Reflections on Scholarship and Independent Research
I do not present information on this website concerning Bible exposition or Ancient Near East chronology unless I believe my research and conclusions to be accurate. At the same time, that conviction should not be interpreted as a claim of infallibility. I remain open to the possibility that some (some may say all) of my conclusions may be incorrect and welcome thoughtful interaction with those who can demonstrate a better understanding of the evidence.
For the record, I do not regard my insights as spiritually, academically, or intellectually superior to those of other researchers. The research presented here is built upon the work of countless scholars, translators, archaeologists, historians, astronomers, and scribes whose knowledge and expertise far exceed my own. If this work has any value, it lies not in superior scholarship but in an attempt to harmonize evidence drawn from multiple fields of study into a coherent understanding of the biblical and historical record. With that perspective in mind, I offer the following acknowledgment:
Acknowledgment of Scholarship
My research presented would not have been possible without the labor of countless scholars, researchers, translators, archaeologists, linguists, historians, astronomers, and scribes who have preserved, recovered, translated, and analyzed the records of the ancient world. I stand upon the shoulders of many generations of dedicated men and women whose knowledge, diligence, and scholarship far exceed my own.
My purpose is not to diminish their contributions, nor to dismiss the value of their specialized research. On the contrary, the data assembled by specialists forms the foundation upon which my research rests. Without their efforts, there would be no evidence to examine and no chronology to evaluate.
At the same time, specialization can sometimes make it difficult to see how evidence from different fields of specialization relates to the larger picture. My contribution, if it has any value, lies not in possessing greater expertise than the individual specialists—indeed, I readily acknowledge that in most cases my expertise is considerably less—but in attempting to harmonize the evidence they have provided into a whole without contradictions.
The questions raised by my research arise not from a desire to overturn established scholarship, but from a desire to understand how the various chronological, historical, archaeological, astronomical, and biblical data may fit together into a single coherent account of the past. Where apparent conflicts exist, my purpose is not to diminish the work of specialists, but to examine whether assumptions within one or more fields may merit further consideration in light of the broader body of evidence.
Where my conclusions differ from those commonly accepted, I ask only that they be evaluated on the basis of the methodology and evidence presented. If I have correctly identified a point requiring further examination, the credit belongs largely to those whose scholarship made such examination possible. If I am mistaken, the fault is mine alone. In either case, the simple fact remains: I remain grateful to the many scholars upon whose work my research depends.