cstate\u201d or complex society with a \u201cking\u201d\u00a0even before the writer\u2019s own country. There is\u00a0therefore no reason to doubt the historicity of this\u00a0almost off-hand Biblical remark. It most probably\u00a0reflects a historical process\u2014namely that a complex\u00a0society or an archaic state of some kind evolved in\u00a0Edom before there was one in ancient Israel. The\u00a0Bible is telling us that Edom may have developed a\u00a0complex society bordering on statehood as early as\u00a0the Late Bronze Age (c. 1400\u20131200 B.C.E.).<\/div>\n
*
\nAnthropologists, archaeologists and historians have\u00a0struggled mightily to define and identify from archaeological remains what makes a state-level society.\u00a0They are doggedly looking for the litmus test that\u00a0will distinguish a state from a chiefdom. When the\u00a0Bible mentions a king, we tend to assume we know\u00a0how he ruled, how much territory he controlled and\u00a0whether he could field an army. However, it isn\u2019t so\u00a0simple. In fact, the anthropological record teaches\u00a0us that societies in which \u201cchiefs\u201d and \u201ckings\u201d functioned fall along a continuum of complexity that\u00a0cannot be easily divided into neat categories. Thus,\u00a0the dividing line between a complex chiefdom and\u00a0a petty kingdom is unclear. And trying to make this\u00a0distinction on the basis of a mute archaeological\u00a0record is even harder.<\/div>\n
*
\nWith regard to the Edomites that the Bible says\u00a0David fought and interacted with, as well as David\u2019s\u00a0role as king of ancient Israel, the question is not\u00a0whether Edom or Israel was a state or a chiefdom,\u00a0but whether, based on the archaeological evidence,\u00a0these societies had the levels of social complexity\u00a0needed to field armies, construct monumental\u00a0buildings and carry out technologically intensive\u00a0industrial activities. In these terms, whether a\u00a0society is a super chieftain or a petty kingdom is\u00a0relatively unimportant.<\/div>\n
*
\nWhat seems clear is that, at least by the beginning\u00a0of the Iron Age, Edom was a complex society with\u00a0the ability to construct major buildings, defend\u00a0itself with strong fortifications and create a technologically sophisticated organization to draw copper\u00a0from ore and thereafter to manufacture objects\u00a0with it. If it could do this, there is no reason to\u00a0doubt that it could also field an army.<\/div>\n
*
\nEdom was always a kind of tribal society, even\u00a0at its most advanced period, when highland sites\u00a0like Busayra and Umm el-Biyara were occupied in\u00a0the eighth to sixth centuries B.C.E. But it was also\u00a0a complex society quite early in the Iron Age, if not\u00a0toward the end of the Late Bronze Age. Looking at\u00a0a broader canvas, when the center of eastern-Mediterranean copper production in Cyprus collapsed,\u00a0along with the rest of civilization* at the end of\u00a0the Late Bronze Age (c. 1400\u20131200 B.C.E.), Edom\u2019s\u00a0copper production\u2014which had flourished previously during the Early Bronze Age (c. 3600\u20132000\u00a0B.C.E.)\u2014was resurrected. Control of lowland-Edom\u00a0copper production at the beginning of the Iron Age\u00a0provided a catalyst for the emergence of Edom as a\u00a0\u201csuper chiefdom,\u201d if not as a state supported by a\u00a0complex copper-mining and processing apparatus.<\/div>\n
*
\nIn this context, the Biblical references to the\u00a0Edomites, especially their conflicts with David and subsequent Judahite kings, garner a new plausibility.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
***<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
Photo credit:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Davidchocron<\/a> (6-23-15):\u00a0The treasury \u201cAl Khazneh\u201d, Petra, Jordan: in the land formerly called \u201cEdom\u201d<\/span> [Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/\u00a0Creative Commons<\/a>\u00a0Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International<\/a>\u00a0license]<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
***<\/div>\n
*<\/div>\n
Summary<\/em>:\u00a0Adam Lee attacks the biblical statements regarding the Edomites: whether they had a king with whom Moses talked, & if there was any kind of organized nation at the time of the Exodus.
\n*<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adam Lee\u00a0is an atheist writer and activist, who runs the blog,\u00a0Daylight Atheism.\u00a0He has written articles for AlterNet, Salon,\u00a0the International Humanist and Ethical Union,\u00a0Canadian Freethinker,\u00a0Freethought Today,\u00a0Free Inquiry, and\u00a0Secular Future, the newsletter of the U.K.-based National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies. ***** In this article I will be responding to a portion of his 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Edomites: Archaeology Confirms the Bible (As Always) Edomites: Archaeology Confirms the Bible (As Always)","description":"Adam Lee\u00a0is an atheist writer and activist, who runs the blog,\u00a0Daylight Atheism.\u00a0He has written articles for AlterNet, Salon,\u00a0the International Humanist Adam Lee attacks the biblical statements regarding the Edomites: whether they had a king with whom Moses talked, & if there was any kind of organized nation at the time of the 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}