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=== The Thiele Camp ===

=== The Thiele Camp ===

This camp takes its name from [[Edwin R. Thiele]], an archaeologist and Biblical scholar who was one of a few key investigators (another was [[William A. Fulbright]]) to attempt to reconcile the king lists given in I and II Kings to the accepted secular translations of [[Assyria]]n stone tablets and other records—the [[Assyrian chronology]].

This line of research takes its name from [[Edwin R. Thiele]], a historian and Biblical scholar who was one of several investigators who attempted to determine the record-keeping methods of the Biblical writers of the kingdom period, and after that was done, to see if the resultant Biblical chronology matched established dates in [[Assyria]]n and Babylonian history. An interesting consequence of this approach was that after Thiele had developed his chronology solely based on seeing if the Biblical reign lengths for the kingdom period produced a harmonious pattern, when he tried to match this pattern to commonly accepted dates in Assyrian history, he found that it did not match Assyrian dates at certain key points. Further investigation by Thiele showed it was the commonly accepted Assyrian dates, not the dates derived from the Bible, that were in error. By doing the appropriate research, he demonstrated to Assyriologists where their basic chronological backbone, the Assyrian Eponym Canon (AEC), was in error. His correction of the AEC, based on the Biblical data, is now accepted by virtually all Assyriologists. Further examples of how Thiele’s Bible-based chronology contradicted commonly accepted Assyrian dates, and subsequent research showed it was the Bible’s figures that were exact, are shown on the [[Edwin R. Thiele]] page.  

Today, most evangelical scholars have joined the Thiele camp;<ref name=Wood>See, for example, Leon J. Wood, ''A Survey of Israel's History'', rev. ed. David O'Brien, Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books, 1986 (ISBN 031034770X)</ref> Fulbright and other competitors of Thiele are regarded as less important.<ref>Fulbright himself was a member of the Late Date camp; Thiele accepted an early date for the [[Exodus of Israel]].</ref> The Thiele camp makes some of the most controversial recommendations known to Biblical scholarship, and the dispute between the Thiele and Ussher camps is perhaps the most bitter.

It is necessary to clarify this issue because some scholars who maintain that Ussher’s chronology, or a slight modification of it, is the only valid Biblical chronology have made very misleading statements about Thiele’s method. The charge is made that Thiele started with Assyrian data and “force fit” his Biblical chronology to the findings of the Assyrian academy. This is exactly the opposite of what was done. Occasionally statements are not only false but are also quite bitter in attacking, and misrepresenting, what Thiele and those who have followed in his footsteps accomplished. This is shown by the following statements:

 

“[Thiele] did not honor the Hebrew Scriptures. He did not even come close. Careful study reveals that his faith and loyalty were totally to the Assyrian Eponym List (to be addressed presently). When the Hebrew Text did not directly fit into the Assyrian chronological scheme, it was contorted and disfigured until it apparently confirmed.”<ref>Floyd Nolen Jones, The Chronology of the Old Testament, rev. edition (Green Forest AR: Master Books, 2005, 2009), p. 114b.</ref>

 

    “That Thiele placed the Assyrian data as his infallible guide over the Scriptures is his own choosing . . . it is a decision for which he and all others who follow his example must give an account . . .”<ref>Jones, Chronology of the OT, p. 114b.–15a.</ref>

 

  “. . . the absolute certainty with which he [Thiele] viewed the Assyrian/Babylonian records . . .”<ref>Jones, Chronology of the OT, p. p. 124b.</ref>

 

    “Dr. Thiele . . . held to the Assyrian data as his certain guide rather than the Scriptures (though all the while professing to honor them) . . .”<ref>Jones, Chronology of the OT, p. 134b.</ref>

 

“Thiele’s chronology tortures and contorts the Hebrew record in order to make it fit the Assyrian framework.”<ref>Jones, Chronology of the OT, p. 147b.</ref>

 

  “. . . the lengths Thiele went, as well as all who have walked in his footsteps, in unashamedly perverting Scripture.”<ref>Jones, Chronology of the OT, p. 173b.</ref>

 

  “The net result of all this is that some have reduced the actual length of the Kingdom of Judah’s existence by 30 years, and as much as 44 (E.R. Thiele) and even as much as 53 years (William F. Albright). These men, including Christian scholars, feel completely justified in this wicked practice . . .”<ref>Jones, Chronology of the OT, p. pp. 112b–13a.</ref>

 

“The latest reconstruction by Thiele is but one of many attempts in the last 100 years to adjust the biblical account to match the current conjectured chronology of the Assyrians. Thiele very creatively manipulated the biblical data to eliminate about 40 years of history.” <ref>comment by Larry Pierce in James Ussher, The Annals of the World, revised and updated by Larry and Marion Pierce (Green Forest AR: Master Books, 2003), p. 914a.</ref>

 

For further explanation of the methods of the “Thiele camp,” see the [[Edwin R. Thiele]] page, where the falseness of the above allegations is established.

== Points of Agreement ==

== Points of Agreement ==